Archive for October, 2007

Chlamydia is caused by a tiny bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis.

It is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that can spread easily through sexual intercourse with an infected person.

It also spreads from mother to child during pregnancy.

Chlamydia treatment is easy and effective with antibiotics azithromycin and doxycycline.

For effective results, you need to continue the treatment according to the prescribed dosage.

It is also important to stay away from sexual activities until the infection is treated completely.

Remember that you can get re-infected with chlamydia trachomatis if your sexual partner is left untreated.

On the other hand, if you are with chlamydia and left your condition untreated then the infection can pass into the uterus and cause another sexual transmitted disease called PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease), which can easily damage the reproductive parts. It also leads to infertility or ectopic pregnancy.

The Chlamydia trachomatis damage a woman’s reproductive organs: the cervix, the urethra, and the fallopian tubes. As the chlamydia symptoms are very mild or absent, you may have permanent damages to the organs before you recognize the infection or disease in the body.

Are you a woman above the age of forty?

Then, you should know about what is perimenopause and menopause and what are its symptoms and treatments.

Perimenopause is the time period and the symptoms that precede menopause.

Perimenopause is a stage when your body begins transition into menopause stage.

Perimenopause includes the years leading up to menopause and the period can be from two to eight years.

It also includes the first year after your final monthly cycle. This is natural phenomenon in women which indicates the ending of reproductive stage.

Before menopause, there will be biological changes taking place in seven to eight years which is known as perimenopause or menopausal transition. This stage indicates the decrease in production of estrogen and childbearing potential.

Perimenopause signs! Estrogen and progesterone levels rise and fall unevenly during the perimenopause stage. Menstrual cycles lengthen and you have menstrual cycle in which you don’t ovulate.

The first sign is you have irregular monthly periods or missed periods. You notice pains and aches in this phase which you have not noticed before. You can face difficulty in concentrating on things.

Vulvar cancer is a rare type of cancer. It is a cancer or malignancy that generally affects vulva.

The vulva is the external portion of the female genital organs.

It includes: labia majora, labia minora, vestibule, prepuce¸ clitoris, fourchette, perineum, anus and urethra

The vulvar cancer usually causes half of the percent of all cancers in women, and usually develops slowly over several years.

It is estimated that over one thousand women are affecting with vulvar cancer every year.

The vulvar cancer is divided into several types. It includes: squamous cell carcinoma, vulval melanoma, adenocarcinoma, verrucous carcinoma, sarcomas, Paget’s disease, and basal cell carcinoma.

It has also been found that nearly ninety percent of cancers of the vulvar are squamous cell carcinomas and the second most general type of vulvar cancer is melanoma, usually occurs in the labia minora or clitoris.

Treatment for vulvar cancer depends on your stage of cancer, cancer of the vulvar type, age, overall health and medical condition, tolerance for specific medications, procedures, or therapies and treatment option.

Treatment for vulvar cancer may include: surgery (laser, excision, and vulvectomy), radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.

Syphilis is a most widespread curable sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by a type of bacteria called Treponema pallidum.

Actually, a person could get infected with syphilis infection through direct contact with a syphilis sore of an infected person.

These sores, generally, occur on the outer genitals, vagina, anus, or in the rectum. These can also occur on the lips and in the mouth.

In general, the syphilis infection progresses in four stages: primary, secondary, latent (hidden), and tertiary (late). Moreover, the syphilis symptoms differ at each stage.

Primary Stage

This is the first stage of syphilis. Generally, the syphilis symptoms in this stage typically begin three weeks after you become infected.

Normally, the first symptom of primary syphilis is known by the emergence of sores called chancres, which are small, round, firm, and painless.

You can notice these sores at the spots where syphilis entered your body, generally, on the outer genitals or on the inner part of the vagina. You can also notice swelling of the lymph nodes near the chancre area.

Vaginal discharge is the most common complaint among all women.

