months have gone by. Consequently a man or woman, without any knowledge of his infection, may spread the disease to his intimate sex partners.

When rectal gonorrhea does have symptoms it may be merely a moistness about the rectum, or some discomfort with bowel movements. Rather seldom, pus or bloody diarrhea may appear; or a person may experience constipation or much pain in and around the rectum, especially with bowel movements. Similarly, women sometimes have a discharge, but since many women have discharges anyway, it is not realized that gonorrhea is the cause. The disease ordinarily involves the cervix and has no specific signs other than discharge until it spreads up through her womb and into her tubes. Then she may have much pain and may have to be hospitalized for treatment. She may become sterile from scar tissue or may need an operation on her tubes which results in sterility.

Q. What are the common names for syphilis and gonorrhea?

A. Syphilis is commonly called "bad blood", "siff" or "pox". Gonorrhea is commonly called "clap", "dose" or "strain".

Q. What are the serious complications of the veneral diseases?

A. Syphilis most frequently causes serious complications, such as insanity, paralysis, blindness, deafness, heart disease and death. It is noteworthy though, that syphilis is not a frequent killer but is a great incapacitator. Most of the victims linger on in a crippled condition or with mental illness until death occurs from some other cause. Gonorrhea can cause permanent damage to the sexual organs in men and women, sterility, arthritis and blindness.

Q. What should a person do if he suspects he may have venereal disease?

A. Immediately seek medical attention not wait and hope. Every

person who is sexually active should have examinations compatible with the frequency of sexual activity. Those with very frequent sexual contact should be examined monthly, those with less frequent contacts, every few months.

Q. If a person learns he has been exposed to another who has a venereal disease, what should he do?

A. It is very important to go to a doctor or a health department clinic right away when known that a sex contact has a venereal disease. There the proper steps will be taken at once, the patient will be treated well and the information kept confidential. Self-treatment with pills or ointments is dangerous as is treatment by a friend who is not a doctor. Unlicensed "men's doctors" cannot be relied upon. In instances where a person has known contact to an infectious case, it is particularly important to have treatment immediately. This is necessary to prevent the disease from developing in the patient and to prevent the disease from spreading during the days, weeks or months before symptoms appear. Venereal diseases frequently have no symptoms until reasonably late in the infection. The examining doctor may need to verify the infection in the sex partner which venereal disease in order to manage the patient correctly.

Q. What medical examination is necessary to reach a diagnosis?

A. I cannot stress too strongly that the early stages of syphilis are hard to detect, especially when the early signs are hidden within internal organs. It is often difficult even for a physician to find the signs unless he looks for them intently. For primary syphilis it is important to take a scraping from the chancre. By looking under a special microscope, called "the darkfield", the germ may actually be seen and treatment started. If the chancre does not appear or has gone away, the only way to tell is

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