Most great people in the past and today’s world are fond of consuming alcoholic drinks or drugs. This behavior is in connection with the accelerated rise in STDs among substance abusers in this modern era. In the last three decades, the explosion of HIV and STDs has made even the wild youth take precautions against contracting these diseases. But it’s unfortunate to know that the most commonly used contraceptive, the condom, still doesn’t protect people adequately from contracting STDs. Studies indicate that the rise in these infections results from substance abuse.
Related health risks associated with alcohol
In U.S., alcohol is the most addictive substance abused. Despite alcohol rendering people to have impaired judgment, it also has lots of side effects like damaging the liver and causing forgetfulness. This forgetfulness is the one that puts lots of its consumers at risk of contracting STDs because they forget to wear protection and get driven by unthoughtful emotions.
What do alcohol and STDs have in common?
Alcohol causes impaired judgments and may also cause a person to take life-threatening risks like sleeping with multiple partners in one drinking spree, having sex in exchange for drugs, or engaging in unprotected sex.
The rise of STDs that are related to alcohol abuse
Contracting a sexually transmitted infection in U.S. is one of the easiest things to do on this continent, as the nation’s infected population stands at 110 million Americans. Most of the infected people are drunks and rarely notice any health changes in them; thus, they continue to engage in unprotected sex with one or numerous partners, thus spreading the disease like wildfire till the infection gets to its maturity stage.
Studies have concluded that individuals who abuse drugs or alcohol suffer from low self-esteem, which leads them to engage in promiscuous sexual behavior so that they can prove themselves better than the rest.
When the signs of an STD are absent
Drug and alcohol addicts may be less likely to notice the indications of an STI. This ignorance may end up prolonging the disease’s incubation period, which will, in turn, affect the time in which they could have sought medical attention. A study conducted in a private clinic that treats STDs showed that 30% of women and 42 % of men claimed to be drunk at the time of infection.
Doctors have even concluded that the rate of alcohol abuse and STDs is five times higher in individuals who overconsume drugs or alcohol.
The simplest way of treating Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, and STIs
Some institutions dedicate their services to treating individuals who suffer from alcoholism and freeing them to sobriety, significantly reducing the risk of spreading or contracting a sexually transmitted disease. There are treatable STIs but others that one cannot get a cure for, like HIV and HPV. Individuals who intoxicate themselves with alcohol are more likely to get infected with HIV than non-consumers of alcohol. Consumption of alcohol also has adverse effects on the treatment of HIV, making the medicine not work correctly, thus leading a patient to come down with infections that could be treatable with the HIV medicine. The sooner a person realizes they need help, the sooner they reduce their risks of contracting or spreading an STI.