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Sexual diseases nothing new to mankind
by Brian Baker
Adolph Hitler and Pope Leo X,
Nikolai Lenin and Friedrich Nietz
sche. What do these men have in
common with each other, and with
some West Georgia students?
Venereal Disease.
Sexually transmitted diseases
have been a pox to mankind at least
since written history began, and
were probably so long before man
became literate. Scholarly sources
cite biblical evidence indicating that
Abraham, Sarah, and Herod (among
others) may have had venereal
disease. The historical list includes
Cleopatra, several Caesars, at least
three Popes, Mussolini, and Edouard
Manet. Yet untold hundreds of
millions that succumbed to the il
lnesses went unnoticed by history.
PR-MARY MILES
Infirmary staff no tjudgmental
By Brian Baker
The name plate loosely pinned
to her white lab coat reads ‘Dr.
Mary Miles.’ The lady is a physi
cian, a veteran as at home in the
emergency room as the college
infirmary. She was very familiar
with the topic of discussion.
“We’ve had 10 to 12 cases since
die beginning of the (school)
year,” she said. All were male
students who had been diagnosed
in various stages of gonorrhea.
“We have a tendency not to see
the girls as early as the boys,”
she went on, explaining that it
takes more time for the symp
toms to become apparent in
women.
Of all the students that use the
infirmary, it is Dr. Miles’ per
sonal estimate that 10% come in
because "of a venereal disease.
The type most often seen is
gonorrhea. She attributes this to
the fact that its symptoms, when
there are any, are more painful
than those of the other ailments.
There had been other com
plaints as well. “No fresh
herpes,” she noted, but there had
been some old-timers seeking
relief for outbreaks of the sores.
Right now the cases coming in
were contracted during summer
vacation. At the beginning of the
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There are still untold millions to
day, tragically suffering from one or
more of the plethora of diseases
under the V.D. label. These ailments
range from the newly publicized
herpes virus, to old favorites such as
syphilis and gonorrhea. Ail are
caught during sexual contact and, if
untreated, can wreak havoc on the
human body.
This article contains a brief over
view of the more common of these
disease. But more importantly, it
also tells you why they are
dangerous.
Gonorrhea is spread by sexual
contact and may occur anywhere in
the genitals, anus, throat or eyes. Its
victims are infectious for up to six
months after contracting the
disease, and quite probably longer.
year is a slack period during
which students adjust themselves
to the campus and establish rela
tionships. The rate of students
coming in with complaints of a
‘No f resh herpes,’
she noted, but there
had been some old
timers seeking
relief...
social disease will increase by
mid-quarter, then it will level off
through winter quarter and in
crease again in the spring.
But Miles hastens to add that a
majority of the students with
ailments keep silent.
“People get so scared about
coming in,’’she said, “(but) we
are not judgmental. We will not
divulge your confidence.”
‘‘Despite what Ronnie
(Reagan) says,” she continued,
“we are not required to notify
parents when someone comes in.
It’s important for everyone to
know that we try to be as discreet
as possible.”
The infirmary is fully equipped
to handle the diagnosis and care
Your College
Program Board
Presents ...
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Symptoms include a buring sensa
tion during urination, as well as
thick milky-white discharge. These
begin three to eight days after infec
tion. Be wary. When the symptoms
are apparent they are painfully so.
But conversely, there may be no ob
vious symptoms. Recent statistics
point out that nearly one-half of all
gonorrhea infections in males go un
noticed. 80% of all female victims
find themselves in the same situa
tion. In these cases the infection may
not be discovered until complica
tions set in.
These complications most usually
result in fertility inpairment, thus
earning gonorrhea its nickname,
“The Great Preventer.” Additional
ly it may cause blindness, crippling
arthritis, and death.
of most of these diseases. But if
there are doubts, nearby Tanner
Memorial Hospital can verify or
complete infirmary test results.
Once a diagnosis of V.D. is con
firmed, treatment can begin. But
there is definite urgency in the
matter. The longer the person is
infected, the more serious the
tissue damage and scarring
becomes. Miles recalled her work
in an emergency .room several
years ago.
“Old men (with V.D.) used to
come into the emergency room,
hundreds of them, who couldn’t
go to the bathroom. ”
But how to prevent contracting
V.D. in the first place?
