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Sexually Transmitted Disease
HOST INTRO
Hello, and welcome to The Art of Women's Health, I'm Juju Chang. Except for colds, or the flu, sexually transmitted diseases are the most common contagious diseases in the United States. Some people mistakenly think that STD's are simply the result of having unprotected sex with multiple partners. But STD's can occur from a relationship with only one person. The bottom line is STD's can happen to anyone and sometimes with devastating consequences.
HOST VO
Maryallene Klingensmith knew she was taking a chance with her boyfriend. He told her he had genital herpes, but had no symptoms. So, they briefly discussed his condition and continued to have unprotected sex.
Maryallene Klingensmith
Patient
"I think I knew I was taking a risk, I didn't know that you could catch it when your partner had no symptoms."
HOST VO
Maryallene found out the hard way, that even without symptoms, STD'S could be transmitted from one person to another. Eventually she put an end to that relationship. But three years ago, she began a new relationship, she worried about how to tell him of her condition.
Maryallene Klingensmith
Patient
"There's something I would like to tell you, I would like to talk about, and I was a little bit nervous but, I know this man, I mean I knew him very well, and I knew that he would appreciate the honesty and I just told him."
HOST VO
Not everyone is this forthcoming. What's more, many people don't even know they're infected.
HOST VO
Barbara Wilkop's story began fourteen years ago with the birth of her second child Jimmy. At first, he was a healthy newborn. But not long after his birth Barbara noticed sores beginning to appear on his abdomen and immediately alerted her doctor. She was told to take the baby to the emergency room. The situation was critical.
Barbara Wilkop
Mother
"And the pediatrician walked in to the room and took one look at the baby and walked out and immediately called the hospital for direct admittance and it was just a few hours later that, we were having Jimmy baptized because they said he had about a 33% chance of dying at that point."
HOST VO
Devastated and confused, Barbara could not understand how this happened.
HOST VO
Today Jimmy is still living at home, but at 14, he has the cognitive ability of a three-year-old, and is unable to speak.
Barbara Wilkop
Mother
"You have just so many mixed feelings, you're doing a lot of bargaining with God, just let him live I'll take him anyway I can get him just let him live, and it wasn't until later on in the whole scenario that you started wondering how did my baby get this disease?"
HOST VO
Incredibly, Barbara had no idea she was infected with genital herpes at the time of Jimmy's delivery, but eventually she found out that she and her ex-husband both had the disease. Neither one had had symptoms. She was now determined to learn whatever she could about her son's condition.
Barbara Wilkop
Mother
"I immediately started flying everywhere around the country to find out how I could help this child."
HOST VO
Despite his limitations, Barbara feels that her son teaches her lessons about life, everyday.
Barbara Wilkop
Mother
"I think one of the most important things that my sister said,... It's not only what Jimmy has done to our lives, but for our lives of awakening us to other people."
HOST VO
Barbara's story is rare. If a woman knows she's infected with herpes she can take steps to prevent the transmission of the disease to her baby.
HOST VO
Dr. Gloria Bachmann is the associate dean of women's health at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Gloria Bachmann, MD
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
"Women who have Herpes infections are often concerned about pregnancy and delivery because they know they can transmit the Herpes infection to their baby, especially if they have an active infection and deliver vaginally. However the good news is if they don't have an active infection or if the infection is localized so that it can be covered then a vaginal delivery is still possible."
HOST VO
Like herpes, most STDs are a-symptomatic. That's why they're referred to as the "silent" epidemic. There are actually more than 20 different diseases that are sexually transmitted. Women who are sexually active should be aware that if left untreated, STD's could result in lifelong consequences.
NAT SOUND
Lisa, it's Dr. Bachman, may I come in?
Gloria Bachmann, MD
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
"When I counsel women about sexually transmitted diseases, their first worry is HIV, however another major problem in women is Chlamydial infections, which is another sexually transmitted disease that can go relatively unnoticed for long periods of time in a woman's life and is only evident when she tries to get pregnant and realizes that she has old tubal scarring from a previous Chlamydial infection."
HOST VO / Graphic
There are other serious consequences for untreated sexually transmitted diseases. Hepatitis B can lead to cirrhosis of the liver, primary liver cancer and even death. Gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, and tubal scarring, which is a major cause of infertility. The human papilloma-virus or HPV may lead to cervical cancer. And of course, HIV can lead to AIDS. If left untreated, it too, can also be passed along from a mother to child.
HOST VO
Doctors say it's important that all sexually active women be tested for these diseases if they feel they might be at risk.
HOST VO
Doctor Joyce Schwartz is the chief laboratory officer for a national diagnostic company.
Joyce Schwartz
Pathologist
"There are quite a few number of blood tests, there's a test for herpes, herpes type 1 and type 2 can be tested from the blood.....HIV is a blood test also, we can test on the urine for gonorrhea and for Chlamydia and also from a cervical swab we can look for gonorrhea and Chlamydia also."
HOST VO
Women who do have a sexually transmitted disease should know it's not the end of their sexual lives. There are therapies and treatments available today that may not cure the condition, but certainly can make it easier to live with them.
Maryallene Klingensmith
Patient
"How many of us have not made errors in judgment in our sex lives. I don't know very many people.... and if you're going to spend years and years beating yourself up over it, that's a lot of lost time and that's a lot of time that you could have spent doing a lot of fun things."
HOST VO
The bottom line: see your doctor, get tested and get treated.
HOST TAG
Anyone who has unprotected sex runs the risk of exposure to a sexually transmitted disease. There are fifteen million new STD cases in the United States every year, and approximately one-quarter of those are teenagers. Doctors suggest women who are sexually active get tested if they think there's even a slight chance they might have a Sexually Transmitted infection.
HOST VO
A survey conducted by the American Social Health Association reveals that women are at greater risk than men for acquiring sexually transmitted diseases from heterosexual intercourse. Women are ten times more likely than men to contract HIV during unprotected sex with an infected partner.
NARRATOR VO
Coming up on The Art of Women's Health:
HOST VO
Evelyn's diagnosis was difficult to grasp at first. She and her husband were looking forward to doing the things they had put off because of her colon cancer. But now, she had become a patient all over again.
EVELYN MORGAN
"So I felt scared, but also hopeful. I had done it once, and I would do it again."
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