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Know the Facts about STDs
To avoid getting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), we must protect ourselves and our partners. Understanding how and why our bodies change and what makes us vulnerable to STDs is the first step. But it is also important that we know the facts about sexually transmitted diseases—for example, what they are, how to know if you have one, how they’re diagnosed, and how they’re treated—in order to take care of our health.
Prevalence among women and men
As women, our risks for getting STDs are different than a man’s risks. It’s all a matter of basic biology—we’re just built differently than men! We have different hormones and different sex organs, different body chemistry and different sexual needs. Even differences in body temperatures or secretions can determine whether or not we get a particular STD.
All of these biological and physiological differences make a woman more susceptible to becoming infected with a STDs than a man.
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Impact on women’s health
Most STDs have no signs and symptoms, especially in women. Sometimes symptoms may resemble another condition, like a yeast infection. Because many STDs are hard to identify without consulting a health care provider, they can go untreated. An untreated STD can lead to serious health problems such as pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) that could lead to sterility. Visit your health care provider if you think you or your partner may be infected. Many infections can be cleared up fairly quickly and easily. Untreated STDs will affect your health in the long term, so always seek treatment from a health care provider. If possible, bring your sex partner with you so they can be tested and treated if necessary.
Understanding the nature of your infection is important to your health and well-being. You can still have relationships and a fulfilling sex life when you manage your health proactively and plan ahead for safer sex. You need to know how the STD is transmitted and how you can avoid spreading the infection to someone else. Your health care provider is the best resource for questions related to your sexual health and how it can affect you and your partner’s sex life, but the following information will help you learn more about what you are dealing with.
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Risks for women who are aging
Just because you are older doesn’t mean that you can’t get STDs. STDs do not discriminate based on age. In fact, as you get older, some of your bodies’ natural defenses against these infections weaken. If you do have a partner with an STD, you may be more likely to become infected. This is because, as we get older, our hormones naturally decline. This may happen years before your periods stop and menopause is complete. During this time and afterwards, the walls of the vagina get thinner and there is less lubrication inside—this can make it so we are more likely to have tiny scratches or cuts during sex and are more likely to “catch” a virus or bacteria from sex.
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