African Traditional Herbal Research Clinic STD's ... - Blackherbals.com

Continued from page 25 – Uganda: Sexually Transmitted
Infections in Men
with penile discharge, pain during sex or when passing
urine, and swelling of the urethra.
In women, the infection appears with swelling of the
vagina, bloodish discharge, pain during sexual intercourse
or when urinating, and lower abdominal pains.
Genital herpes
Genital herpes is a sexually transmitted viral infection. In
most cases, people are unaware of the infection because it
sometimes shows no symptoms.
"It appears for a period of two weeks and disappears. It has
signs of itching in the genital or anal area, small fluid
blisters that leave behind small painful sores when they
burst, pain when passing urine, backache, swollen glands
and fever symptoms," says Gyagenda.
He explains that this infection can be passed on to another
individual through a skin contact with one who is infected
with the virus, though it is commonly spread through sex (it
is a contagious infection).
Symptoms of herpes in women include wounds on the
vulva and in the vaginal opening, painful sores and swelling
of the cervix. According to the doctor, the infection is most
common in HIV/AIDS patients.
Common STI symptoms
"In some instances, some STIs can manifest in other parts
of the body other than the genitals such as lips, tongue or
throat, depending on the type of sex had and the STI
contracted," says Gyagenda adding, "If one cannot use a
condom during sex, they could forego it (sex) until the
infected partner is treated."
"Some STDs symptoms like HIV do not show quickly and
by the time they present themselves, the person is already
eaten up, some even take months to show," Gyagenda says.
How bad they can get
In women, it is common knowledge that when STIs are
neglected, what is put at stake before anything else is her
reproductive health. Among the men, Dr Gyagenda
explains that when untreated, these infections can spread to
other parts of the body, like the kidney in which case they
would cause kidney diseases like Pyelonephritis, a lifethreatening
infection that characteristically causes some
scarring of the kidney and may lead to significant damage
and eventual kidney failure and death.
The doctor adds that like in women, STIs in men damage
the protective surface of the penis making them more
vulnerable to catching the most dreaded STI of all, HIV.
"All STDs affect male and female depending on who
transmits it to the other. It is advisable for infected indi-
-26- Traditional African Clinic October 2011
viduals to abstain from sex until they get full treatment.
If the sick partners have sex, both parties are at risk of
acquiring other infections because of the wounds they
may have," concludes the doctor.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201106231057.html
☻☻☻☻☻☻
Incurable Gonorrhea may be
next Superbug
Some strains of STD showing signs of becoming
resistant to all treatments
By Brian Alexander
April 8, 2010
An alarming new superbug may be on its way — an
incurable form of gonorrhea. The disease, once easily
killed with a shot of penicillin, is increasingly
becoming drug-resistant. Soon, the world may face a
version that can’t be killed by any known antibiotic,
warned Catherine Ison, the director of the sexually
transmitted bacteria reference library with the United
Kingdom’s Health Protection Agency.
In recent years, as the disease has evolved, medications
once proven to kill the bacteria have become less
effective except one, a class of antibiotics called
cephalosporins. Now some strains of gonorrhea are
showing signs of being resistant to even that, Ison told
those at a scientific meeting last week in Edinburgh,
Scotland.
"If this problem isn't addressed, there's a very real
possibility that gonorrhea will become a very difficult
infection to treat," she said.
Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported
infectious disease in the United States. In 2008, there
were 336,742 official cases, but this number, the most
recent available from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, may vastly underestimate the true
number.
“We will probably have something like 700,000 cases
of gonorrhea this year,” suggested Dr. Edward W.
Hook, professor of medicine at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham and an expert on STD
infections.
Not all of those who are infected know it, contributing
to the problem. Undiagnosed cases, or infections that
are unsuccessfully treated and then linger without
obvious symptoms, can create serious health problems.
For example, teenage girls between 15 and 19 account
Continued on page 27