What Is Herpes
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios

Defined Tag: Herpes.

In these unique times it seems everything sacred has become profane, and conversely, the vulgar has been elevated to the sacrosanct. Strangely, through the millennia human sexuality has fit into both of these categories, from the highly esteemed vestal "virgins" of ancient Greece and Sumeria, to the under-dressed Hollywood starlet of today. Sadly, often sexuality leads to more than just pleasure or condemnation, as is the case with STD's, Sexually Transmitted Diseases. One of the more notorious and feared of these STD's is herpes.

There are two basic types of herpes, genital and oral. Of the latter, a staggering 60% of America is infected; this type, oral, is commonly known simply as cold sores, which is the primary symptom, upon the lips of people, and is transmitted through kissing. The second form, genital herpes, is the same virus that has simply "gone south," namely, affecting the genitalia.

Often the symptoms manifest in such a mild manner that a person is unaware of even having this contagion. It is for this reason that this disease has spread so greatly over the nation and the world. At other times the symptoms may be a mere redness, irritation, or itching and therefore mistaken for jock itch, yeast infection, or skin problems easily amenable to cure.

However, at its worst, the disease can result in painful sores, cuts, oozing or other forms of discharge, burning during urination, aches & pains of the genital region, and even headache, flu type symptoms, and swollen glands. Further, other areas that may be affected besides the vagina and penis include the anus, scrotum, vulva, thighs, and buttocks.

A feature to this disease worthy of note is that the symptoms may only occur for 4 or 5 days per month and not be visible or felt for another twenty-five days or so. It is for this reason that herpes is not treated with the same respect and level of seriousness as other health problems. Often those affected by this dilemma do not even realize that they have been infected for months or even years, and so infect their sexual partners unaware of the true situation.

Herpes is not life-threatening, however. While it may bring discomfort, even pain, the greatest problems generated are social and emotional. For better or worse, those suffering from this hardship are not alone. It is estimated that there are fifty million people throughout the United States with genital herpes. Despite the fact that so many have this health problem, it is still a matter of social stigma. While there is no outright cure for this hardship, nowadays those afflicted with have learned to adapt to their situation in numerous ways.

There are workshops, support groups, even dating services directly aimed at helping people with this problem. For this reason, people suffering from this problem lead happy, healthy lives. Further, there are medications that, while not utterly eliminating the virus from the body, are able to contain the symptoms, thus alleviating the majority of the problems that this malady brings with it.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.