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Here's a fun fact for you: April is STD Awareness Month. Many STDs are treatable, but some will stay with you forever and can even cause death. That's scary, but do you know what else is scary? A lot of people who have STDs don't know it because the symptoms aren't obvi. That's why it's so important to get yourself tested. To talk about this and more, we've put together our own alphabet on STD's.
A AIDS. Also known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome, AIDS messes with the immune system. It can be transferred through unprotected sex, needles, blood transfusion and breastfeeding. There is no cure.
B Birth control. There are lots of different forms of birth control, from the pill to the shot to the patch, but they don't all protect against STDs. Just condoms and female condoms do that. When you're going to be sexually active, keep in mind some birth controls prevent pregnancy and won't help with STDs.
C Condoms, rubbers, sheaths . . . this is the stuff you can buy at the grocery store and they protect against STDs as well as pregnancy. Two jobs in one -- nice! Used properly, condoms work most of the time, but keep in mind they don't work 100% of the time.
D Diagnosis. Getting a diagnosis means going to the right doctor or clinic. In order to help you out, you can go to It's Your Sex Life, plug in your zip code, and find out what's near you!
E Education. Be informed. Know the facts. There's so much misinformation out there, and it's important to know what's a myth and what's a fact when it comes to protecting your body. The Abstinence Only education used by many public schools is controversial for multiple reasons, including the fact that students who receive this sort of education use protection less than students who were taught different options when it came to sex.
FFemale condoms. Did you know condoms don't just exist for men? It's like a big secret that female condoms are also out there. They protect against both STDs and pregnancy and like condoms for men, you can buy them at the store and don't need a prescription.
G Gonorrhea is a common STD out there and can give you pain while urinating and create abnormal discharge. Not a good look. The good news is that it can be cured with antibiotics.
H Herpes is a viral STD, which means you can't treat it with antibiotics. It can cause sores and blisters, and treatments for it are all about giving you fewer outbreaks and keeping you from passing it on to other people.
I It's Your Sex Life. IYSL is where MTV has partnered up with the Kaiser Family Foundation to keep you informed on how to prevent STDs and unwanted pregnancies. See?! We don't just bring you "Jersey Shore" or new music from One Direction!
K Know Your Status. Part of our GYT (Get Yourself Tested campaign) is encouraging you to "Know Your Status." Know if you have an STD or not. It's good for you to know, and it's good for your partner to know!
L Latex. It's that stuff condoms are made of to keep you protected. And did you see when Lady Gaga wore all-latex to promote being safe? That's fashion with a plan.
M Mercury: STDs have been around a long time, and do you know what people used prior to our modern medicine to "treat" them? Mercury! This time, the medicine was worse than the disease...especially because mercury didn't even work.
N Nineteen million new cases. Big number, right? Well, each year more than nineteen million new cases of STDs happen in the U.S. Eeeek!
O Oral sex. Some people believe STDs can only be transferred through vaginal sex. Nope. Oral sex is a definite way to transfer, as is anal sex. That's why trying to replace vaginal with oral or anal sex for protection just isn't going to cut it. Use condoms or dental dams to keep yourself protected in these acts.
P Prevention. If you've already gotten an STD, talk to your doctor about what you can do next. But the ideal is to prevent getting one in the first place, and you can do that through education and protection.
Q Questions to doctor. It can be embarrassing to talk about these things but talking to your doctor is a good thing! At It's Your Sex Life, we've put together some FAQs as well.
R Risk of getting more STDs. Once you've gotten one STD, unfortunately, the risk goes up for getting more.
S Syphilis. If you get a painless sore on your genitals, anus or mouth and suspect you might have syphilis, have it looked at right away. If you detect it early enough, it can be treated with antibiotics, but doctors can't turn back the clock. Untreated, syphilis can cause all kinds of nasty stuff, from rashes to paralysis to even death.
T Treatment. There are different forms of treatment for STDs. Some go away with bed rest and antibiotics while others have no cure. But even if they have no cure, if you get in early enough for treatment, doctors can help lessen the impact.
U Urine sample. Ugh, who wants to pee in a cup? Still, this is one way of testing to see if you have an STD. Other tests include swabbing for cells, physical exams and blood samples.
V Vaccines. There is no cure for HPV, but getting a vaccination before becoming sexually active can decrease your changes of getting it.
W Warts. There are different kinds of HPV, and some types of it can cause genital warts. Just like it sounds, these warts grow around the genitals, and it might be weeks to months after you've caught the disease before the warts appear.
X XXX films typically don't show people using condoms, so you kind of wonder how the stars don't catch diseases. Well, some of them do. However, they're supposed to test for STDs regularly, like once a month. We encourage you to be on the safe side and get tested...but also to wear that condom in the first place.
Y Young people. STDs affect young folks -- did you know that one in two sexually active people will have caught an STD by the age of 25? If that's not astonishing enough to hear, get this: most people with STDs don't realize they have them.
Z Zithromax is one of the antibiotics used to treat bacterial STDs, like gonorrhea. It's the viral STDs where things aren't so easy. You can't pop some Zithromax pills to fix all the STDs out there.
