By Chioma Umeha
Pelvic inflammatory disease is, essentially,
caused by the body overreacting to an infection. As the immune system tries to
fight off the invading bacteria, it ca
The most common infections associated with pelvic
inflammatory disease are chlamydia and gonorrhea. Because the symptoms of PID
are the result of the body’s response to the underlying infection, treatment
usually involves antibiotics to treat that infection. In severe cases, or in an
emergency, surgery may be necessary to drain an abscess that has ruptured or
that threatens to rupture.
What are the symptoms of PID?
These include: Pain in the lower abdomen and
pelvis; irregular periods, pain during sex, pain during urination, lower back
pain and excess vaginal discharge with a foul odour.
How Common Is PID?
In the early 1990s, the self-reported frequency of
PID in women was approximately one in nine. PID was more than twice as common
in women with a history of sexually transmitted diseases (26 percent) than
among women who had never reported an STD (10 per cent).
Risk factors for PID include: Younger age:
Sexually experienced teenagers are three times more likely to be diagnosed with
PID than their 25- to 29-year-old counterparts. Scientists do not know,
however, whether this is due to biological factors that make young women more
susceptible to STDs or different sexual behaviours in these two age groups.
Women have the highest risk of PID of the ethnic
groups seen in the U.S. This may be related to biological factors, or due to
their comparatively high frequency of douching.
Contraceptive Choice: Barrier methods, such as
condoms, and oral contraceptives reduce the risk of PID. Despite the problems
with the Dalkon Shield in the 1970s, use of modern intrauterine devices (IUD)
is not considered to significantly increase the risk of PID, except possibly
around the time of insertion.
Douching: Douching greatly increases a woman’s
risk of PID.
Why Should I Be Concerned About PID?
Worldwide, PID is one of the leading causes of
ectopic pregnancy and preventable infertility in women.
The relationship between PID and infertility is
relatively well accepted. PID causes infertility by the scarring process that
occurs during the healing of sexually transmitted infections. The extensive
scarring can eventually occlude one or both fallopian tubes, and scarring tends
to be worse among older women, smokers and women using IUDs. Depending on the
extent of scarring it may be impossible for sperm to reach the egg, or, if
sperm can get through, the fertilized egg may be unable to get to the uterus.
Not surprisingly, the percentage of women who
experience infertility due to PID is directly proportional to the number of
episodes of PID that they have experienced. Therefore, both treating and
preventing PID are important steps in the reduction of infertility in the
United States.
