What is Chlamydia?

With over three million cases in the United States and ten million worldwide added each year, chlamydia has become the most prevalent and commonly contracted sexually transmitted disease (STD). Like the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), it is spread through sexual contact – vaginal, oral, and anal intercourse – with an infected partner. A bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis that lives in an infected woman’s vaginal secretions or in an infected man’s semen causes the infection. Higher infection rates are found in sexually active teenagers especially females (Balch, 2006, p. 320).

Chlamydia is known as a silent yet dangerous disease. Statistics shows that as many as 50 percent of the men and 75 percent of the women who have chlamydia are symptoms free. If the infection is severe enough, women may experience genital inflammation, vaginal or urethral discharge, difficulty in urinating and a burning sensation during urination, painful intercourse, and itching around the inflamed area. In males, signs of infection are visible with prostatitis (symptoms include pain when urinating and a watery mucous discharge from the penis), inflammation of the seminal vesicles, and pain and swelling in the testicles (Balch, 2006, p. 321).

When symptoms of chlamydia are detected, it is very important to seek urgent treatment. For women, untreated infection may lead to sterility. To make sure that the disease is not transmitted back and forth, both partners must be medicated. Antibiotics can also easily cure chlamydia-infected people. Natural therapies, like water fast or fasting using fruit and vegetable juices, were also proven to be of help in reducing the dangers of complications of this sexually transmitted disease (Goldberg, Trivieri & Anderson, 2002, p. 906). However, the most helpful way to prevent and treat the spread of the bacteria is to refrain from multiple sexual relationship.

Reference:

• Balch, P. A. (2006). Prescription for Nutritional Healing. New York: Penguin Group.
• Breguet, A. (2007). Chlamydia. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc.
• Carlson, K. J., Eisenstat, S. A. & Ziporyn, T. (2004). The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health. Massachusetts: President and Fellows of Harvard College.
• Crooks, R. & Baur, K. (2008). Our Sexuality. California: Thomson Wadsworth.
• Goldberg, B., Trivieri, L. & Anderson, J. W. (2002). Alternative Medicine: The Definitive Guide. California: AlternativeMedicine.com.