“A condom,” is her
unhesitating reply, “using a con
dom.” It provides at least partial
insulation from infection that
other birth control methods don’t.
“It’s worthless to say know
your partner,’’she added,
because many victims of
venereal disease may be con
tagious without even themselves
knowing they’re infected.
“It doesn’t make any dif
ference,” she said.
It is among the most widespread of
social diseases. For the 15 to 19 year
old age group, an estimated one out
of every 30 teenagers contracts the
disease per year. On the WGC cam
pus alone that brings the total to ap
proximately 200 cases per year.
Syphilis is a killer that blasted its
way into history’s annals in the late
15th and early 16th centuries. It
swept throughout Europe in stagger
ing waves of epidemics with a
virulence that left thousands dead.
Fortunately, by the late 16th century
it had either lost this virulence, on or
man had become more resistant.
The infections continued but there
was no more sudden death.
The disease is contracted by sex
ual contact with a syphilis victim in
Primary or Secondary Stage, and
will attack the genital region, anus
and mouth.
First of four symptom levels is the
Primary Stage, at which an open
sore (chancre) swells up at the point
of infection, it may take as long as 90
days for the chancre to appear, after
which it will disappear within six
weeks.
Secondary Stage symptoms in
clude itchy rashes, sores in the
genital region, anus or mouth, loss of
scalp hair, swollen glands and fever.
In some respects it may feel like a
bout of the flu. Though symptoms
will disappear after two to six weeks,
they may recur for up to two years.
During this time the victim is highly
infectious regardless of whether or
not there are symptoms.
The Latent State has no symptoms
and, for the most part, the victim is
not infectious. After a number of
years the victim will pass from La-
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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 3,1984, THE WEST GEORGIAN-
Complications most usually result in fertility
inpairment, thus earning gonorrhea its
nickname,‘The Great Preventer.’
tent to Late Stage.
It is in these latter two periods that
syphilis is its deadliest. Blindness,
destruction of heart, blood vessel
and bone tissue, along with loss of
motor coordination or paralysis oc
cur. One out of every 40 people with
untreated syphilis will go insane.
Thousands will die of it each year.
Men are affected more drastically
by the disease and the mortality rate
among men is twice that of women.
While the disease is milder in
females, it also infects them less (a
ratio of one case for every three
male cases).
Syphilis is simply treated and easi
ly cured,. Yet only 25% of all
estimated cases are reported. Most
victims tend to naively think that the
disease goes away when the chan
cres fade. Wrong. It’s there, silent
yet destructive. If left untreated it
wil eventually kill its host, or leave
them wishing for death.
Herpes Simplex Viruses I and II
(HSV) are widespread, and in
curable. Gonorrhea is in epidemic
proportions, but herpes is up to 20
times more common than NGU.
Clearly, unless a cure is found,
herpes will be the disease of the
future.
HSV-I is the virus that causes
periodic cold sores and fever blisters
anywhere on the upper body. HSV-II
is its counterpart that lurks below
the belt. Both cause painful, fluid fill
ed blisters which break to form crus-
Your College
Program Board
Presents...
ty sores. These sores begin to occur
no later than 20 days after infection,
and will last two to three weeks
before healing. Subsequent attacks
will occur with varying frequency
and severity for the rest of the vic
tim’s life.
Though facial sores are a tip that
someone may have herpes, the in
dividual is usually infectious for
days prior to their outbreak. The
disease may be transmitted to a
partner via open sores, saliva, or
other bodily fluids.
Men with herpes undergo the
lifelong inconvenience of the
disease. But women contracting
HSV-II find themselves at a five
times greater risk of developing cer
vical cancer. Fortunately cervical
cancer is curable with early treat
ment. Thus most women with the
virus are advised to have a PAP
smear done every six months.
In an interview at the campus in
firmary, Dr. Mary Miles pointed out,
“Diseases are always evolving, that
is what’s surprising everyone...you
have new diseases continually popp
ing up while others die out. ”
Une example among several
recently publicized ailments she
mentioned was the wart virus. “It
can cause one helluva lot of trouble,
she said, “they’re being linked with
female cancer of the cervix.”
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