Practise safe sex to avoid STIs

Attitudes on sex may have changed, but STIs are still rampant and the ways to avoid them have improved. Practising safe sex will help you stay healthy and have an enjoyable sex life. Check out these ways to prevent getting infected.

The United States was shocked in early 2008 when researchers announced that an estimated one in four teenage girls had a sexually transmitted infection (STI). STIs — including genital warts, herpes, chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis — are also increasingly common among people over 45.

• Since most STIs have no symptoms in the early or even late stages, simply asking or looking at your partner won't help you avoid them; the following steps will:

It's that simple. If you abstain from anal, oral or vaginal sex until you have a monogamous, trusting relationship with someone who has tested negative for any sexually transmitted infections, it's highly unlikely you'll get an STI.

Condoms have been around for more than 300 years, and they're still the best thing we have to protect against many STIs, including HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia and trichomoniasis (caused by a parasite).

• They're not perfect since they can break or slip off, but in the case of AIDS, for instance, properly used latex condoms could prevent 80 to 90 percent of HIV infections.
• It's important, however, that a condom fit properly. If it doesn't, it's much more likely to slip or break. If the regular size isn't right for you, look for a bigger or smaller one.

• It's just math and probability: the fewer people you have sex with, the fewer of their sexual partners you're exposed to.
• The less exposure, the less likely you are to catch an STI.
• It becomes about odds and minimizing risk where you can.

A growing body of evidence suggests that circumcision may reduce the risk of STIs, particularly HIV, in men.

• For instance, a large Kenyan study showed that circumcision reduced men's risk of HIV infection from men or women by 53 percent, while a Ugandan study showed a reduced risk of 51 percent.
• Researchers think that circumcision protects against HIV because the foreskin of the penis contains a rich source of cells the virus likes to target; remove the foreskin and you remove vulnerable cells.
• Other studies find that circumcised men have a lower risk of infection with syphilis and chancroid (a bacterial infection).

• While progress on an HIV vaccine has been dismal, we do have a vaccine that prevents four of the most common types of human papillomavirus (HPV), including the ones that cause the majority of cervical cancers, not to mention genital warts.
• Called Gardasil, the three-dose vaccine is recommended for girls beginning at age 11, before they become sexually active, and is approved for women as old as 26. If you're past this age, think about the vaccine for your daughter or granddaughter.

• If you're sexually active and not in a monogamous relationship, you should be screened at least once a year for STIs, particularly gonorrhea, chlamydia, and trichomoniasis.
• A large multinational study found that women infected with trich are 50 percent more likely to acquire HIV.
• Researchers don't know why, but they suspect that the infection may lead to minuscule areas in the vagina that provide more entry points for the HIV virus.

We already know that smoking increases the risk of cervical cancer, but there's also intriguing evidence that smokers have a greater risk of HIV infection than nonsmokers, with the increase ranging from 60 percent to more than threefold.

• Researchers suggest that the effects of tobacco smoke on the immune system may reduce the ability of immune cells to fight off the virus.