A Secret Cause of Female Infertility
There are a variety of causes of femal infertility, however, sexually transmitted disease is the most preventable cuase. In particular, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.
The CDC estimates that 8 million cases of the chlamydia infection and 718,000 cases of gonorrhea occur every year in the United States. Unfortunately, these infections are often symptomless in women. Up to 40% of women will develop pelvic inflammatory disease, leading to infertility, when not properly treating an STD.
Let’s talk about these conditions in more detail.
Chlamydia
The chlamydia infection is an infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis. Significant damage to a womans reproductive organs can occur, although symptoms can be very mild or absent.
The chlamydia infection is spread through vaginal, oral or anal sex.An infected mother can also pass it to her baby during birth.
As I stated previously, this is often a “silent” disease. There may be no symptoms at all. Symptoms can be displayed through vaginal burning or discharge, painful urination, nausea, abdominal pain or discomfort with sexual intercourse. Symptoms typically do not occur for 1-3 weeks following infection. Also, women who have the this infection have up to a 5 times greater chance of acquiring the HIV infection.
Gonorrhea
The gonorrhea infection is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeao bacterium. It is also a sexually transmitted disease that is quite common. Left untreated, this infection can cause serious problems for a woman including infertility.
In common with chlamydia, the gonorrhea infection is spread through sexual contact by an infected partner or infected mother to her child during the birthing process.
Symptoms in women are often mild and, in many cases, produce no symptoms at all. Symptoms often start as pain and burining with urination or vaginal bleeding or discharge, however, other symptoms may exist.
It is uderstandable, for those who are sexually active, the greater importance of STD testing. A urine test can be used to screen for these infections. These STD tests can be extremely important in the health of women and their future fertility.