Questions. effects of chlamydia in men effects of chlamydia in women

Chlamydia is one of the main causes of infertility in women.

This infectious disease, caused by a bacterium called chlamydia, is often asymptomatic, so people are often unaware they have chlamydia.

In this case, the disease can spread throughout the body for a long time, causing damage to the reproductive system in men and women.

Some epidemiologists refer to chlamydia as a "silent epidemic" because many millions of people around the world are infected with it without knowing it.

How chlamydia spreads:

A person can become infected with chlamydia through vaginal, anal, or oral sex with a chlamydia carrier.
If a man has chlamydia, he can infect his partner even if he has not ejaculated.
If a man or woman has had chlamydia and has been treated in the past, he/she can still become infected again through unprotected sex with someone who has chlamydia.

When diagnosing the symptoms of chlamydia in women, the doctor pays attention to signs of damage to the genitourinary system.

Patients complain about:

clear or white-yellow discharge from the vagina;
painful urination;
redness and itching, quite strong in the perineum;
pain in the abdomen and in the lumbar region.

Treating chlamydia in its early stages is unlikely to cause any long-term problems. Not everyone who has chlamydia suffers from the consequences of the disease. However, without proper treatment, the infection can spread to other parts of the body. And the longer chlamydia lasts, the more likely it is to cause complications.

The most common effects of chlamydia in women include:

1. Dysuria

Chlamydia pathogens can enter the urethra and cause a urinary tract infection, which can manifest as burning sensation, sudden urge to urinate, and other problems with urination (a condition called dysuria).

2. Proctitis

Chlamydia can lead to infection of the anus, leading to proctitis. This form of proctitis appears in those who engage in unprotected anal intercourse.

3. Pelvic inflammatory disease and infertility in women

One of the most serious consequences of chlamydia in women. Occurs when an untreated bacterial infection moves into the upper reproductive tract. The uterus, fallopian tubes, and surrounding areas may become swollen or filled with pus. This condition can be treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Sometimes, in advanced cases, surgery is required.

Pelvic inflammatory disease is the leading cause of preventable infertility. Infertility can be defined as the inability to conceive despite frequent, unprotected intercourse over a period of one year.

Each episode of pelvic inflammatory disease increases a woman's risk of becoming infertile. The condition has also been associated with ectopic pregnancy, chronic pelvic pain, and even death. Fortunately, the most serious complications of the disease are largely preventable.

4. cervicitis

Inflammation of the cervix is characterized by an unpleasant odor from the vagina, vaginal bleeding after intercourse or bleeding outside of menstruation, vaginal pain, and a feeling of pressure in the pelvic area.

Many women with chlamydia ask their gynecologists if the disease is leading to cervical cancer. There is no evidence that chlamydia causes cervical cancer.

5. Bartholinitis

This is an inflammation of one or both of the Bartholin's glands, which are located on either side of the entrance to the vagina, behind the labia.

Each Bartholin's gland is about the size of a small pea. Most women don't even know they exist. The glands produce a small amount of fluid in response to sexual arousal, and the function of this fluid is to provide lubrication to the labia.

Symptoms of bartholinitis:

pain and soreness in the area of one of the inner labia;
swelling in the same area;
sometimes there is a fever.

6. joint inflammation

This rare but possible consequence of chlamydia in women and men is known as reactive arthritis. Sometimes accompanied by inflammation of the urethra and conjunctiva of the eyes, then the disease is known as Reiter's syndrome. More common in men than in women.

Chlamydia is associated with premature (premature) birth. This can have long-term negative effects on the child's health. In rare cases, chlamydia leads to stillbirth.

The disease can be passed on to the baby during childbirth and (rarely) before the baby is born. This can lead to inflammation of the child's eyes (conjunctivitis) and/or pneumonia. Worldwide, chlamydial eye infections are one of the leading causes of preventable blindness.

note

Chlamydia can be treated with antibiotics when a woman is pregnant and when she is breastfeeding. Antibiotics should only be prescribed by a doctor.

