Monitor Your Health
Symptoms and side effects to watch for

STDs
What's Up
Move over, HIV: Rates of sexually transmitted diseases are on the rise. That spells trouble for HIV-positive and -negative women alike. For positive women, infection with STDs, including syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and human papillomavirus, (HPV, see below) which causes genital warts, can pose serious health threats if not treated early. For negative women, many of these diseases can make it easier for HIV to get into the body.

What to Do
"Keep the lights on," says Dr.Celia Maxwell, a longtime infectious disease doc and women's health expert. Talking about STDs with your partners or simply taking a long, hard look at sores, discharge, or troubling symptoms that affect you or the person you're sleeping with can go a long way toward steering clear of some of these infections, and minimizing the severity of ones you or your partner may already have.

Include Your Doctor in the Conversation
Researchers from HERS, a major study of HIV in women, found that 83 percent of HIV positive women who needed hospitalization had at least one gynecologic condition—and that only 5 percent were admitted for their GYN concern. Recurrent yeast infections are the most common sign that a woman may have HIV. Once a woman has been diagnosed, chronic vaginal candidiasis may signal that the virus has gained an edge on the immune system.

Bacterial vaginosis, another common, nonserious GYN infection, is also an important risk factor for HIV infection. Ignoring an itch, burn, or, for that matter, a funny smell can cost you valuable time when it comes to treating STDs, maintaining immune strength, and protecting against additional infections. Syphilis, for example, is very easy to treat during the two months after exposure. A simple course of antibiotics will often do the trick. Let it go, and the bug begins to infect the central nervous system.

Check It Out
All HIV-infected women should be tested for syphilis, and vice versa. The same goes for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and, most importantly, HPV, which can be detected through a colposcopy or an HPV DNA test, a simple, self-administered swab.

What We Still Need to Know
We know that STDs may mean risk for HIV infection, and that certain STDs, like HPV, are extremely common among HIV-infected women. It's not yet known exactly how coinfection with HIV and any given STD affects the body, the immune system, and the risk of passing the virus on during pregnancy. Condoms work against HIV and some STDs, but not all. They can also break and aren't always an option. Slowly but surely, women are starting to demand microbicides-female-controlled methods of prevention that include "invisible" gels-to prevent transmission of STDs and HIV. Next to a vaccine, finding a microbicide that works may well be the greatest victory of 21st century AIDS research. Say the word - to doctors, drug companies, and your sisters.