The Greatly Dangerous Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is an STD which can be very difficult to diagnose, more so in women than men. This is mainly because of the fact that gonorrhea exhibits little to no symptoms in women, or it gets confused most of the time for a mild infection of the bladder, where in fact, the disease could infect a person's throat, anus, urethra, and cervix. As many as 50% of the female victims infected with gonorrhea do not exhibit symptoms. Men show more symptoms of an infection than do women, and the intensity of the symptoms vary from person to person depending on how long ago one had contracted the STD. The symptoms of gonorrhea usually appear between two to ten days after an infection, although the symptoms can take as long as thirty days before it manifests itself. The symptoms of gonorrhea vary according to the gender of the infected individual. For women, frequent urination often accompanied by pain, or bleeding after intercourse is a common symptom. Later symptoms are usually bleeding between periods, vomiting, fever, nausea and vaginal discharge usually with blood. For males, frequent and painful urination as well as swollen testicles are the usual gonorrhea symptoms, which indicate an infection of the urethra. Penile discharge, usually white, yellow, or green, can be noticed; that, as well as redness and swelling of the glands in the groin are among the many symptoms. Aside from the genitals, other parts of the body, such as the anus or the throat can also be infected. At the first sign of an anal infection, one may discern painful bowel movements, itching, discharge, and bloodied stools. In the case of an oral infection, sore throat, and the presence of a pus-like material on the back of the throat or tonsils are the usual symptoms. The infection can easily spread to other parts of the body, so treatment must be received as soon as possible. If left untreated, gonorrhea can develop into a highly hazardous disease, with a variety of complications often with irreversible effects. This is more pronounced in women than in men. The most common complication is known as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), which infects 15% of women who have developed a cervical infection due to gonorrhea. The effect is that the bacteria travels from the cervix, into the uterus, and eventually up into the fallopian tubes. This puts a woman at risk for ectopic pregnancy, a dangerous occurrence in which the fertilized egg would grow and live outside the victim's uterus, and usually imbeds itself and develops in the fallopian tube. Ectopic pregnancies are extremely dangerous. In the case of men infected withsymptoms of gonorrhea gonorrhea, epididymitis, a painful condition of the testicles often leading to infertility, can occur if the infection is left untreated. If you are displaying any symptom of gonorrhea, or believe that you have been exposed to an infected person, it is important to get tested for the probability of an infection as soon as possible in any private std clinic. People with gonorrhea are much more likely to contract Chlamydia or HIV (the AIDS virus). For pregnant women, it is highly encouraged to be checked for gonorrhea, since the infection can be passed on to the child.