Sexually Transmitted Diseases - Causes
STDs are transmitted during sexual activity. Sexual activity often involves the exchange of bodily fluids between two people. These bodily fluids include semen, blood, and saliva. The risk of contracting an STD is low in any sexual activity in which no bodily fluids are exchanged.
During sexual activity, the organisms that cause STDs are passed from an infected person to an uninfected person. Once those organisms enter the healthy person's body, they begin to grow and reproduce. After a certain period of time, enough organisms are present in the body to begin causing the symptoms of the disease.
The period after infection, during which the organisms are developing, is known as the incubation period. The incubation period varies widely for various STDs. For gonorrhea, NGU and NSU, the incubation may be as short as a few days. For HIV infections, the incubation period may be as long as ten years.
Syphilis is one of the most terrible diseases known to humans. When the organism that causes the disease (a spirochete ) enters the body, it produces relatively mild symptoms. The spirochete then goes into hibernation for many years. Later in the patient's life, the spirochete becomes active again. It then causes horrible symptoms. The patient may lose control of nervous and muscular functions, often accompanied by severe pain. Eventually severe mental disorders may develop, including insanity. The disease may also cause death.
A cure for syphilis was not available until the early twentieth century. It was found quite by accident. The German bacteriologist Paul Ehrlich was searching for a drug that would kill bacteria that cause disease. He called that drug his "magic bullet."
Ehrlich and his students organized their search for a "magic bullet" in a very systematic way. They made a list of all the chemical compounds they wanted to test. Then they tried each chemical on the list, one at a time.
In 1907, Ehrlich's team had reached compound #606. They found it had no effect on bacteria, so they set it aside. Two years later, one of Ehrlich's assistants decided to test compound #606 on spirochetes. He found that it killed them very effectively. A "magic bullet" for syphilis had been found!
The compound Ehrlich's team discovered contains the element arsenic. Arsenic is a powerful poison. The team named the compound salvarsan.
The symptoms of various STDs vary widely. In some cases, there may be no symptoms at all, but in most cases symptoms develop that are characteristic of a specific form of STD. Common symptoms of STDs include:
- In men, a discharge from the tip of the penis accompanied by pain while urinating
- In women, vaginal itching, burning, and odor, sometimes accompanied by bleeding not associated with menstruation
- In both men and women, swelling of lymph nodes in the groin
- In both men and women, skin rashes, sores, bumps, or blisters near the mouth, the genitals, or the anus
- Fever, chills, and other flu-like symptoms
- Aches and pains in the joints
- Swelling and redness in the throat that lasts for more than three weeks
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