What’s the Worst that can Happen if you Have an STD?

What’s the Worst that can Happen if you Have an STD?

Most people recognize that STDs are a serious problem. However, there are a number of folks out there who dismiss STDs as either something they don’t believe could ever happen to them, or who view them as a minor inconvenience. After all, what’s the worst that can happen if you have an STD? We’ll be blunt here: you should never regard an STD as a “minor’ issue, and if you suspect you have one, get tested and seek treatment immediately. That’s because –– especially if left untreated –– STDs can lead to a myriad of issues including: organ failure, blindness, infertility, complications with pregnancy, and even death. To help further inform, here are the worst-case scenarios for five common STDs:

Herpes

Herpes is a viral infection. So you should know right off the bat that if you have herpes, there’s no cure for it. However, if left untreated you could face dealing with painful sores and increase the risk of spreading the infection to others. In addition, herpes can cause complications with pregnancy. Unfortunately, this is a problem we’ll revisit more than once in this post.

Chlamydia

Chlamydia is a particularly frightening STD because it’s both common, and typically, asymptomatic. If there’s a disease that emphasizes the need to get tested regularly, then it’s chlamydia. That’s because if left undetected, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, pregnancy complications, and like syphilis, blindness in some instances. Furthermore, untreated chlamydia can also increase the likelihood of contracting HIV.

Syphilis

Under the worst circumstances, syphilis can cause a whole peck of trouble and then some. In addition to sores and rashes, if you don’t seek treatment for syphilis you could risk the infection affecting the heart, brain, and central nervous system. Some nightmarish scenarios include: internal bleeding, loss of motor skills, paralysis, dementia, and even death.

Gonorrhea

It may sound like we’re beginning to repeat ourselves; but if not dealt with properly, gonorrhea can lead to infertility, pregnancy complications, scarring of the urethra, and in some cases it can also spread to the blood or joints. Also, gonorrhea may increase the likelihood of contracting HIV.

HIV

It doesn’t get any worse than this. It would probably be shorter to list the ways that HIV won’t affect your health. To sum it up though, HIV can cause: rashes, fevers, nausea, fatigue, vomiting, rapid weight loss, sores, night sweats, pelvic inflammatory disease, memory loss, tuberculosis, tumors, the development of AIDs, and death. Not to labor the point, but there’s nothing “minor” about any of that.