Myth #15- TALKING about STDs encourages SEX

Okay, my last myth for April's STD Awareness Month is one that I'm truly passionate about airing. Let me assure you, when I teach youth about sexually transmitted infections, no one leaves the room ready to jump in the sack! There is NOTHING SEXY about genital warts, infertility, and painful, recurring ulcers in your genitals. NOTHING!

When we teach kids that they shouldn't smoke, we do way more than say "don't smoke". We appropriately teach them that not only does nicotine cause yellow teeth and bad breath, but also leads to lung cancer (and bladder cancer and mouth/throat cancers!) Do pictures of black lungs and stained teeth encourage youth to go out and try smoking??

So, why not teach our kids about the real medical risks of physical intimacy? It's NOT ENOUGH to say "don't have sex". Believe me, that is why I wrote the book Seductive Delusions: how everyday people catch STDs! I wrote the book for every smart, educated, and yes, religious young person who ended up with a sexually transmitted disease because they did NOT understand all the facts.

BOTTOM LINE: Teaching kids about STDs does NOT encourage them to have sex- it helps them have all the information they need to make smart, safe choices.

STD Myth #14- Penicillin will cure it!

"Oh, it's nothing a shot of penicillin wont fix, right?" If you're over forty, you probably grew up hearing this one. In fairness, back then, it was kind of true! Unfortunately, now we only have ONE sexually transmitted disease that penicillin can still cure- syphilis. Amazingly enough, a shot of penicillin really will fix that one!

However, it's important to note that half of our STDs are viral (herpes, HPV, HIV, & hepatitis A, B, and C) and therefore NO antibiotic can cure them. We do have anti-viral medications that can help suppress these infections, but no cure yet.
Additionally, gonorrhea (which IS a bacterial infection) has become resistant to multiple different classes of antibiotics, so now there is only one type of antibiotic which is still effective.

BOTTOM LINE: Realize a simple dose of antibiotics will NOT always "fix" an STD.

Myth #13- AIDS is disappearing

HIV disease is far from disappearing. We have over a million Americans living with HIV disease or AIDS. (AIDS is more advanced disease, and many people with HIV disease have little or no symptoms.) When the AIDS epidemic erupted, it was depicted as a disease of the gay male population in San Francisco. Sadly, many people still believe the myth that only that group is at risk for HIV disease.
So what are the facts? Which Americans have HIV? An estimated 47% are black, 34% are white, and 17% are Hispanic. Roughly one in four people with HIV disease are unaware of their infection. 74% are male, and 26% are female. 45% of people with HIV are indeed men who have sex with men (gay or bisexual or on the "down low"), 27% are heterosexuals who had "high risk" contact, and 22% are intravenous drug users. By age, the majority are 25-44 years old at diagnosis.
BOTTOM LINE: HIV has infected over a million Americans, and one fourth of them are unaware- get tested and make sure you know your status.

Myth #12- Tricks are for Kids!

Okay, I'm spelling it differently to avoid brand recognition and association with STDs, but if you're over forty, you get it! The key is, if you are a legitimate grownup (over 35, or maybe 40, in my book) then the whole point is you DO NOT want to "get it", if IT is a sexually transmitted disease. We have fallen into the habit of worrying about our kids making poor choices so much that we are ignoring OUR generation's bad decisions. Whether it's the habit of having a couple glasses of wine out at meals before we drive our family home, or assuming the new partner we are dating wouldn't be the kind of guy/gal to have an STD, we need to realize that more life experience does not equal entitlement to ignore safety precautions.
BOTTOM LINE: Grown ups get STDs, too!

Myth #11- Symptoms Gone, Disease Gone?

Okay, this myth ties in with the earlier one that you'd KNOW if you had an STD. How many women out there have used an over-the-counter (OTC) product to treat a presumed yeast infection? Well, here's the thing. An itch, burn or discharge is NOT always a yeast infection, regardless of whether or not the symptoms go away when you use an OTC treatment.
Many sexually transmitted diseases have transient symptoms, causing an initial itch, burn, or discharge, but then those symptoms resolve on their own, although the infection is still there. This is not only true, but very common, especially with chlamydial infections. The problem is that even though now silent, this infection can be damaging your reproductive tract, possibly even leading to infertility.
So, when is a yeast infection "just" a yeast infection (which is really a yeast overgrowth, not a true infection)? Well, if you are taking an antibiotic (which kills off the good bacteria in your vagina along with the problem bacteria causing an infection elsewhere, like your sinuses), AND you have not ever had a sexual partner (or are in a long-standing monogamous relationship), it is likely yeast. If you have had a new sexual partner, however, I'd suggest you go to your doctor and be diagnosed accurately.
BOTTOM LINE: Don't assume that symptoms resolving with the use of a yeast medicine confirms that you "only" had yeast!

Myth #10- Vaccines prevent ALL STDs

Vaccines are wonderful. They save lives and prevent a tremendous amount of disease. A couple years ago, the first vaccine designed to prevent cancer was released on to the market- Gardasil, the HPV vaccine. This vaccine protects young women (and now young men) from four different strains of the human papilloma virus, which is the cause of cervical cancer. Specifically, two strains of HPV, types 16 and 18, cause 70% of cervical cancers. It turns out that these same strains cause other cancers as well, including penile, anal, and some head and neck cancers (which is one reason that males are now being vaccinated as well.)
Happily, the vaccine also protects people against the two types of HPV that cause 90% of genital warts.

Is it expensive? Yes, but if you ask anyone who has suffered through the experience of having genital warts (and having them treated), believe me, they'd tell you it's well worth it.
Is it safe? Yes, all the data shows that this is a safe vaccine, and given the population receiving the vaccine, it has been under tremendous scrutiny.
Does it protect you against ALL STDs? NO! While it would be terrific if a single vaccine made you bullet-proof, that is not the case. This vaccine only protects against genital warts and cervical cancer, and even that is not 100%.
BOTTOM LINE: HPV Vaccines protect against HPV ONLY, not gonorrhea, herpes, chlamydia, or any other sexually transmitted disease!

Myth #9- One Time Wont Hurt!

What's the big deal about "just once"? The big deal is that unless the person you are with has NEVER before been intimate with another partner, you are not exposing yourself to "just" one person. When you get together with "Justin" (insert the appropriate name here!), you are actually hooking up with all of Justin's former partners, AND everyone THOSE partners have been with, and SO ON, and SO ON! Think of it as a pyramid. This is the number one reason that you can catch an STD from "just once", because once might mean once, but usually means five, ten, fifty or a hundred.
I had a patient last year who had three direct contacts, but after we discovered she had positive tests for not only Chlamydia, but also HIV, we went back and did the math. Her first boyfriend had around ten previous partners, the second had closer to twenty, and the third was around twenty. Therefore, my patient had been exposed to at least FIFTY, and what are the odds that those fifty were all "virgins" (meaning no prior sexual contact of any type)? Gee, I'm guessing none! So, with only three partners, my patient had effectively been with over a hundred other people.
BOTTOM LINE: When you are sexually intimate with one person, you are exposed to everyone they have hooked up with in their past, AND those partners' former partners, AND so on!