A pregnant woman may be offered a chlamydia test as part of prenatal care. Allocations for chlamydia (before its treatment) are not too abundant, but constant. They have no smell, otherwise the doctor will assume that the patient has gonorrhea. The color of the discharge is either clear or yellowish. Yellow or green discharge indicates that other bacteria or viruses have “added” to chlamydia.

In chronic chlamydia, the discharge may become purulent or mixed with blood. After treatment, the discharge should become colorless. In general, the consequences of a chlamydial infection are potentially dangerous and can occur soon after infection.

Both men and women can become infected with this disease. Also, chlamydia can be transmitted from a sick mother to a newborn.

Chlamydia is a disease caused by bacteria from the genus Chlamydia.

To date, several varieties of these bacteria are known. All of them provoke the development of a wide variety of diseases, such as conjunctivitis, arthritis or pneumonia.

The most common type is . This is the most common sexually transmitted infection.

Consequences

Chlamydia is quite common among both male and female population. Chlamydia causes quite serious complications.

If chlamydia is left untreated, the consequences in women can be quite serious. Without appropriate treatment, a woman has the following symptoms:

Important! Every pregnant woman should be screened for chlamydia. Because when infected, there is a high risk of developing complications after childbirth and infection of the newborn.

The consequences of chlamydia in women and men are quite diverse. All of them pose a serious health hazard. Ultimately, a man or woman runs the risk of remaining infertile.

It is important to undergo an examination for both spouses at the stage of pregnancy planning, as this will reduce the risk of infection with chlamydia in a newborn child.

In contact with

Abundant discharge from the urethra, menstrual irregularities in women. However, none of these symptoms in and of themselves pose a serious health hazard. They only show that the disease is in an acute phase, and increase the risk of infection of people around. Much more serious problems can be the consequences of an illness. The fact is that chlamydia often leads to serious complications that remain even after a successful course of treatment for the infection.

The most dangerous in terms of possible consequences is the chronic form of the disease. It rarely causes acute symptoms, and the patient may not experience any problems for many years. However, this does not mean that chlamydia does not affect the body at this time. On the contrary, most often during this time they lead to serious structural changes in the affected tissues.

After a successful course of treatment for chlamydia, patients may experience the following problems:
1. deformation and narrowing of the urethra;
2. chronic inflammatory processes;
3. adhesive disease of the small pelvis;
4. infertility;
5. visual impairment.

Typical symptoms of deformation and narrowing of the urethra are:

pain when urinating;
frequent urination in small portions;
constant feeling of fullness of the bladder;
tendency to secondary infection of the genitourinary tract ( cystitis, urethritis).

More often, men experience problems with scarring of the urethra. In women, the canal itself is shorter and wider, so problems with urination may not occur. However, the absence of a normal mucous membrane in the canal disrupts local immunity and increases the risk of other infections.

Chronic inflammatory processes.

As noted above, the destruction of the normal mucous membrane of the genitourinary system disrupts local defense mechanisms. Normally, special cells, macrophages, are found in the epithelium, swallowing and destroying foreign microorganisms. If the mucous membrane is replaced by connective tissue, the number of macrophages decreases and the risk of new infections increases.

Most often, after treatment of chlamydia, chronic foci of the following microorganisms may remain in the altered genitourinary tract:

fungal infections.

These infections can cause chronic inflammatory processes that require additional treatment.

Adhesive disease of the small pelvis.

Chlamydia, spreading to the pelvic area, lead to pinpoint lesions of the mucous membranes. The slow inflammatory process that accompanies these lesions often results in the formation of tight adhesions between organs. Adhesions can deform the anatomical structures in the pelvis, lead to chronic pain or reproductive dysfunction. After the formation of adhesions in the pelvis, chlamydia fades into the background. Now, even with successful treatment of the infection, you still have to do an operation to dissect the adhesions.

Infertility.

Infertility after chlamydia can be observed in both women and men. It is caused by cicatricial damage to organs that play an important role in maintaining reproductive function.

Infertility after chlamydia can be caused by the following reasons:

chronic inflammatory processes in the uterus;
menstrual irregularities;
adhesive process in the uterus ( Asherman's syndrome);
inflection and deformation of the uterus by external adhesions;
narrowing of the vas deferens in men;
cicatricial changes in the mucous membrane of the testicles ( after epididymitis);
cicatricial changes in the prostate and seminal vesicles.

