Rational Insanity
Ignorance can get you pubic lice
The other night, I dropped by a nearby café after working out in the gym and a few friends were there. Among them was a hypochondriac, paranoid friend named Harold. After another friend who had a cold dropped by, we began to talk about diseases, diseases, and more diseases. Eventually, we went to the topic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). It hit me really hard when I discovered how ignorant most of us are when it comes to STIs. Being the physical therapist, and the only one with 'acceptable' knowledge of the medical field, I ended up giving a lecture on STIs since this topic seemed to keep them very interested.
Anyway, there were so many things I discovered during our conversation. One friend even asked me if a strand of hair was enough to transmit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Goodness! This is no longer a matter of who is at risk and who is not because essentially, all of us are at risk. This is the reason why I decided to use this week's column to give a short overview of the most common STIs nowadays.
There are many other STIs in the book but HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea (tulo), herpes, pubic lice or crabs, and hepatitis B are among the most common diseases encountered nowadays.
Let's start off with HIV: HIV is the virus that causes AIDS or acquired immune deficiency syndrome. The reason why this is called a syndrome is because a person with AIDS (PWA) is most likely going to suffer various kinds of opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, or even the common cold or flu. Nobody in the entire history of HIV/AIDS has ever died from it. PWAs die from the complications and results of opportunistic infections and not from AIDS itself. HIV works by infecting the body's immune system which is the system in our body that protects us from diseases. Eventually, HIV kills off our body's immune system and so our body can no longer defend itself from diseases; at this stage, it is then called full-blown AIDS. HIV is transmitted in many ways, among the most common are unprotected sexual contact and intravenous transmission (through infected blood transfusions, needle sharing). Sometimes it can be transmitted from the mother to the child by way of the umbilical cord or by breastfeeding. One cannot get HIV from kissing, unless both kissing parties have bleeding wounds in their mouths. Neither can it be acquired from mosquitoes and public toilets. HIV cannot survive when exposed very briefly to the air. Protected sex lowers the risk, but does not guarantee prevention of transmission of the disease.
Hepatitis B is another disease that is transmitted quite the way HIV is transmitted. Hepa B is a disease that causes inflammation of the liver, and eventually death. Gonorrhea and herpes can be transmitted very easily. Contact with a person with herpes can transmit the virus and oral herpes can become genital herpes (oral sex) or the other way around. Gonorrhea on the other hand can transfer from one person to another via infected body fluids coming in contact with another person's mucosa or mucus membranes. Herpes is characterized by painful surface lesions on the affected areas that eventually spread and multiply if left untreated. Gonorrhea on the other hand is characterized by a painful, burning sensation felt while urinating. Eventually, pus (nana) is discharged from the genitals and if left untreated, blood. While I know what drugs are used in the treatment of some of these diseases I will not discuss them so as to avoid people from self-medicating. Seeing a doctor/gynecologist is the best thing to do if you suspect you have any of these diseases.
Pubic lice or crabs are generally considered a sign of poor hygiene. Rubbing against the pubic hair of someone with crabs can transfer the parasites to another person. A traditional remedy for this is shaving off all the pubic hair of an infected person and placing a piece of bloody steak on the area so that the parasites would transfer to the steak. Crabs can be very itchy and can multiply very quickly, so immediate remediation is the wisest thing to do.
Of course, there is still the option of safe sex. Safe sex can protect us from STIs; although the protection is not one hundred percent. The important thing is we take the necessary measures to defend ourselves from these diseases. 'An ounce of prevention is always better than a pound of cure.' Ignorance keeps us from protecting ourselves from these dreadful diseases and it is always important to arm ourselves with the necessary knowledge to make sure that we are always on top of things. Of course, we cannot get pubic lice from ignorance alone, but there is no denying that ignorance is the indirect cause of getting not only pubic lice, but also gonorrhea, HIV/AIDS, and any other STI or disease for that matter.
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