It is the fluid that is produced by the glands in the lining of the vagina and the cervix.

A small amount of vaginal discharge, which is milky white and clear with no odor, is usually normal.

The secretion of vaginal discharge which flows out of the vagina every day helps to maintain your vagina healthy and clean.

However, it becomes abnormal vaginal discharge when the amount and appearance of discharge changes.

Abnormal vaginal discharge is a highly common phenomenon that can be identified through three main symptoms: excessive discharge, changes in discharge color and odor, itching, irritation, soreness or burning sensation of vagina and vulva.

If you have an abnormal vaginal discharge then there will be an increase in the amount and thickness of discharge, white and clumpy (like cottage cheese), grayish, greenish, yellowish, or blood-tinged discharge, mucus and pus mixed in with discharge or frothy smell.

Abnormal vaginal discharge may cause with the inflammation of vagina, usually known as vaginitis, which occurs due to an infection or irritation by a chemical. It mostly occurs in young girls with a discharge that may contain blood due to a foreign object in the vagina. [Causes of Abnormal Vaginal Discharge]

Good breast health reflects your overall health condition.

Maintaining healthy breasts can help reduce the risk of having breast cancer and the diseases associated with the breasts.

Breast is an essential part of a woman. The parts of the breast are categorized according to their functions.

The parts of the breast that is responsible for milk production are lobes, lobules, ducts, nipple, and areole.

Each breast is made up of fifteen to twenty lobes, which interconnects with the nipple. Each lobe contains several lobules and each lobule contains milk-producing glands.

The lobules are connected with small tubes called ducts. Ducts are the passageways that help transport milk from the glands to the nipples.

The nipple is located in the center and is surrounded by the areola, a dark colored area. The areola has glands that produce fluid to give lubrication of the nipple during breastfeeding. Maintaining a good breast health can lead to better production of milk.

On the other hand, the parts of the breast responsible for breast support are fatty tissues, fibrous tissues, connective tissues, ligaments, blood vessels, lymph nodes and vessels, and pectoral muscle.

HIV/AIDS, which most of you believe to be a single term referring to an infection that is controllable and treatable.

Actually speaking, Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) causes AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), which is the last and most serious stage of HIV disease resulting from the specific injures to the immune system.

Today, HIV/AIDS is becoming an epidemic, infecting millions of people worldwide.

Aids have no cure or vaccine but you have antiretroviral medication, known as HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) to slow the development from HIV to AIDS.

With HAART, you can recover from HIV/AIDS and live with HIV for a very long time. HAART, a great treatment option is now being recommended by United States National Institutes of Health to all patients with AIDS.

Actually, this virus is transmitted from person to person through blood exchange, oral sex, unhygienic hypodermic needles, or blood transfusion or from mother to the baby during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.

In fact, you do not experience HIV/AIDS symptoms in the early stages. Moreover, the time it takes for AIDS symptoms to appear depends upon person to person. You feel and look healthy for years although you are attacked with AIDS virus.

Breast cancer is a malignant tumor of the breast. The term ‘cancer’ refers to a group of several related diseases that usually develops due to uncontrollable cell division. These cells are called cancer cells.

Cell is a basic unit of life and all parts of your body are made up of cells that usually divide to generate even more cells whenever your body needs.

Breast cancer is one of the most frequent types of cancer among women. In the United States, about 220,000 women are developing breast cancer yearly.

Breast cancer can be described in four different stages. The cancer cells in the breast can spread outside the breast to underarm lymph nodes to the bones, brain, liver, or lungs (where cells usually grow and multiply) through bloodstream or lymph system.

This stage of breast cancer is known as metastatic breast cancer and the tumors that form in the organs and tissues are called metastases.

In other words, metastatic breast cancer refers to a breast cancer stage that spreads within or beyond the breast and lymph nodes to other parts of the body. It is also known as stage IV breast cancer, an advanced stage of breast cancer.