A to Z Medical DiseasesPractical Information on Medical Diseases

The U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) tells us almost 700,000 men and women per year contract gonorrhea. The makes gonorrhea one of the most common STD’s around. Of that 700,000, less than half are even reported to the CDC. Why is that? Well, one reason could be that early gonorrhea symptoms sometimes go unnoticed because they are very mild. Someone may be infected with gonorrhea and not even realize it. Unknowingly, they could be infecting others. This is just one more reason that routine STD testing is important for anyone who is sexually active.

About fifty per cent of men and seventy per cent of women infected with Chlamydia have no idea they are infected with the disease. “How can that be?” you might wonder. Well, because they simply show no symptoms. Chlamydia is often called the “silent” disease for this very reason. If chlamydia symptoms present at all, they usually do so one to three weeks following initial exposure. If you suspect you may be infected, diagnosis is easy and can be done with a simple urine sample test.

Which STD is most commonly referred to as “the great imitator”? Give up? Well, it is syphilis. Agencies, like the CDC gave it this moniker because syphilis has the ability to imitate less dangerous conditions. Many people, in turn, do not get testing and risk the chance of infecting others. In 2006, alone, over 36,000 cases of syphilis were reported by the CDC. Those most commonly infected were women 20-24 years of age, and men 35-39 years of age. Syphilis is contracted by direct contact with a syphilis chancre, or sore during oral, vaginal or anal sex.

After spending the weekend reading through the exciting novel we call healthcare reform, I was positive that I would at long last stumble upon a topic that so desperately required attention. With nineteen million new cases of STD infections each year in the U.S., I was certain that there would be an entire section, or at least a paragraph, devoted to this critical topic. After finally coming across it, I almost wish that I hadn’t. Apparently, a pandemic of this type is only worth about one hundred and fifty million dollars. That may sound like a lot, but it’s less than half a buck per person.

Since the Institute of Medicine produced it’s summary report on STDs while meeting in Washington D.C. in 1997, STDs have often been called “hidden epidemics of enormous health and economic consequences”. As the study indicated, there is a steady reluctance to talk about them openly, just as there is with any type of sexual health issue. As one can imagine, the disastrous results of any issue with enormous consequences can only be magnified when there are so many people who refuse to even acknowledge it as an issue. If efforts to quell the rising tide of STD infections are going to succeed, then a many-sided approach will be necessary, starting with a prefatory understanding of the many issues in play.