HBC and STI risk?
Jun. 30th, 2008 04:02 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
paperispatient.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
vaginapaginaHi ladies! I've mentioned this in a few threads before, but I'm doing a research project on virginity in contemporary American culture, and I've been reading lots of books for teen girls that push abstinence as one aspect of my project. I'm reading a book right now called The Power of Abstinence, and I just had to post to see if something the author is claiming is true or not.
In a chapter on "myths" about sex, the author writes that "The pill actually makes you more susceptible to getting an STD. That's because it changes the tissues in the vagina, rendering them more susceptible to infection."
Now. I know YIs can be a side effect of HBC, but I have never heard of it causing physical changes that can make a woman more likely to get an STI. Some of the other "facts" in this book are not true, and much of the author's data is from studies from the 1980s, and she doesn't cite any of her sources. I know that abstinence-only advocates often claim that the pill results in higher STI contraction rates because sometimes girls and women on the pill forego condoms since they're covered with regard to pregnancy, but I've never read any claim like this before. So I'm curious - does anyone know if there is any validity to this?
In a chapter on "myths" about sex, the author writes that "The pill actually makes you more susceptible to getting an STD. That's because it changes the tissues in the vagina, rendering them more susceptible to infection."
Now. I know YIs can be a side effect of HBC, but I have never heard of it causing physical changes that can make a woman more likely to get an STI. Some of the other "facts" in this book are not true, and much of the author's data is from studies from the 1980s, and she doesn't cite any of her sources. I know that abstinence-only advocates often claim that the pill results in higher STI contraction rates because sometimes girls and women on the pill forego condoms since they're covered with regard to pregnancy, but I've never read any claim like this before. So I'm curious - does anyone know if there is any validity to this?
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