Showing posts with label sexually. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sexually. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

HPV Genital Infection - Austin STD Testing Clinic

Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STI). The virus often attacks the skin and mucous membranes. HPV infects the genital areas of both men and women including the skin of the penis, vulva, and anus, linings of the vagina, cervix and rectum. One may never know who is infected with HPV. It is hard to detect the infection. Those who are already infected with barely know that they have been infected unless they take the STD test. Learn more about Austin STD testing clinics

Most of the time, HPV do not show symptoms. But since it causes genital warts, the symptoms of the warts are the ones noticed. There are health complications that may happen if the infection is not treated such as cervical cancer and other less common cancers, such as cancers of the vulva, vagina, anus, and penis.

HPV has two types; the high risk and low risk. The low risk infections are the ones that usually cause genital warts while the high risk ones are the cancer-causing infection.

Genital warts show small bumps that usually appear in the genital area. They can appear on the vulva, in or around the vagina or anus, on the cervix, and on the penis, scrotum, groin, or thigh. Warts may appear within weeks or months after sexual contact with an infected person. Cervical cancer, unless advanced cases, will not show any symptoms. It will only be detected through Pap smear or other reproductive health screenings.

Genital HPV is transmitted through sexual contact, often during vaginal or anal sex. A pregnant woman may pass the infection to her baby at childbirth. The baby may then experience several health complications.

Today, there is a vaccine given to females aging from 11 – 26 to protect them from HPV infection. For those who choose to be sexually active, condoms may lower the risk of HPV, if used all the time and the right way. Condoms may also lower the risk of developing HPV-related diseases, such as genital warts and cervical cancer. However, condoms may not be 100 percent sure of securing one of all STDs around. So the only sure way to prevent HPV is to avoid all sexual activity. One may also lower their risk of becoming infected by practicing monogamy. Changing or having multiple sex partners can put one at risk to being infected with HPV.

Women may also be protected by having a regular reproductive health screening. This is to detect health abnormalities that may cause cervical cancer.  Another way is to take an STD test. This is to confirm if one is infected with STD or not. One may go to a hospital or local health center for a local STD testing. Or one may visit an STD testing clinic for testing, screening, counseling and treatment. Once a disease is detected, the patient may immediately have a treatment. Some STDs may be cured with antibiotics and completely eliminate the disease from one’s body. Treatment may depend on the disease and its intensity when detected.

Treating STD is not an easy matter to deal with. Often times, patients get too frustrated with their situation. This is where counseling becomes a treatment tool.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Gardasil Vaccine for HPV-Related Cancer Full of Dangers


School supplies and new outfits are on parents’ minds at this time of year, but they should be aware of a new danger – the aggressive promotion of the potent vaccine Gardasil, which has been linked to the deaths of up to 39 women and a host of other problems.

Produced by Merck & Co., Gardasil is a vaccine designed to prevent human papilloma virus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection which can cause cervical cancer. Advertised as a “vaccine against cancer,”  Merck has poured millions of dollars into a promotion campaign that has reached to the level of school and city health officials.
But an independent study by the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC) compared Gardasil with Manactra, an anti-meningitis drug that is also given to children. The report said, “compared to Menactra, receipt of Gardasil is associated with at least twice as many emergency room visit reports; four times more death reports; five times more ‘did not recover’ reports; and seven times more ‘disabled’ reports.”

“Catalog of Horrors”
Approved by the FDA in 2006 for girls and women age 9 through 26, Gardasil is the focus of some 6,700 unsettling cases reported by the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), an agency of the department of Health and Human Services. Many of the cases seem to indicate a possible cause and effect relationship between the drug and its many problems. It is estimated that only one in ten adverse effects of such drugs are reported.

"The FDA adverse event reports on the HPV vaccine read like a catalog of horrors,” said Tom Fitten, president of Judicial Watch, a non-partisan watchdog group that says that there has not been a chance to study long-term side effects of the vaccine.
School and public health officials have been pushing the vaccine for girls in the weeks before school begins, and some states have considered mandatory vaccinations.

Many Side Effects
The FDA package insert for the drug lists these possible side effects: headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, local injection site reactions such as pain, swelling of the skin, itching, and bruising, seizure-like activity, and anaphylaxis, which is an allergic reaction.

Womancare Services, Inc. - About the Author:
Women in Berwyn, Oak Park, Stickney, LaGrange, Cicero, Westchester, and nearby towns are encouraged to learn more about the vaccine, and the suitability of its use for you or your daughter by contacting WomanCare Services in Berwyn, IL. WomanCare Services offers help to women facing unintended pregnancies in the near southwest Chicago area. Go to WomanCare Services. Or call 708-795-6000.