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Introduction
Abstinence is the act of refraining from something; in this case that something is sexual intercourse. There are many reasons for abstaining from sex. These reasons can be covered in physical, emotional, and spiritual areas.
Physical
STDs
STDs, or Sexually Transmitted Diseases, are infectious diseases that are passed from one person to another mostly during sexual contact. STDs are one of the most common infections known. More than 1 million people in the United States are infected with STDs every year. One forth, or million, of those people are teenagers. The United States has the highest STD rate in the world, which is that one in ten Americans will catch a Sexually Transmitted Disease during his or her lifetime. Also, there are growing rates of people becoming infected with an STD. In 167, one in thirty-two people had an STD. In 181, one in eighteen people had an STD. In 15, one in three people had an STD.
Studies show that Americans between the ages of 16 and 4 are at greater risk for contracting STDs than older adults are. This is because younger people are more likely to have many sexual partners rather than a single, long-lasting relationship. Also, young people might be more likely to have unprotected sex and may be embarrassed to tell their sexual partners they are infected. People may also be embarrassed and unable to seek any kind of treatment for their STD(s). This means that they are not only more likely to pass the disease to other young people, but they also have a greater risk of suffering the long-term consequences of untreated sexually transmitted diseases.
At least 50 percent of all people in the U.S. will develop an STD some time before they are 5 years old. The STD that a person is likely to develop depends on where they live and with whom they engage in risky sexual behavior. It also has to do with the characteristics of the organism causing the STD. Certain age groups are more vulnerable to acquiring STDs. Adolescents and young adults are at the highest risk. This is because adolescents and young adults are more willing to engage in risky activities and are most resistant to adopting prevention methods. They also are physiologically more prone to developing an infection. Women usually are the ones who this happens to. Adolescents and young adults may be at high risk for undertreating their STD, which puts them at risk to continue spreading it to another person. Remember that for someone to become infected with an STD, there has to be sexual contact with an infected person. When an STD causes uncomfortable symptoms like vaginal discharge, painful urination, or visible lesions, a person is likely to seek medical attention before engaging in further sexual activity. But even STDs that do produce uncomfortable symptoms have long incubation periods in which they are infectious. They may also be harbored in people who did not complete treatment enough to totally eliminate all traces off the disease, but took enough medicine to alleviate the symptoms. Or, the infected person did not recognize the illness they had as an STD, which usually happens when the initial symptoms of the disease might be mistaken for the common flu (which occurs in HIV disease or hepatitis). To acquire an STD, one has to engage in risky behavior, like unprotected sexual activity. This will put certain populations at higher risk, like adolescents, persons who abuse drugs and alcohol, and people who exchange sex for money. Anyone has the ability to acquire and transmit an STD, regardless of his or her gender, race, color, sexual orientation or nationality.
Many people think that condoms take away all chances of contracting an STD. This is a myth. In fact, condoms can't fully save you. STDs can infect you very easily. Thirty million STD bacteria can fit into one period at the end of the sentence. This amplifies the fact that STDs are easy to acquire.
There are many kinds of STDs for people to be infected by. New STDs are being found every year.
Chlamydia is caused by the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. It is the most commonly transmitted STD in the United States. The incubation period for the bacterium is 1 to 5 weeks, with 1 to weeks being the most common incubation period. Transmission rates are equal between males and females. "According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 500,000 chlamydia infections are reported each year. But because chlamydia may not produce noticeable symptoms, it often goes undiagnosed, and the CDC estimates that the true incidence of chlamydia is nearly ten times the number of reported cases." (Encarta) People who don't know they're infected probably will not seek to get help through medical care and they might continue to remain sexually active. This would cause them to unknowingly spread the disease. When symptoms develop, men may experience painful burning urination. Women experience burning urination, vaginal discharge, or mild lower abdominal pain. If left untreated, chlamydia damages reproductive tissue, which causes inflammation of the urethra in men and possibly pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) in women. PID can cause chronic, debilitating pelvic pain, infertility, or fatal pregnancy complications. Chlamydia infections are diagnosed by testing vaginal and penile discharge for any kind of presence of certain bacteria.
