Genital Herpes Symptoms In Women

Genital herpes symptoms in women are an unfortunate fact of life in our society today. Men too are infected, but more so women; 1 out of 5 women in the 14-49 age group and 1 out of 9 men according to the Center For Disease Control. This article will discuss the causes, symptoms, and cure for genital herpes.

The Cause

Medical science shows it is a tiny particle, a virus, that is but one member of a large herpes "society". Chicken pox and shingles are normal afflictions caused by the herpes viruses. The one producing genital herpes is much like (at times identical) to the virus causing the common cold sores most people get on their lips. But when herpes affect the genitals, the sufferer has frequently (but not always) contracted the virus in a unique way: by sexually intimate contact with another infected herpes victim.

Three to seven days after exposure to herpes, the infected one notices a fiery or tingling experience in the genital area; the herald of painful,, fluid-filled lesions. The sores produce their torment for two to six weeks before clearing up. But herpes don't just go away. Doctors make clear it simply beats a retreat, through the nerve pathways, to nerve clusters at the bottom of the spine. There it remains dormant until something (such as stress) precipitates a reactivation of the virus. Awakened, it travels the nerve pathways back to the skin and begins the misery cycle yet another time.

Perhaps the most treacherous end result of herpes is upon the sufferer's emotions. Observes Dr. Oscar Gillespie: The major aggravation with herpes isn't so much in the virus itself, but in the ways its presence can provoke fears, doubts and disruptions in day-to-day living. As told by one victim: It's very complicated to describe the feelings of anger, guilt, and loss of control that you sense when you have herpes. It's something that I believe only a fellow herpes victim could share and appreciate. Yet such emotional turmoil basically prolongs the cycle of the disease, often by triggering additional recurrences.

Why Called Incurable

Why doesn't the body's immune system simply destroy the dangerous herpes virus? Doctors reply that herpes outsmarts such a fate by attaching itself to a cell, piercing its outer membrane and secluding itself therein. Safely inside, it all of a sudden commandeers control of the cell mutating it into a outright herpes factory! From 80,000 to 120,000 new viruses are created within 3 to 5 hours. The cell wall then breaks open, facilitating an army of dangerous particles to populate the bloodstream and infect yet other cells.

You can thus comprehend why doctors explain that herpes is so tough to kill. A cure would in some way have to identify only the infected cells to kill the virus. In other words it would have to kill infected cells without destroying healthy ones. Little wonder that medical science is thus far confounded.

Recent reports that herpes vaccines are being tested give a promising ray of hope perhaps. But while such an ounce of prevention could help millions, what about those already infected?