There are various causes of infertility in women, but STD’s produce the two most preventable causes.  In particular, Chlamydia and Gonorrhea.

In the United States, each year over 700,000 cases of gonorrhea and over 8,000,000 cases of chlamydia occur.  Unfortunately for women, these diseases often produce no symptoms.Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which may lead to female infertility, can develop if sexually transmitted diseases are left untreated.

Let’s now discuss these health conditions in more detail.

Chlamydia

The chlamydia infection is an infection caused by the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis.  Symptoms are often mild or even absent, but can cause significant damage to a woman’s reproductive organs.

Chlamydia is passed by an infected partner through vaginal, oral or anal sexual contact. An infected mother may also pass the infection to her baby during delivery of the baby.

As I stated previously, this is often a “silent” disease.Ther can be no symptoms at all. Symptoms of this infection include painful urination, vaginal burning or discharge, abdominal pain or nausea or pain with sex.It is common for symptoms to take 1-3 weeks to be displayed, once infection occurs.  Also, women who have the this infection have up to a 5 times greater chance of acquiring the HIV infection.

Gonorrhea

The gonorrhea infection is caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeao bacterium.  It is also a sexually transmitted disease that is quite common. Significant health problems, including infertility, can occur if no treatment occurs.

Like chlamydia, gonorrhea can be spread by sexual contact and can be spread from mother to baby during childbirth.

Symptoms in women are often mild and, in many cases, produce no symptoms at all. Various symptoms are possible, however, symptoms often begin as burning or pain with urination, vaginl discharge or bleeding between periods.

It is uderstandable, for those who are sexually active, the greater importance of STD testing. A urine test can be used to screen for these infections.  These STD tests can be extremely important in the health of women and their future fertility.

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