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Vaginal Yeast infections are uncomfortable, embarrassing, and have an adverse effect on the quality of a woman's life. Yeast infections are caused by a fungus called "candida albcans". Yeast infections are overgrowths of normally growing fungi in the vagina. When this fungus grows out of control for many reasons including those described below, the vagina becomes inflamed, and a white cheesy discharge results. There is a strong odor, irritation and itching. Naturally occuring bacteria in the body usually control the yeast fungi. Sometimes this balance is upset. At least 75% of women experience a yeast infection at some point in their life. Disruption of this natural balance may occur with any of the following:
Excessive use of antibiotics, Diabetes, A weakened immune system (for example from HIV/AIDS, steroid use, pregnancy, cancer chemotherapy or other drugs that weaken the immune system), Use of douches or feminine hygiene sprays, Tight or non cotton underwear, Hormonal changes, Ovulation, Menopause, Pregnancy, Use of birth control pills, Use of hormone therapy. When the levels of this fungus exceed the bodies ability to destroy the invader, the fungus grows out of control. Vaginal yeast infection can be spread to the male urethra through sexual intercourse.
Generally speaking, the same things that lower our immunity and make it possible to contract other ailments, also make it possible to contract yeast infections. Stress is a major contributing factor. When we are is a stressful situation, or living a stress filled life, our bodies concentrate on dealing with the stress. When this occurs, our ability to fight disease, any disease, is lessened.
Some women experience an increase in yeast infections at menopause due to the tremendous hormonal changes that are occurring. Taking excessive antibiotics is a contributing factor. Antibiotics kill not only disease causing bacteria, but helpful bacteria that help our bodies fight disease.
Other contributing factors are excessive douching and use of scented feminine hygiene products. Any external product poses a risk for an individual who is susceptible to infection. Tight fitting clothes that don't allow adequate blood and air circulation at the infected area are a problem. Its much easier to prevent a yeast infection than to cure one, so remembering all of these potential causes is the first step to preventing the problem in the first place.
Now I know this sounds like just a list of causes, but remember that we said the important thing was prevention. If you are susceptible to yeast infection, avoid bubble baths, irritating soaps and perfumed toilet paper. Avoid harsh detergents used to wash undergarments. Rinse your laundry thoroughly so that there is no detergent residue.
Diet has a big impact on candida yeast infections. Dairy products can lead to infection in some women as can most grain products, nuts and high sugar foods. Knowing the cause of the infection is important to prevention.
If you have taken every possible precaution to prevent infection, and you still suffer recurrent yeast infection problems, then its time to start looking at remedies. There are several antifungal drugs that are used in treatment, as well as a cornucopia of herbal and holistic treatments. If prevention was unsuccessful, and the holistic remedies failed, see your doctor. There is a great deal of long term damage that can be cause by long term and recurrent yeast infection. Take heart yeast infections are preventable and curable.
Yeast infections aren't caused by one factor alone, most times there will be more than one circumstance that will lead you to have a yeast infection. In this article I hope to give you some details on what these causes of yeast infection are, and hopefully help you find your way through the mire of information that surrounds this sticky subject. The long and short of it though is the fact that the normal environment of the vagina has been disrupted and is more receptive to the yeast producing bacteria.
What all of these causes of yeast infection have in common is that they in someway or other change the balance of the condition of the vagina. pregnancy could be one of the causes of yeast infection, you're susceptible to getting yeast infections due to the hormonal changes that occur in your body. The same applies if you're breastfeeding. The problem here though is that you need to be very careful what medication you use in getting rid of your yeast infection. Some natural medications and herbs can be harmful to pregnant women and can even cause early labor. Some medications will also have an adverse effect on your unborn baby so it's best to get proper medical advice before your try anything out.
Whether it's a constant use of antibiotics, or whether it's as a result of a course of antibiotics that you just finished off, it can't be denied that its one the causes of yeast infection. It's not given that you will get a yeast infection just because you used antibiotics, but there's a good chance that you might. And this becomes even more positive when you take into account the type of antibiotic that you were prescribed. These generally make the balanced environment of the vagina, into an inhospitable and unbalanced area. Organisms that would normally flourish in your vagina and your stomach would now find it difficult to thrive there, and other organisms will try and take over. It's at this time that you would normally succumb to a yeast infection.
The use of steroids as one of the causes of yeast infection will act on your body in much the same way that certain immune system illnesses, like HIV/ AIDS, will act on your body. It will weaken your immune system to the extent that your body will be unable or too weak to fight off an infection. This will in turn allow the yeast bacteria to continue growing and multiplying unabated. Which will in its turn, pave the way for the yeast to take over and to cause you problems.
The wrong diet is unfortunately something that we can't seem to get away from in this day and age of processed foods and refined sugars. It's an unhappy fact that most people have an imbalanced diet and that they're unable to do anything about it leading to wrong diet as one of the causes of yeast infection . The addictive quality of having ready-prepared foods for us to turn to when we need a helping hand in the kitchen is just too hard resist for most of us. And we'll continue on this destructive path until something comes along to give us a wakeup call and tell us to change the way we eat. Until that time, and sometimes even after that time, we will continue to be logged down in high-carbohydrate, high-fat, and high-sugar foods.
A good balanced diet with the right amounts of carbohydrates and sugars, dairy products, and fruits and vegetables can help us to prevent the occurrence and recurrence of yeast infections. A moderate consumption of alcohol and fermented products will also help. So going on drinking binges is probably not the way that you would want to go.