Questions about STDs. (Ask the Expert).Q. How will I know if I have a sexually transmitted disease sexually transmitted disease (STD) or venereal disease, term for infections acquired mainly through sexual contact. Five diseases were traditionally known as venereal diseases: gonorrhea, syphilis, and the less common granuloma inguinale, ? A. While some STDs may cause sores/ulcers or discharge, most don't cause any symptoms. And some of those, such as hepatitis B and HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. , can kill or result in serious long-term consequences if left untreated. You can't always tell if you or a partner has an STD (Subscriber Trunk Dialing) Long distance dialing outside of the U.S. that does not require operator intervention. STD prefix codes are required and billing is based on call units, which are a fixed amount of money in the currency of that country. by just looking. Don't rely on a partner's word and assume that it will prevent you from acquiring an STD; many infected persons do not know they have an infection. They may think symptoms are caused by something else, such as yeast infections, friction from sexual relations or allergies. Therefore, it is important that you take responsibility for your own sexual well-being. Educate yourself about your own body and, in turn, learn about your own individual risk for contracting an STD. One way to do this is to schedule an examination with a nurse practitioner or other health care professional who can sit down with you and help you learn the basics for staying safe and sexually healthy. Don't allow fear, embarrassment or ignorance to jeopardize your future . Beth E. Cheney, RN, MSN (1) (MicroSoft Network) A family of Internet-based services from Microsoft, which includes a search engine, e-mail (Hotmail), instant messaging (Windows Live Messaging) and a general-purpose portal with news, information and shopping (MSN Directory). , CFNP CFNP Certified Family Nurse Practitioner CFNP Community Food and Nutrition Program CFNP Center for Food and Nutrition Policy Women's Health Coordinator Windham Hospital Willimantic, CT Q. How often should I be tested for HPV HPV human papillomavirus. HPV abbr. human papilloma virus Human papilloma virus (HPV) ? A. There's a fair amount of hysteria about human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV infections are very common and most infections get cleared spontaneously by the body's immune system. Therefore, even if you are found to have HPV, your risk of having cervical cancer or of developing it in the future is relatively low. What we need to get across is that what we're really using HPV (testing) for is as a risk factor assessment, in much the same way you'd screen for cholesterol or other things to see which women are at risk for either having or developing a disease at a later time. For women with minor abnormalities on their Pap test, we use HPV testing to determine which women have an HPV infection and need further assessment, and which are not infected with HPV and only need an annual Pap test. In the future, it is likely that we will test women using both the Pap test and the HPV test. The advantage of this approach is that those women who are negative on both tests are at very low risk for cervical cancer and probabl y don't need to be screened again for at least three years. Thomas C. Wright, Jr., MD Director of GYN GYN abbr. gynecology GYN is short for gynecology–or a gynecologist Pathology College of Physicians and Surgeons College of Physicians and Surgeons: see Columbia Univ. Columbia University New York, NY |
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