Some of these pathologies can be corrected with surgery, after which reproductive function will be restored. However, in some cases, infertility after advanced chlamydia may be irreversible.

Visual impairment.

After chlamydial conjunctivitis ( inflammation of the mucous membrane of the eye) microscopic defects may remain on the cornea. This is the anterior dense shell of the eye, which is involved in the refraction of light. Any cicatricial changes on it will lead to a decrease in vision and will require separate treatment even after the infection has been eliminated.

The consequences of chlamydia in men can be different. Already due to the fact that the disease is latent, especially in the early stages, people do not even know about its existence. The duration of the incubation period can vary from a week to a month. All this time in the body there are pathological metamorphoses increasing day by day.

A visit to the doctor is already a necessary measure against the background of the manifestation of obvious external signs of secondary destructive changes that have begun in various organs.

Among them, the most common are:

Prostatitis with impaired urination, pain in the groin, sacrum, anus;
Inflammation of the testicles - orchitis, usually accompanied by inflammation of their appendages (epididymitis) with some soreness in the scrotum and testicles;
Inflammation of the seminal vesicles - vesiculitis, which often leads to the complete loss of the function of the testicles to reproduce the seminal fluid.

As a result:

Failures in potency;
Loss of a man's reproductive ability.

The penetration of the causative agent of the disease into the blood and lymphatic channels generalizes the pathological process. This leads to damage to the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, arthritis and arthrosis of the extremities, as well as the spine.

The danger of chlamydial infections lies precisely in the fact that they lead to complications that are multiple and destructive.

Chlamydia in men belongs to the group of pathologies of an infectious nature. Their causative agent is Chlamydia trachomatis. Chlamydia, a type of microbes that are close to bacteria and viruses in their damaging ability, but have their own morphology, structure and functional characteristics. They are transmitted mainly through unprotected sexual contact with a carrier of chlamydia, regardless of whether it is vaginal, anal or oral.

Less common is chlamydia with household etiology, which is transmitted to people who are in close, for example, family contact, through hands contaminated with the pathogen or objects that everyone touches: towels, dishes, clothes, bedding.

The symptoms of the disease at its initial stage are imperceptible due to the fact that the microorganism develops only inside the epithelial cells. Outside, chlamydia cells die quickly.

Complications arise when the pathogen from the destroyed cellular tissue of the male genitourinary system penetrates into the intercellular space, blood and bodice and spreads with them to other organs, multiplying exponentially. At the same time, trachomatis actively uses the nutritional and energy capabilities of its owner, reducing its own potential.

Regardless of whether the symptoms of chlamydia are expressed or not, contact with a carrier of the disease, even during the incubation period, becomes dangerous for his sexual partners. The piquancy of the situation lies in the fact that the suffering party may not know about his illness and infect another simply by accident. There is only one conclusion from this - to avoid dubious sexual relations, especially if they are not protected.

Circumstances favorable to what occurs, in addition to neglecting condoms during intercourse, are:

Irrational nutrition;
stressful situations;
Physical fatigue.

All this reduces immunity and increases the likelihood of developing secondary chlamydial pathologies affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular systems, the musculoskeletal system, and visual organs.

But the infection deals the main blow to the genitourinary system, which most often becomes the starting point for the penetration and development of the disease. Symptoms of urogenital chlamydia may be similar to the usual manifestations of prostatitis, inflammation of the urethra and bladder.

Diagnosis of chlamydia and its consequences

It is possible to identify chlamydia in men with a sufficient degree of certainty only through instrumental analyzes, including molecular biological, serological and enzyme immunoassay methods.

External symptoms of the acute form of the disease usually manifest as follows:

After a short burst of temperature to a high level, its subfebrile range is set within 37-37.5 degrees Celsius, indicating the latent nature of inflammation;
Against this background, fatigue increases, general weakness occurs;
Possible watery discharge from the urethra, over time, taking on a mucous or even purulent consistency, especially in the morning;
When passing urine, itching and burning appear in the urethra. The urine itself becomes cloudy in the first portions, bloody in the last;
Veins of blood are visible in the ejaculate during the eruption of the seed;
The outer part of the urethra turns red, swells;
Pain is felt in the groin and lower back.

