YOUR SEXUAL EXPOSURE

You are the person who decides whether to expose yourself to STDs. The number of infected people is constantly increasing. And most of these people don’t even know that they are carriers of disease.

An estimated 65,000,000 people in the United States currently have an incurable STD.

Some of these diseases can be treated with antibiotics, others cannot and will remain with you the rest of your life. And some are quite deadly. All have consequences that no one wants.

Over 19,000,000 people become newly infected with STDs each year in the United States. And two thirds of these people are under the age of 25. Being sexually active has always carried the risk of disease. But today the risk has increased many times.

If you do become infected, you probably will not know it, at least at first. Some STDs take weeks, moths or possibly even years to show symptoms. Being sexually active during this time can infect your sexual partners.

If you become infected with certain STDs, it can increase your chance of contracting HIV/AIDS by 2 to 5 times. That is a frightening thought, considering that AIDS is routinely fatal.

For women who are infected with chlamydia or gonorrhea there is a greater chance of developing Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, or PID. PID causes about 100,000 women to become infertile each year with permanent damage to reproductive organs.

The epidemic of STDs has increased the danger of sexual activity dramatically. However, you also live at a a time when more is known about these diseases than ever before. You can avoid the consequences, but it is a choice only you can make.

The 2006 STD Treatment Guidelines perpared by the CDC; “Primary prevention of STD begins with changing the sexual behaviors that place persons at risk for infection” and “The most reliable way to avoid transmission of STDs is to abstain from sex (i.e., oral, vaginal, or anal sex) or to be in a long-term, mutally monogamous relationship with an uninfected partner.”

In other words, abstinence while you are single and being sexually faithful while married are the two most effective ways to avoid Sexually Transmitted Disease.