Stds

[agirl555]

I have heard of stds and is afraid of them. How can you tell someone has stds? How do you prevent stds other than a condom? What happens when you get stds?

[Trace]

http://www.cdc.gov/std/

[tundravortex]

Its easy get tested and dont do it

[Elysium]

I'm surprised there isn't a stickied thread on this yet. STDs are pretty complicated, as there are probably many I don't know of personally, but I'll try to explain.

STD stands for "sexually transmitted disease." As you can probably assume, these are diseases transmitted by intercourse without a condom. I don't know of any other way to prevent contracting an STD other than abstinence and condoms.

It can be difficult to tell if someone has an STD. It depends on the STD and the symptoms. With HIV/AIDs, which are common STDs, you'd probably have no idea unless the person told you. Other diseases show physical symptoms, which I'd have to look up to remember specifically.

The most common one you've probably heard of is HIV/AIDS. HIV is a virus, meaning at this point in time it cannot be cured (there was one documented case in which a man was cured, but it's been the only case I've ever heard of), and it weakens the immune system. What this means is that, for example, a simple fever can have much more dire consequences because your body isn't able to fight it off. HIV can be delayed with ARVs, which are drugs that prolong someone's lifespan and slow the process, but do not cure HIV. HIV will eventually become AIDS, which you could consider to be the final stage of the virus.

There are other STDs with different symptoms and different treatments, such as chlamydia. You could probably easily do some research on common STDs on Wikipedia.

[honeybear]

if you are worried about stds one fairly safe way and one definite way...fairly safe way is use a condom...every time...definite way...don't have sex unless you are in a commited relationship...and don't be afraid to ask..if you can't ask a person something like this you shouldn't be having sex with them...just sayin

[BrandonA]

Stds are one of the worst things you could get. You can tell someone has them from the symptoms. You should usually check to see if you're std free after sex. Some effects you could get would be genital warts, herpes, hepatitis, Gonorrhea, pubic lice, aids, etc. and some don't even have a cure. Remember to always use protection.

[likemike]

Some stis are not visible early on so if you are having sex dont be silly wrap your willy but condons are not 100% safe abstince is

[Nomad_X]

http://www.virtualteen.org/forums/showthread.php?t=35760

STD sticky!