If you do not treat chlamydia at the stage of the initial exacerbation, it will go into the chronic phase. The symptoms will become subdued. The patient will have the illusion of a gradual recovery. In fact, the pathological picture is only aggravated and may well lead to inflammation and destruction of the epithelium of all other organs, including articular periosteum, mucous membranes of the heart, lungs, eyes, oral and nasal cavities, as well as hard skin.

The consequences of chronic chlamydia can be devastating. Infection of the genital area inevitably leads to both impotence and infertility. The reasons for the latter are erosive damage to the cell membrane in spermatozoa, their gluing by chlamydia, leading to the loss of the necessary mobility. Sometimes even destructive changes in DNA occur. In the best case, then a fetus is born with Down syndrome or other genetic pathology.

With chlamydial inflammation of the prostate gland, Reiter's syndrome can develop, forming a kind of symptomatic and pathological conglomerate of prostatitis, conjunctivitis and reactive arthritis, which affects one or more joints, large and small.

Articular pain that occurs in this case often radiates to the lower back, sacrum, heels, tendons and is perceived by the patient as rheumatic. Only microbiological analysis and x-ray examination clarifies the nature of the phenomenon.

For a man, even the slightest discomfort in the functioning of the genitourinary system should be the reason for a visit to the doctor: a urologist, an infectious disease specialist or a venereologist. Its main purpose is to make sure the presence or absence of chlamydia.

Therapeutic measures

Treatment of chlamydia is based primarily on microbiological analysis data. The isolation of a pure culture of the pathogen and its inoculation on agar-agar in a petri dish to test the effectiveness of certain pharmacological preparations makes it possible to choose the most effective remedy against chlamydia trachomatis.

Experience shows that such drugs include tetracycline antibiotics of the fluoroquinolone and macrolide series. Penicillins, sulfonamides, cephalosporides, which actively destroy almost all gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, have little effect on trachomatis.

The attending physician, before introducing into the course of the main therapy and auxiliary drugs intended to eliminate chlamydia and its complications, should carefully examine the patient's tolerance to all these substances and exclude the possibility of allergic reactions.

To do this, it is necessary to investigate and constantly take into account the following factors throughout the therapeutic course:

Presence of specific chronic diseases;
The level of immunity;
Functional adequacy of the hepatobiliary complex, which includes the liver, gallbladder and pancreas;
State of intestinal microflora and urogenital sphere.

There is no single scheme of antichlamydia therapy, it must be individualized. In each case, one has to focus on the physiological characteristics of a man, his age, history, sensitivity to drugs. Only in this case a positive effect is real.

Conclusion

Chlamydia is an infectious disease. According to WHO statistics, it is the most common pathology transmitted through sexual contact. In Russia, at least 5% of sexually active youth suffer from it every year. The total number of victims, including older generations, sometimes reaches 15%. This is facilitated primarily by the asymptomatic course of the disease, which makes diagnosis difficult.

In the absence of timely treatment that completely eradicates the disease, it will turn into a chronic form. Severe consequences are then inevitable. They can affect physiologically important structures, including the cardiovascular, respiratory and lymphatic systems, the musculoskeletal system and the organs of vision.

In order not to be a victim of chlamydial infection, it is enough to follow the usual rules of general and sexual hygiene. Only in this case it is possible to get rid of the disease radically.

Chlamydia are pathogenic microorganisms that, having penetrated into the human body, are fixed in the cells of the affected tissues. After a couple of days, having grown stronger, the microorganism destroys the cell and penetrates further. Primary infection occurs through the organs of the genitourinary system, but later, in ascending order, the pathogenic microflora penetrates into the vital organs of the human body.

Scientists note that at least 50% of sexual intercourse that occurs without the use of a barrier means of protection ends in infection with chlamydia. Moreover, a man may not know about a progressive infection for many months or even years. Its danger lies in the asymptomatic course of the disease in the initial stages in men. After infection, a person may not notice any signs of chlamydia and the disease passes into a chronic stage, which over time can lead to infertility.