Syphilis peaked in the United States during the 140s. Discovery of penicillin, along with public health programs, accounts for the dramatic decrease of syphilis among the U.S. population seen today. Even though this happened, syphilis is still a major sexually transmitted disease and outbreaks of the disease have occurred in recent years. There were 5,5 cases of syphilis reported in 16.The incidence of disease is greatest in rural and urban areas of the South in the United States. Syphilis is caused by the organism Treponema pallidum, which a member of the family Spirochaetaceae. The organism is a tightly coiled, corkscrew-shaped bacterium. It cannot be cultured in vitro (outside the body and in an artificial environment), and can only be viewed under darkfield or electron microscopy. The organism is too thin to be seen under light microscopes. Transmission of the organism occurs by sexual contact. Thirty to forty percent of persons exposed to an infected person will get the bacteria. T. Pallidum can also be transmitted through kissing, blood transfusion, or from a mother to her fetus through the placenta. The bacterium enters the body through abrasions in the skin. The incubation period of syphilis is between and 0 days, with an average of 1 days. In four stages of having syphilis, things such as rash, ulcers, lesions, enlarged lymph glands, headache, and fever occur. Organs are also infected. Infection of the heart and major blood vessels is usually what seems to account for most deaths through this disease. Treatment for all stages of syphilis is with antibiotics. Special attention needs to be paid to pregnant women who test positive for syphilis, as there are high rates of transmission from mother to fetus, particularly when the woman has first or second stage syphilis. Untreated syphilis during pregnancy can cause premature labor or stillbirth (the birth of a dead fetus). Infants who are born infected with T. pallidum usually become sick by the third month of life. Manifestations of congenital syphilis include meningitis, anemia, and deafness.
Chancroid, a venereal disease, is not a very known STD in the United States. It has less than one thousand cases reported each year. Chancroid is caused by the bacterium Hemophilis ducreyi. Testing for chancroid is done by taking a sample of tissue from the supposed chancroid lesion. The incubation period of H. ducreyi is to 10 days. Chancroid is characterized by the development of an extremely painful lesion that usually appears in the genital region. At first the lesion looks like a raised bump that continues to grow and ulcerate over a 1 to day period. The lesion is painful as well as soft, with jagged edges, and its base may develop a yellow or gray type of ooze, or exudate. About half of people infected with H. ducreyi will develop lymphadenopathy, or infection of lymphatic vessels (mostly located at the neck, armpit, and groin). Treatment for chancroid is with antibiotics. Partners should be treated whether or not they have developed a lesion. In addition, since chancroid is related with HIV infection, the patient and his or her partners should be tested for HIV as well.
Rates of gonorrhea in the United States were the highest between 160 and 175. In 175, a national gonorrhea control program helped reduce the spread of the disease, and rates have been declining ever since then. However, gonorrhea is still a public health problem. About one to two million cases of gonorrhea occur in the United States every year, although only a fraction of these end up being detected and treated. The infection is highest in certain geographical areas or populations. Rates are highest in the South and in large cities throughout the U.S. Rates are also higher among adolescents and minorities. The large majority, which is over 80 percent of cases, occur in people ages 15 to . The highest incidences with males occur between 0 and 4 years, and with females between 15 and 1 years. The organism Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes gonorrhea. It is fast-growing, and divides in two every 0 to 0 minutes. N. gonorrhoeae can ultimately produce an almost complete resistance to penicillin. N. gonorrhoeae grows best at 6 degrees centigrade in a to 5 percent carbon dioxide environment. Transmission of the bacteria between people occurs through intercourse. Genital exposures are less efficient at spreading the bacteria. Transmission from a woman to a man after one exposure is estimated to occur about 0 percent of the time. Passage of the infection from a man to a woman is estimated to be higher. The incubation period of N. gonorrheae is 1 to 14 days, with an average of to 7 days. During this time, the toxins damage the epithelial cells that N. gonnorheae produce, and a local, purulent infection occurs in the submucosa and luminal spaces. This process helps explain the symptoms the bacteria cause in humans. The signs and symptoms of gonorrhea differ between men and women. For men, the majority will experience painful urination due to an urethral infection. About 5 percent of men with the infection will not have a urethral infection and may experience only the complications of the disease later. For women, gonorrhea may go undetected because only 50 to 80 percent of women experience symptoms once they are infected. Sometimes the symptoms, if experienced, may be so minimal that the woman may not choose to seek help. Symptoms of these two sites of infection include painful urination and increased need to urinate, along with abnormal discharge. When the woman complains of extreme abdominal pain in addition to these symptoms it is possible that she has pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), in which the bacteria have infected her fallopian tubes and other reproductive organs. If the woman is pregnant and has PID, spontaneous abortion, premature delivery of an infant, and problems in the newborn will result. Because complicated infections can cause scarring of reproductive tissue, infertility could result. Other sites of infection for both men and women include the anus and rectum, throat and eye. Results of these can be pain and bleeding. Throat infections may present sore throats to those who suffer. Eye infections occur in those with the disease, also. Disseminated gonococcal infection can occur in both men and women, although it is extremely rare. Only 1 to percent of the cases of gonorrhea result in disseminated infection. In disseminated infection the person may experience fever, arthritis, skin lesions, hepatitis, endocarditis and meningitis. Infants can also suffer from this. They would show signs such as arthritis and meningitis. Up to 50 percent of people with gonorrhea also have chlamydial infections. Therefore, treatment for gonorrhea with an antibiotic should also include treatment for chlamydia with another, appropriate antibiotic. A person who gets diagnosed with gonorrhea and receives an antibiotic must be sure to take all the antibiotics in the prescription. He or she then needs to return to a health care provider to get retested for the infection, just to ensure that it is not still present. Partners of the infected person should also go to their local health clinic to get tested for gonococcal infection.
