Certain diseases are a major cause of concern as often these diseases can cause severe health complications. Various campaigns and awareness have been spread both by the government and NGOs for practicing safe sex to fight against these sexually transmitted diseases. Here are a few tips on how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

1. Selective Abstinence: Selective abstinence is when people indulge in certain sexual activities, but limit in what they do to avoid the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. People who do practice selective abstinence run a lower risk of contracting sexually transmitted diseases, which is also dependent on the type of sexual activity they indulge in as certain sexual acts have a higher chance of spreading STDs than others.

2. Using condoms: Using latex condoms decreases the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. If you use lubricants, make sure that they are water based. Condoms are however not 100% effective at preventing sexually transmitted diseases, but reduce the chance of infection to a great extent. It is highly advised to learn how to properly use condoms.

3. Mutual monogamy: Another way to avoid getting infected by STDs is to practice mutual monogamy. If you and your partner do not have sex with anyone else, then it greatly reduces the chances of getting infected with sexually transmitted diseases.

4. Getting tested: Getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases as well as asking your partner to do so decreases the chances of transmitting sexually transmitted diseases. Refrain from having sex if either of you test positive.

5. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs: Avoiding the usage of recreational drugs and alcohol reduces the chances of contracting STDs. Indulging in sexual activities while being highly intoxicated can both cause you to forget practicing safe sex.

6. Practicing healthy habits: Practicing certain healthy habits also reduces the chances of contracting sexually transmitted diseases. These include avoiding sharing towels and undergarments, washing before and after sexual intercourse and getting a vaccination for hepatitis B.

7. Low risk and high risk activities: Certain sexual activities such as open mouth kissing and hand to genital contact have a lower risk of infection. Other activities such as oral sex, vaginal intercourse, and genital to genital contact have a higher chance of infection. Understanding the risks better would allow you to avoid contacting diseases easily.

7 Tips to Avoid Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Sadly, there is no known cure for hiv. However, it can be controlled through medication. Hiv or the human immunodeficiency virus attacks the body's immune system and over time leaves it vulnerable to a number of other diseases. In its most advanced stages, it can lead to aids. Hence, it is essential to control this virus in its early stages.

Hiv treatment is known as antiretroviral therapy or art. This involves taking a series of hiv medicines on a daily basis. Art can help hiv patients live a longer, healthier life and can also reduce the risk of hiv transmission.

The first step towards getting treated for hiv is to get tested. This can be easily done at your nearest health center and the results will be kept confidential. With hiv prevention is better than cure and hence, if you have more than one sexual partner, you must insist on them getting tested as well.

As soon as you test positive for the virus, start the treatment. Do not wait till you start feeling sick. Art can be taken by anyone at any stage of the condition. If you are pregnant, breast feeding or have been diagnosed with early hiv infection, this is all the more important.

Hiv medication works by preventing the hiv cells from multiplying and thus reduces the amount of hiv cells in the body. A low level of hiv cells gives the immune system a chance to recover and strengthen itself. A lowered hiv count also reduces chances of transferring the virus to another person.

Art involves following a regimen of a number of medicines. There are 25 hiv medicines that can be grouped under six drug classes depending on how they affect hiv cells. These include:

1. Nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
2. Non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors
3. Protease inhibitors
4. Fusion and entry inhibitors
5. Pharmacokinetic enhancers and
6. Integrase strand transfer inhibitors

Usually, a person is prescribed 3-4 hiv medicines from a minimum of 2 drug classes. A number of factors go into deciding what form of hiv treatment is most suitable to a patient. This includes the person's individual needs, symptoms presented, potential drug interactions and possible side effects. Convenience of following the regimen and costs are also taken into account while prescribing a form of treatment to a hiv patient.

Once treatment is started, art can be proven to be effective within 3-6 months by lowering the number of hiv cells in the body.

HIV/AIDS - How Can It Be Treated?

In most diseases, early detection of the disease is the key to control the symptoms, cure, reduce progression and improve prognosis. This holds true for sexually transmitted diseases too. As soon as there is a mild degree of suspicious of having contracted a sexually transmitted disease, it is advisable to go for a test. Most of the STDs can develop into serious complications over a period of time, ranging from infertility to even death.

