Why are stis considered biologically sexist

Another example is human papillomavirus, or HPV. It causes cervical cancer, which can be deadly unless caught early.

According to the World Cancer Research Fund , cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the world. Hidden in the female experience. Yet another reason STDs are sexist : Symptoms are often more nonspecific in women, and can be mistakenly written off as a typical female annoyance. If there are any signs at all. Many men and women with STDs never have symptoms and have no idea they are infected. Harder to diagnose. The sexist nature of STDs can even follow a woman into the doctor's office.

Any half-trained medical school student can diagnose it and accurately get it treated. A woman's discharge or uncomfortable urination, however, could be due to a number of reasons, including a urinary tract infection. Doctors often need urine samples or must swab the vagina and send samples to a lab for analysis, which might take days to come back and are sometimes inconclusive.

And then Sometimes, it's more than the STD that's sexist. A chlamydia vaccine shows signs of success in an early trial. Most cases ever recorded. Cases of gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis have reached the highest levels ever recorded, according to a recent report from the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention.

Still others seek care but are unlucky enough to see doctors or clinics with limited understanding of STIs, Handsfield says. Part of this is due to biology, Handsfield says.

STI symptoms are often vague, including things like pain while peeing or during sex, increased vaginal discharge and bleeding between periods — all of which can point to any number of other conditions, such as a yeast infection. Making things even more complicated is the fact that some variations in vaginal wetness, smell or things like mild itching can be completely normal, which can make it difficult for someone to know if they should see a doctor or not.

Handsfield recommends erring on the side of caution, and visiting the doctor if there are any new, unexplained or increased vaginal symptoms. Pelvic inflammatory disease PID is an infection of the reproductive tract that can lead to chronic abdominal pain, permanent scarring and, in some cases, infertility.

Common PID symptoms include abdominal pain, fever, unusual or smelly vaginal discharge, pain or bleeding during sex, a burning feeling when you pee or bleeding between periods. Someone who has had PID and recovered can get it again, too. The most well-known example of this is cervical cancer, which is almost always caused by infection with the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

When HPV does cause cancer, however, it can result in a woman needing surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, and sometimes causes issues with fertility. Cervical cancer survival rates are high, but up to 14, women are still diagnosed with the disease each year. Pregnant women with untreated STIs can also pass the infection to their babies, which can lead to additional problems like conjunctivitis, a serious eye infection, in newborns.

Many women receive robust prenatal care nowadays, so any STIs that could impact them and their pregnancy will likely be caught early on. For Barbee, the worst potential pregnancy-related risk of having an untreated STI is congenital syphilis. This happens when the mother has syphilis and the fetus gets infected while still in the uterus.

Since rates for syphilis are increasing in the United States, there has also been an increase in the number of babies born with congenital syphilis. The vagina's moist environment, according to Hansfield, is ideal for bacterial growth once the infections are there. Women's health could be more severe and damaging once a disease - such as herpes and human papillomavirus HPV - is acquired, the specialist added.

He added men could also acquire blisters, but only "a few. It causes cervical cancer, which can be deadly unless caught early, studies say. Cervical cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the world, according to the World Cancer Research Fund. Hansfield said men could acquire penile cancer from HPV.

However, women could obtain cervical cancer from HPV at about "one hundredth the rate. The second reason why STIs are sexist is that women have vaguer signs and symptoms when it comes to diagnosis. The diagnosis might be addressed as "just having the typical period cycle. The STDs "sexist nature" could accompany a woman into the doctor's office, say the experts. A woman's discharge or uncomfortable urination could be due to several reasons - including a urinary tract infection.

Hansfield explained that specialists often require urine samples or must swab the vagina and forward the specimens to a laboratory for analysis.