Human papilloma virus (HPV) causes genital warts. There are over 100 subtypes of human papilloma viruses that cause warts, and each type causes warts in a specific part of the body. Over 0 subtypes of HPV cause warts in the genital area, and these subtypes are the ones that cause the STD genital warts. Only the HPV that causes genital infection is discussed in this section. Determining exactly how many people are infected with HPV is difficult, because most infections do not cause many symptoms and frequently go undiagnosed. However, it is estimated that twenty to fourty million Americans were infected with the virus, which makes it the most frequent viral STD. For people in the 0 to 4 age group, it is the fastest growing STD. Since HPV causes cervical cancer in women, one way to determine the disease burden is to track cases of cervical cancer. Cases of cervical cancer in the U.S. occur in 14,000 women a year and cause 5000 deaths a year. Having multiple sexual partners, or having a single sexual partner who has had multiple sexual partners, puts one at higher risk for becoming infected with HPV. In addition, adolescents and young adults are at high risk for the disease. These two factors are similar for all STDs. One reason that young women are at particularly high risk has to do with the lack of development. When a woman is more mature and developed, they are at lower risk. HPV itself is a small, double-stranded DNA virus of the papovaviridia family. It is transmitted from person to person during direct sexual contact in which there are micro abrasions in the skin. There are high rates of transmission following one single exposure. The incubation period of the virus is estimated to be weeks to 0 months or longer, but is usually 4 to 8 weeks. The virus infects cells found in skin membranes. It replicates in the nucleus of these cells. The course of the infection is different depending on the subtype of HPV (some are worse and "stonger" than others) and the immune status of the host. HPV can cause lesions in both women and men. Benign lesions are typically the visible warts, called condyloma. Condyloma can occur anywhere in the genital area for both women and men that have contracted the human papilloma virus. Condyloma may be so small as to be invisible to the eye but can also be seen as flesh-colored or pink slightly raised bumps on the skin. Some condylomas are almost flat, and are only minimally elevated. Condyloma can also grow to be quite large and can interfere with urination. They may also cause painful intercourse and itching in women. Men may complain of difficulty urinating. The risk of cancer from HPV infection is much higher in women than in men. Both men and women are at risk of anal cancer as well, if HPV has infected anal skin. Women (and men) are typically screened for skin and pigment changes at a health exam. Women also are screened for cervical cancer through the PAP Smear, which is recommended for all sexually active women. Often, women receive a diagnosis of HPV based on cellular changes detectable on their PAP Smears. Women (less commonly men) that are diagnosed with HPV may be recommended to undergo colposcopy. Colposcopy is simply the use of a high-powered light and microscope to examine the affected tissue in more depth. Treatment of genital HPV consists of chemical methods, freezing or laser treatment of the tissue infected with HPV. This is done so it can help any discomfort that might be there and, most importantly, prevent the progression to cancer. No treatment will fully eliminate the virus from the host, however.
