Cases of sexually transmitted diseases are at all-time high in the United States, not necessarily because they are transmitted at a higher rate but because more people are tested for them, according to a federal study.

 

Even so, the authors of the study acknowledged that people need to have more information on sexually transmitted diseases, in order to reduce the cases. Also, people need to be aware that once they've contracted such a disease, they have to seek immediate medical help in order to prevent spreading it to the others.

 

But what happens when the disease has no symptoms? Some STDs such as chlamydia and gonorrhea have no symptoms, but can lead to infertility in women.

 

“Of all the causes of infertility, this is probably the most preventable -- since these infections can be prevented, diagnosed and treated,” Dr. John M. Douglas Jr., director of the CDC's Division of STD Prevention.

 

Unfortunately, when symptoms lack, people are unaware that they can have such diseases, which makes it hard to prevent spreading it to the others. This could be another reason for which cases of chlamydia established a record in 2007. According to the study, there were 1.1 million cases, the most ever reported, meaning an increase from about 1 million in 2006. The rate among women was 3-fold that of men in 2007 (543.6 cases per 100,000 women compared to 190 cases per 100,000 men).

 

Gonorrhea cases, on the other hand, were stable in 2007. There were 355,991 cases of gonorrhea infections in 2007.

 

When it comes to syphilis, the study found that there were 5.6 cases per 100,000 among men in 2006 compared to 6.6 in 2007. Among women, the corresponding rates were 1.0 and 1.1.

 

Therefore, it’s very important to get tested at least once a year whether you have symptoms or not. STDs, if left untreated, can lead to more serious conditions later in life. So, you should do something now and let it not be too late.