Complications: Why early diagnosis is important: When left undiagnosed and untreated, most STDs progress to cause severe damage from sterility to cancer to even death. Listed below are some complications associated with each of the common STDs.

Chlamydia: If left untreated, can lead to epididymitis and testicles shrinking and infertility in males. This is a condition where there is pus formation in the scrotum. In women, it can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease which is deep-seated and unable to cure completely. This brings with it symptoms ranging from abdominal pain to uterine infections to sterility.
Syphillis: Undiagnosed syphilis can lead to blindness and deafness. It can also be passed onto the newborn and lead to severe disabilities.
Gonorrhea: If diagnosed early, it can be cured completely with antibiotics. However, if left untreated, it can lead to infertility.
HIV/AIDS: Early diagnosis can help in curtailing the disease. If detected late, then the damage is quite extensive and treatment is both expensive and cannot help restore a lot of functions. 
Symptoms of Sexually transmitted diseases: If there is a doubt of having contracted an STD, then it is very important to get tested for the same. Some of the most common symptoms are listed below.

Women: The most common symptoms in women including painful urination, burning sensation, abnormal vaginal discharge (sometimes bleeding), warts, and abdominal pain.
Men: Testicular pain, urethral pain, painful urination, pain and inflammation in the prostate, sores, fever, and abdominal pain.
Prevention: Always practice safe sexual practices. When in doubt, refrain from sex until diagnosis and treatment is complete.

Testing for STDs: Some of the standard tests include:

1. Herpes- HSV I & II - 
2. Testing HIV-- Kits and ELISA available for testing 
3. Blood test for syphilis antibodies 
4. Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea - from urine as well as swabs for culture
It is understandable that getting tested for STDs is an embarrassing situation. However, there are options available where anonymity can be maintained when getting tested for STDs. This is a wise choice to make as the risk is not just for the person affected but for the partner and in some cases even for the fetus. Early testing can help prevent complications like infertility and cancer.

STD Testing - Why You Should Never Delay?

Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) are infections that you can get from having sex with someone who already has the infection. The causes of STDs are bacteria, parasites, and viruses. These infections often do not cause any symptoms, and can still be passed unknowingly from the infected partner to the other. However, some common symptoms include genital itching, lesions, flu / fever like symptoms and feeling pain / pressure in the lower part of the stomach.

There are many kinds of STDs including Chlamydia, gonorrhea, genital herpes, syphilis and HIV.

The important thing to understand and know is that these STDs can be prevented.

3 ways of preventing STDS are:

1. Precautions before having sex

There are some things you can do to reduce your risk of contracting STDs before having sex. This include:

  Limiting the number of sexual partners
  Talking honestly with partners about your sexual history
  Getting tested, along with your partner, before having sex
  Getting timely vaccination against HPV and HBV

If you have been diagnosed with an STD you should tell your partner about it and also explicitly ask your partner if they have had an STD.

2. Practice safe sex

Use a latex condom every time you have sex and use a water-based lubricant. If your sex life involves intercourse, anal or vaginal, make up your mind to never have sex without a condom. If you or your partner is at a high risk of STDs, be consistent about barrier use during oral sex as well. Avoid sharing towels or underclothing to reduce the risk of an STD. Check the expiration date of the condom and make sure that it has an air bubble, which shows it has not been punctured. Dispose the condom properly and never reuse it.

3. Don't drink Alcohol or use drugs before having sex

It's impossible to make responsible choices about your sex life under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When you are under the influence of any one of them, you are not in your mind and are likelier to choose a partner you wouldn't have picked otherwise. In that case, you may be at a higher risk of contracting an STD. Also, if you are on birth control pills and you vomit, the pills could lose some effectiveness.



3 Ways You Can Prevent STDs (Sexually Transmitted Diseases)

Don't Panic !

Having unprotected sex isn't the smartest move a person can make, but it isn't necessarily the end of the world, so follow the advice below and you should be fine.