Viral hepatitis is a sensitive or chronic liver disease caused by several etiologic agents. The term hepatitis refers to inflammation of the liver; viruses are only some of the current causes of hepatitis. Five types of viral hepatitis are currently known, and they are hepatitis A virus (HAV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), HBV-associated delta agent or hepatitis D virus (HDV), and hepatitis E virus (HEV). Each virus causes liver disease of a different course and outcome, some mild to moderate, others terminal and life threatening. There are extensive studies of viral hepatitis. HBV, and its associated HDV, are transmitted through exposure to blood, blood products and bodily fluids, and sexual activity is known to contribute to their transmission. The mode of transmission of HCV is believed to be largely through blood exposures, but since a certain proportion of HCV-infected individuals lack any history of blood exposures, the transmission of HCV is considered to be unproven but possible. As with all viruses, there are no cures for the illnesses, only treatment for their symptoms as well as attempts to lessen the concentration of the virus in the blood. Prevention includes the avoidance of risky behaviors, including unprotected sex, or really sex at all. Vaccines for HAV and HBV exist and are effective. HBV vaccination is now a routine vaccination for children in the U.S., but was only fairly recently developed as a routine childhood vaccine. HBV vaccination is indicated for sexually active men and women, as well as injection drug users and persons in high-risk professions. HAV vaccination is usually reserved for persons traveling to countries with unreliable water and food supplies.
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the cause of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), is a relatively recently discovered virus. The virus was isolated in 18 and linked to AIDS in 184. In 185 a test was developed to identify HIV, and since then the percentage of a population that is affected (detectable by blood test; at a given time) with the disease in the United States and across the world has been under careful inspection. The attention paid to HIV disease and AIDS since its discovery has been exponential, resulting in significant information in HIV virology, its pathogenesis, and treatment. The rate at which information flows within the study of HIV is unsurpassed by any other disease. HIV is a disease that is transmitted sexually. It was estimated that by the end of 1, over .4 million adults were infected with the virus, along with 1. million children. In the U.S., AIDS is the leading cause of death for certain groups of 5 to 44 year-olds. Since HIV is spread through sexual contact and exposure to blood products, characteristics of AIDS are directly related to the practice of risky behaviors, such as unprotected sex or injection drug use. In the United States, HIV infection was initially concentrated in the male homosexual population. However the proportion of people newly infected who obtained the infection through heterosexual contact continues to increase significantly. Outside of the U.S., heterosexual contact is usually the largest reason why the human immunodeficiency virus is transmitted. Mothers also pass the virus on to their children during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding. Until the blood supply was screened beginning in 185, some people who became infected who were not previously due to not enough control of the screenings. This was because of lack of cleanliness with blood transfusions or through medical treatments that contained blood products. The virus is classified as a retrovirus, in which the enzyme reverse transcriptase is responsible for the conversion of its RNA to DNA. HIV binds to a molecule in your DNA. The life cycle of HIV in the host is complicated, lengthy, and varied. The so-called "seal" of HIV disease is its ability to avoid clearance from the immune system, instead taking up residence in tissue and establishing a chronic, long term infection in which the hosts immune system is slowly destroyed. The average length of time between initial infection and clinical illness is ten years. Transmission of HIV occurs through direct entrance of the virus into the bloodstream via infected blood or products made with infected blood. This can occur through such risky behaviors as sharing injection needles, injuries with sharp and contaminated objects, transmission during birth, or sexual intercourse in which there is some bleeding. Blood transfusions are also a method of transmission. Since 185, the U.S. blood supply has been screened, and since then transfusion has been an extremely rare method of HIV transmission. However, other countries around the world may lack the resources to screen their blood supplies. The signs and symptoms of HIV disease and AIDS are varied and extensive. Any person diagnosed with an STD, or who has engaged in unprotected sexual activity or other risky behaviors, may decide to undergo HIV testing. If a person has engaged in risky behavior with someone they know is HIV positive, they should seek medical help immediately following the risky behavior. If a person has engaged in risky behavior with one or more people in his or her past and wishes to receive an HIV test, they can undergo serologic testing. The HIV test is a test for antibodies to the virus. These antibodies can take weeks to months to develop in sufficient enough amounts to be detectable on the HIV tests that are currently available. Therefore, HIV tests reliably give information on a persons HIV status as of about six months prior to the test, not information on the persons current HIV status. This six-month time frame is called the window period. As many already know, there is no cure for HIV disease or AIDS. There is only management of the symptoms. Because of this, all efforts should be made toward the prevention of this disease. Prevention of HIV disease includes engaging in safe sex, however, there is no such thing, so complete abstinence is the only thing that can save you from HIV in this area of provention. Another prevention method would be not sharing needles during injection drug use activities.
