While the stand on teaching abstinence in sexual education has been criticized by many people, the question is really not why sexual education happens in schools, but why it does not happen in homes, with parents. Abstinence is really the best option for individuals to avoid getting sexually transmitted diseases, and then committed, monogamous relationships with a single life-long partner. Studies among sexually active communities of teenagers, homosexuals and other groups have shown the rate of transmission of sexually transmitted disease to be far higher than among groups with a low rate of sexual interaction. One of the biggest things that can happen with heterosexual couples that choose to be sexually active is unplanned pregnancy. Unplanned pregnancy often happens when a couple has unprotected sexual intercourse without using birth control. Pregnancy is not an STD, but does have long term consequences for the couple that conceives a child, inside or outside of marriage or a committed relationship.
Hormone based birth control happens with a regime of female hormones that prevent the implantation of a fertilized blastocyst. Synthetic progestogens keep the female body from accepting a pregnancy by fooling the body into thinking it is already pregnant. A change in the amounts of hormones over the course of taking the birth control pills. If the hormones are administered through a hormone implantation, there is a long term effect for controlling the odds of conception. Hormone birth control carries significant risks including increased risk of cervical and breast cancer, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, migraines, higher blood pressure, gall bladder disease, infertility, benign liver tumors, decreased bone density, yeast overgrowth and infection, and increased risk of blood clotting. The best way to prevent pregnancy is to completely abstain from sexual intercourse of any kind. While some forms of sexual intercourse do not normally end in pregnancy, they can increase the risk of contracting an STD from the mixture of bodily fluids combined with the increased possibility of open sores or cuts in that area from the trauma of sexual interaction and play.
STD tests have evolved to be extremely safe for the person being tested. While there might be some pain or discomfort from a medical physical examination that includes a PAP smear or a prostate exam, having blood drawn for the STD panel tests is simple and only slightly uncomfortable. Drawing blood can be slightly discomforting, but using blood in a test offers protection for the individual being testing with the assurance that the sample will not be contaminated with another person's fluids like a fluid sample from a person who has recently had sex might be. The blood drawn is analyzed for antibodies relative to the different diseases being tested for, ensuring that even if a person has been exposed to multiple diseases, it is only the ones they have actually contracted that will be discovered. Once a person has received their test results, they have the choice to proceed with medical treatment for their illness if they have one, or to practice measures to better protect themselves in the future. Running the tests through an independent laboratory allows the person seeking the tests to have confidentiality that might be lacking if the tests were run through a medical office. Physicians have a legal responsibility to report the occurrence of sexually transmitted diseases to their local health departments so there can be steps taken in the event of an outbreak or sudden increase in the amount of people contracting STDs. STD tests done by an independent laboratory tend to be less expensive and offer privacy not possible when the tests are done through a clinic.
Some STDs are not prevented by the use of a condom in sexual intercourse or play. Genital herpes and HPV are not among the sexually transmitted diseases that are prevented by the use of a condom, because the diseases can be passed to and from bodily tissues that are not typically covered by the condom. Some diseases that are not often thought of as being sexually transmitted are hepatitis B and C. Hepatitis B is not as well known as hepatitis C, but is growing in numbers of infections in the United States. Worldwide, there are estimated to be over three hundred and fifty million people who might have been infected with this disease. As hepatitis B is often transmitted through sexual contact, unprotected sex in countries with high rates of infection in the sex trade can infect a person who then carries the disease to their home country and spreads the infection through other unprotected sex. HPV is actually transmittable through homosexual interactions and can be the cause of cancers of the rectum and anus. There are studies being carried out to determine if both genders would equally benefit from the HPV vaccine that had previously been only given to young women to prevent cervical cancers.
STD tests can cover a wide range of potential diseases. Often a person can have a STD and not even be aware of it because they have no symptoms currently. Some sexually transmitted diseases can have years of incubation before showing symptoms and by then it might be too late to treat them successfully. HIV is one disease that can be treated better in the early stages than in an advanced condition, but the progress is gradual until the disease becomes almost unstoppable. The old length of time that it took for a person infected with HIV or AIDS to show signs of the disease could take as long as ten years, and the treatments were almost always ineffective. Newer treatments can prolong the life of the person affected and improve it significantly, especially with early detection. The diseases that can be detected through a comprehensive test include chlamydia, hepatitis b, hepatitis c, herpes simplex, HIV antibodies and syphilis. While some of these diseases are extremely painful to experience untreated, others are almost always fatal if left untreated. Early detection is best for any course of treatment, getting STD testing is important for the best outcome if any type STD infection has occurred.
