Have you noticed an increase in the secretion in the genitals or the anal tract? Do you have itching in the intimate areas? Maybe he’s a victim of the candid fungus, which is responsible for the appearance of candidiasis. How do you contract? Is sexual intercourse related to this infection? Does it affect the genital area alone? We delve into candidiasis, one of the most common infectious diseases and the most unknown.
Did you know that the Candida albicans fungus is naturally in our body? Problems arise when this fungus grows abnormally, either in the intestine (most common) or in the genital area (the best known). This disease is very contagious: it can be transmitted orally (drip), genital (exchange of fluids), and even by mere contact with the skin. In the case of pregnant women, it can cause vertical transmission at the time of delivery through the birth canal.
What is candidiasis?
Candid fungi are found naturally in people and animals, both in the skin and in the digestive tract or the genital mucous membranes of the woman. The infection is generated at the time when the body’s defenses suffer from dysfunction and the pathogen becomes strong. This is very often the case in women of reproductive age.
Although associated with a female genital disease, it can develop interchangeably in men and women, since in both cases the candida inhabits inside, either in the skin or in the soft mucous membranes.
How is candidiasis transmitted?
According to the studies and research carried out, vulvovaginitis candidiasis is not considered a sexually transmitted disease, although vaginal intercourse can become a channel of mass contagion, whether oral or vaginal sex is performed, in both directions of the couple. In the case of a woman, when it comes to vaginal candidiasis, it involves inflammation of the cavity.
Who can have candidiasis? Even though it has been associated with a female disease, it can actually be developed by any individual, and anywhere in the body. There are several types of candidiasis depending on where it is displayed.
Thus, when the esophagus is inflamed, it is associated with oral candidiasis or muguet. If, on the contrary, it creates rashes and discomfort on the skin, we will talk about candidiasis on the skin. However, the most serious and dangerous health situation occurs when the fungus uses blood as an expansion route to the whole body.
Types of candidiasis that you may suffer at some time in your life
The appearance of this fungus on the skin is usually limited to the area of the groin, armpits, or areas with folds and holes in which, with the necessary point of moisture, it can reproduce and become infected.
When it occurs in the nails it causes inflammation of the nail insertion area. He’s one of the most annoying types of candidiasis. For its part, in the mouth it expands how it manifests itself, being most commonly to find it as infection in the area of the corners. In the most serious cases, bleeding white plates appear. When it penetrates the larynx, it attacks the entire respiratory system, being able to even reach the bronchus and creating a chronic pathology.
The digestive system is also a target of this candid fungus, where it can generate problems of burning and chest pain.
Causes
Although there is no single cause, since there are numerous factors that predispose our body to this type of contagious infection, it is known that candidiasis has to do with environmental conditions (smoke, heat, sweating, friction) and the conditions of the patient or host (immunodepressive and debilitating diseases). However, several elements favor this excessive growth of the candida fungus.
Thus, the consumption of antibiotics leaves the intestines without much of their intestinal flora, also a basis for controlling the presence of the fungus and neutralizing its growth. The consumption of alcohol or foods that increase the amount of glucose in the blood is also favorable to candidiasis, such as exposure to moisture continuously. Hormonal changes are also causes of candidiasis.
Symptoms
How do I know if I have candidiasis? Depending on the type of candidiasis you are developing, you will show signs or others. When it comes to mucocutaneous candidiasis, it is common to find white plaques in the mucosa or soft areas such as the tongue or esophagus. Neither side is painful at either point. If anything, I’m a stinger.
If it is vulvovaginal candidiasis, the most common symptoms are itching, pain in the area, and excessive vaginal secretion. It also appears in the form of redness and edema in the lower lips of the vulva, a point from which it can extend to the rest of the elements of the female genital apparatus.
What about men? How does candidiasis reveal? It is interesting, since, in men, the sensitive points for this fungus are the head of the penis and foreskin (if it exists), with symptomatology very similar to the vaginal: the head is irritated and feels intense itching. It can lead to eruptions and papules or redness of the skin making it look dead.
In the foreskin area, the most common is to notice the appearance of a thick and white secretion in the areas below the foreskin or the folds themselves. Surely you can even be guided by the unpleasant smell it generates.
Prevention
Is it possible to prevent the appearance of candidiasis? Yeah, though you’ll have to be an active part of the process. So, on the one hand, when we submit the body to a week of antibiotics, it is important to take before and after treatment probiotics to help speed up food intake.
Another way to avoid this annoying infection is to modify the usual diet, eliminating everything you don’t need. If you are a patient with diabetes, you should control your blood glucose level, which can be triggered. Hygiene and the use of natural clothing bring their grain of sand to avoid cases of candidiasis.
Treatment
The treatment of candidiasis is based on so-called antifungals, which are topical compounds to wish for. However, there are also pills and tablets for this purpose and even poisonous injections.
For the elderly, it is always recommended to strengthen the intestinal flora with probiotic treatments.