The herpes simplex virus, otherwise known as HSV, is a double- stranded DNA virus. It is a member of the human herpes viruses, or herpetoviridae, group. This group includes varicella zoster virus (chicken pox). There are two types of herpes simplex virus, types I and II. Both HSV I and HSV II can be considered STDs, since they both can be transmitted sexually and both can cause lesions in the genital area. HSV II accounts for around 70 to 5 percent of genital herpes infections. The remaining 5 to 0 percent of genital herpes infections can be counted towards HSV I. According to a survey of 40,000 Americans conducted between 188 and 14, the overall HSV II incidence rate in the United States is almost percent. Genital herpes is the most common cause of genital ulcers in the world, with about 0 million cases diagnosed annually. Unprotected sexual activity, mostly with multiple partners, and being female increases your risk of acquiring HSV II. There are also increased rates of HSV among African American and Latino populations, and those in lower social and economic groups. Transmission of HSV occurs during sex when an infected partner passes on the virus through microabrasions in his or her partners skin. The person passing on the herpes needs to be shedding the virus at the time of contact with his or her partner. Usually, shedding of the virus occurs when the infected person is experiencing an outbreak of lesions. However, viral shedding can take place before a lesion erupts, or can take place when there are no lesions. This is called asymptomatic shedding. The rate at which an infected person sheds the virus is entirely dependent on the individual, but some studies show that an infected person may be shedding the virus 1 out of every 4 days. Once an cell is infected in another person, the virus replicates at a high rate. Inside the body the virus invades sensory nerves and takes up residency for the life of the host in their sensory nerve cell bodies. Initial infection causes symptoms, but once these symptoms are resolved, the person is at risk for a later recurrence of an outbreak. Primary infection refers to an initial, or first, infection with HSV. Fifty to seventy percent of people will develop fever, aches, and headache along with symptoms in the genital region. Genital symptoms may begin as pain, itching, painful urination, discharge, and progress to the development of characteristic lesions. The lesions first appear as red bumps or blisters, which turn into ulcerations before crusting over. They are often painful. At the onset of the infection, the person will be infectious and shedding the virus for up to twelve days. These lesions may appear all over the genital area on both men and women. The lesions may take up to three weeks to heal. Lesions can also occur on the lips or in the mouth of a person. Lesions that only occur orally on a person may be attributed to HSV I infection, and exist in the absence of having HSV as an STD. Occurrences of HSV I in the U.S. population are, actually, widespread. Over 0 percent of adults will be infected with HSV I by the fifth decade of life. There is evidence that a previous infection with HSV I decreases how severe an initial infection with HSV II can be. When lesions occur on and around the eye, they should be taken very seriously, because they can cause serious damage. New symptoms may occur in a recurrence, but in the absence of symptoms in a recurrence, the person may shed the HSV. Outbreaks due to recurrences are usually more mild and of shorter duration than primary infection. Recurrences are triggered by unknown and known factors, such as exposure to sunlight, fever, trauma, diminished cellular immunity, and emotional stress. The numbers of recurrences per year vary per person, but on the average occur to 6 times a year. The disease can be passed from mother to child during birth. Health care providers usually make the diagnosis through visualization of herpetic lesions, but there are a variety of diagnostic tests that help identify and determine the type of herpes virus the child may have. Tests include culture and blood tests. Even if a test result is negative, the person cannot totally rule out having the disease, since obtaining a specimen (mostly for culture) is often difficult. Even though herpes simplex is a virus, there is no effective antibiotic therapy. Treatment of the symptoms of herpes with therapy may shorten the duration of outbreaks, especially if administered soon after the onset of symptoms. Some people may decide to go on long-term therapy to decrease the amount of recurrences in a given amount of time.
Pregnancy
Pregnancy is actually the biggest fear that teens and most other people have that engage in sexual activities. Eight of ten teenagers who choose to parent will live below the poverty level for at least ten years. Nine out of ten teenagers who choose to parent won't attend or graduate college.
Teen Pregnancy Outcomes
More than half (56%) of the 05,000 teenage pregnancies in 16 ended in births (/ of which were unplanned).
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