Sex

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease

This is a serious and surprisingly common infection of the upper genital tract in women. In its early stages it affects the uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes by causing inflammation and scarring, but if left untreated it can lead to infertility, chronic pelvic pain and ectopic pregnancies (where the egg grows in the fallopian tubes). This can be fatal.

Not all women will show the same PID symptoms. The most common are lower abdominal pains and abnormal vaginal discharge. Some women may suffer from fever; pain in the right upper abdomen, painful intercourse and irregular menstrual bleeding and others may only receive minor pains or no pains at all. Those who have no symptoms at all are the less fortunate ones because they are more likely to suffer from damaged reproductive organs from lack of treatment.

Treatment: is by antibiotics, to help destroy the infectious organisms. Patients need to be re-evaluated 2 or 3 days after treatment has began to be sure that the antibiotics are taking effect. Physicians also recommend that sex partners should be treated even if they do not have the symptoms, as they may be infected with organisms that can cause PID. One third of women who have had PID will have the disease at least one more time.

An ectopic pregnancy is where the egg becomes fertilised but cannot pass into the uterus to grow. The fertilised egg cannot grow normally in the fallopian tube. This type of pregnancy is life threatening and is the leading cause of maternal deaths in African-American women.