Most women
have yeast infection one time or another. Many have it
chronically. It usually starts in the teen years and
stops by the mid thirties. Yeast is a single-celled
fungus.
Nearly 75 percent of all women will have at least one
such infection in their lifetime (is
this an epidemic?). Many are plagued by
recurring yeast infections, which are most frequent
between the ages of 16 and 35. Yeast is a term for
single-celled fungi. The technical name for the variety
of fungus often present in the human body is candida,
and the technical name for infections caused by these
fungi is candidiasis. Such infections occur not only in
the vagina, but also in other parts of the body in both
sexes.
A woman who has had one vaginal yeast infection can
usually recognize its symptoms if it recurs. And a woman
who has had several infections has no doubt about what's
wrong when the next yeast infection starts. Another
symptom is a thick, mostly odorless discharge. But this
can be misleading because discharge in and of itself is
not diagnostic. If you have a white discharge with an
intense irritating itch, you may have an infection.
Unfortunately, many women will, in response to increased
estrogen at mid-cycle and the increased production of
cervical mucus, develop a white, curdy discharge. That
is not a yeast infection.
While not all women experience the following symptoms of
a vaginal yeast infection, it's possible to have vaginal
soreness or irritation, a rash on the vulva around the
vagina, pain or discomfort during intercourse, abdominal
pain, soreness of the vulva or vagina, burning during
urination, and even vaginal bleeding in some cases in
addition to itching and discharge. |