We Had Unprotected Sex And...I Think I'm Pregnant

Finding out you're pregnant can be the happiest or the scariest day of your life.

Don't wait around and bury your head in the sand saying 'it won't happen to me' and 'I'll be fine' you might not be, and then you'll find yourself in a much more difficult situation than if you'd faced the situation head on and quickly.

If the intercourse happened less than 72 hours ago, emergency contraception, the morning-after pill, can be taken as a precaution against you becoming pregnant. However, note that the sooner you take the emergency contraceptive pill, the higher its efficiency is.

We Had Unprotected Sex And...I Think I Have an STI

Check for any unusual symptoms around your genitals (vagina or penis), such as:

Pain when you urinate
Itching
An unusual or smelly discharge
Sores
Unexplained bleeding
If any consult your healthcare provider immediately

Not all STIs have visible symptoms so even if you think you're fine, after having unprotected sex, get tested!

Go For Sexually Transmitted Disease Profile Including HIV ( 1ST Month HIV RNA, 3RD MONTH HIV ELISA), HSV 1 and 2, HbsAg, HCV, Urine Routine, VDRL, etc.

We Had Unprotected Sex And...I Think I May Get HIV

Take Post Exposure Prophylactic Drugs (Anti - HIV) as soon as possible. It works when started within 72 hours and must be continued for 1 month to prevent HIV.



What If You Have Unprotected Sex?

The HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a critical disease. This virus invades a person's immune system which is the body's defense against infections such as viruses and bacteria. The immune system doesn't work properly and becomes deficient once attacked by HIV. One social acknowledgement to HIV that has gained enough recognition is the HIV counselling due to the crucial need to counsel the patient about sexual behavior and the risks associated with it. 

Importance of HIV counselling 
The human immunodeficiency virus has become an epidemic in nature and has reached to a distressing proportion worldwide as it is in its third decade. Thus, counselling becomes remarkably crucial part of the treatment. 

HIV prevention counselling is a significant mode of behavioral invasion particularly in the deficiency or lack of an effective curative treatment or vaccine. HIV counselling varies from other forms of counselling sessions. Apart from being a health obstacle, the disease is equally overwhelming for the family as well as people around you. family. It is also connected with endless and intense human suffering which stimulates multiple emotional responses. Such reactions involve self-denial, grief, fear, loss, anxiety, anger, annoyance, depression self-blaming, pity, self-condemnation isolation and suicidal thoughts. 

Also, the risk of passing the virus to the partner during sexual activity is high and the patient must be aware of safe sex and the risks associated with unprotected sex. Hence, counselling becomes paramount. 

Counselling session s information Self-care counselling: 
The patient must be well informed about the disease and should be supported in embracing attitudes, actions, and beliefs which will defend and serve as a protective shield to the body s immune system. Improving, enhancing, and transforming nutrition is required. A few other things that are emphasized are, encouraging physical activity, avoiding objects, actions, and events that threaten the body, overcoming anxiety and stress that compromise the psychological, mental, physical and welfare of the body, and seeking and giving support for self-care. 

Types of counselling: 

Patient centered counselling: It changed the focus of counselling from a single informative one to one that concentrated on a patient s circumstances and needs. This involved active listening, to render better support and managing client's particular prevention needs. 
Risk reduction counselling: This includes examining client s awareness about sexual activity and their feelings.Using their current HIV knowledge as an appealing tool, the limitations they have for protected sex is discussed. A better understanding is ensured in the patients so that unsafe behaviors can be avoided. 
Grief counselling: People who are contaminated with HIV have an elevated risk of acquiring depression. Counselling helps you to deal with any emotional outburst. 
Aims of counselling in HIV infection-

Prevention is the first purpose of HIV counselling. It decides whether the lifestyle puts that individual at a higher risk. Helping to recognize and distinguish the definitions of high-risk behavior. The counselling contributes to behavioral change and also aims at working with the person and his family to obtain and sustain that change in approach and behavior.

HIV Counselling - Why It Is Important To Get It?

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