Gonorrhea complications males

Gonorrhea is closely related to other sexually-transmitted diseases. In many cases, persons who are infected with gonorrhea also have Chlamydia, another STD. It is often advisable, if you're undergoing treatment for gonorrhea, to be tested for Chlamydia, as well. If you're positive for both, antibiotics for these two infections can be administered together.

Left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to serious and permanent health problems and long-term organ damage for both men and women. This is particularly devastating to women because for many of them, gonorrhea is a "silent disease." An estimated fifty percent or half of those women who are infected will not show gonorrhea symptoms or will mistake gonorrhea for mild bladder infection.

Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID)

This is perhaps the most serious threat/complication women infected with gonorrhea could face, because gonorrhea is one of the most common causes of PID in women. The Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 1 million women develop PID in the United States, every year. Like in many cases of gonorrhea, a large percentage of women with PID also do not exhibit its symptoms. PID symptoms can be severe and can include vaginal discharge, abdominal pain, and fever. PID can lead to internal abscesses (pus-filled pockets that are hard to cure) and chronic pelvic pain.

PID can seriously damage the fallopian tubes causing infertility and a higher risk of ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition in which a fertilized egg develops outside the uterus, usually in a fallopian tube.

Epididymitis

In men, gonorrhea can lead to this painful condition affecting the testicles. Left untreated, epididymitis can lead to infertility.

HIV/AIDS

Due to lowered immunity, people infected with gonorrhea can more easily contract HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Studies also show that HIV-infected persons with gonorrhea are more likely to transmit the the HIV virus to someone else.

Arthritis, Meningitis, and Endocarditis

The gonorrhea bacterium has the ability to travel in your bloodstream and spread throughout the body. When this happens the infection will now attack the mucous membrane in the different parts of your body. Symptoms can be severe and in some cases life-threatening. These include inflammation of the joints (arthritis), inflammation in the brain (meningitis), and infection of the heart (endocarditis).

Infant Blindness

As noted in Symptoms and Risks pages, mothers with gonorrhea can pass the infection to their babies during childbirth. Gonorrheal infection of the mucous membrane of a newborn's eyes, if untreated, can lead to permanent blindness.

As we have seen, gonorrhea, left untreated, can lead to serious and damaging complications. If you are experiencing any of the gonorrhea symptoms (described in the Home page) and suspects gonorrhea infection, see your doctor immediately. Even if you don't have the symptoms, but have had sex with someone infected, have yourself tested right away.

Antibiotics (please see Treatment page) can stop the infection dead on its tracks. However, if you have waited too long, no amount of antibiotics or medicine can repair whatever permanent damage the bacteria may have done in your system.

The key to a successful treatment of gonorrhea is early detection and immediate medication.