Candidiasis of the vagina

Almost every woman at least once in life is faced with thrush (candidiasis). Thrush is often treated with sexually transmitted diseases due to the similarity of symptoms. But this does not mean that thrush is a venereal disease. In addition, contrary to popular belief, thrush is not a consequence of violation of personal hygiene rules.

Thrush is an infection caused by an increase in activity in the body of Candida fungi in the body . Their sharp growth is caused by many factors, the main of which is a decrease in immunity.

Depending on the location of the growth of fungal activity, various organs (mouth, intestine, genital organs) can be affected. For women, the problem of the defeat of the genitals genitalia (genital candidiasis), in particular of the vagina, is most acute.

Normally, about 40 species of bacteria coexist in a vagina of a healthy woman in a certain ratio. With a decrease in immunity, the number of some decreases sharply, while others - increases, which causes various malfunctions in the body. If Candida begins to multiply (that is, exceed the permissible level for a given flora) and be introduced into the cells of the vaginal epithelium , then a response (inflammation) and a large-scale "scaling" of the affected cells, i.e. candidiasis of the vagina, develop.

Causes of occurrence .

· Decreased immunity;

· Pregnancy (the body is restructuring at a rapid pace, and the immune system "does not keep up");

· Taking antibiotics, leading to a violation of the flora;

· Uncontrolled frequent douching;

· The habit of wearing tight synthetic underwear, which is an ideal breeding ground for fungi;

· Undercooling;

· Diabetes mellitus, obesity, genitourinary diseases, intestinal diseases;

· Chronic diseases;

· HIV;

· Taking hormonal drugs.

Candidiasis of the vagina, or thrush, can occur in several forms: acute, chronic and latent (candidosis). In a latent form, the symptoms of yeast infection do not appear, and the woman does not even suspect that it is the carrier of the infection.

The acute form is characterized by a cutting pain during urination and sexual contact, itching of the vagina and abundant white discharge. The duration of this stage does not exceed two months.

Chronic form is characterized by a mild manifestation of symptoms. The diagnosis of "chronic candidiasis of the vagina" occurs if during a year the woman had more than four clinically pronounced exacerbations.

Candidiasis: symptoms

Symptomatic may generally be absent, for example, at the stage of carriage. As for the obvious symptoms, it is:

Ø Itching in the vagina (in the stage of sleep in chronic course this is often the only reminder of thrush);

Ø Pain and pain when urinating ;

Ø Unpleasant pain during sexual intercourse;

Ø Curd extracts of different consistency. Depending on the course of the disease, the secretions may have a greenish or brown tinge and have a sharp "fishy" smell.

Candidiasis of the vagina: treatment.

Treatment is appointed by the doctor, since only he can make up the course of treatment on the basis of the results of the analysis and examination. Effective treatment includes several points:

A) suppression of the growth of "harmful" bacteria (antibiotics are usually taken only if the cause of the thrush is sexual infection, otherwise local procedures are more effective);

B) restoration of the normal flora of the vagina (for this purpose, live bacteria are used);

C) restoration of damaged epithelium (used immunomodulators), which maintains the balance of various bacteria in the vagina.

Typically, the treatment lasts up to three weeks. During this time, the flora of the vagina is restored, the walls of the vagina strengthen and again control the ratio of microorganisms, preventing violations of balance.