A sexually transmitted infection, once in the urethra, ascends into the prostate. This causes a pathology of the reproductive function of a man and can lead to infertility. Chronic prostatitis caused by chlamydia infection leads to the formation of cysts on the prostate gland and disruption of its normal functioning.

The prostate shrinks over time. There is sclerosis and atrophy of the prostate gland, its functions gradually fade away. Chlamydial prostatitis is often accompanied by the following diseases:

cystitis;
orchitis;
pyelonephritis;
epididymitis.

Microorganisms that have entered the bladder provoke the development of an inflammatory process. The development of inflammation disrupts the complex biochemical processes occurring in the patient's body. However, they practically do not recover even after successful therapy.

Consequences of chlamydia infection

Due to the fact that the disease proceeds secretly, and the symptoms are not expressed, men usually discover the presence of chlamydia in their body very late. This contributes to the development of various pathologies, such as:

Violations of the functioning of the reproductive system (violation of potency, inflammation of the testicles and appendages, the development of infertility).
Disorders of the cardiovascular system.
Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate).
Vesiculitis.
Impact on joint health.

And in women it is almost asymptomatic. More than 90% of patients have no idea that an infection lives in the body and continue to live their usual sexual life, infecting other partners. It is possible to identify an infection only after passing the appropriate tests.

Complicated chlamydia causes serious disorders in the male genitourinary system. Chlamydial prostatitis, urethritis, cystitis, vesiculitis, all these diseases contribute to the development of infertility. The number of spermatozoa and the quality of sperm are greatly reduced. As a result, even if conception has occurred, the risk of miscarriage or premature birth, as well as violations in the development of the fetus, is very high.

The urogenital nature of the disease carries a danger in terms of the development of other pathologies that the doctor can diagnose, but not associate them with an infection in the body. As a result, the prescribed treatment will be ineffective, and the disease will continue its harmful development in the cells of the human body.

In addition to the most common sexual route, the infection can enter the child's body during pregnancy or labor from an infected mother. This condition is no less dangerous and can cause serious complications in the baby if the disease is not treated.

Diseases caused by chlamydia

Getting chlamydia on the mucous membranes of the genital organs causes the following diseases:

An infection that is not treated in time can ascend in ascending order to affect the organs of the genitourinary system, as well as the kidneys, heart, abdominal cavity and other vital organs of the human body. They are even isolated when an infection enters the lungs of a person. This causes diseases, at first glance, have nothing to do with chlamydia.

With the symptoms of the disease, which does not manifest itself, precious time is wasted, which could be filled with appropriate treatment, then the disease would proceed without complications.

Preventive actions

Regular delivery. Men who are sexually active with a single partner should be tested for chlamydia at least once a year. This will allow you to control your own health and not miss the development of infection. When changing a sexual partner, it is also worth taking an analysis to exclude the transmission of infection.
Protected sexual contact. Barrier contraception (condom) is considered the most preferred means to prevent a sexually transmitted disease. It is correct to always use a rubber product, even if the sexual partner is tested and does not change over a long period of time.
Cleanliness of the genitals. Intimate hygiene should be a kind of everyday ritual. A man should carefully monitor the cleanliness of the genitals.
Immune support. A healthy and properly balanced diet, an intense lifestyle, getting rid of addictions and playing sports will help maintain a normal level of immunity. This will avoid a number of diseases.
Personal hygiene items. When making an intimate toilet, a man should use only personal toiletries. Sharing soap or towels can increase the risk of chlamydia infection.

Male chlamydia is extremely dangerous in its consequences. Complicated and extremely lengthy diagnosis, complex and expensive treatment, the possibility of developing dangerous consequences - this is not a complete list of the difficulties that may arise after infection. The main condition for a normal healthy life is the observance of a number of preventive measures that will protect your body from infection.

Only concern for well-being and compliance with precautionary measures will allow you to maintain your health. Control over one's own condition and regular testing should become an integral part of every person's life.