Itchy down there? Blame your soap...or diet

I am not sure if you have ever suffered a venereal disease. These are diseases that are passed sexually. 

When you get infected, it is testimony enough that your sex partner is sleeping out with someone else. Put simply, the resounding message is that you have been cheated on.

These are the thoughts that crossed my mind as I talked to Judy when she came to the sexology clinic with complaints of vaginal itchiness and whitish discharge. She was distressed and even threatening to file a divorce.

“And can you imagine the bugger tells me that I am misguided for accusing him of unfaithfulness and tells me to take yoghurt for my problem and stop bothering him?” she said of her husband’s response to her situation.

“Isn’t that the height of disrespect? Surely I expect more from an unfaithful husband, he can at least be remorseful!”

Her husband, James, was a research biologist and, according to Judy, was theorising all over the place to justify his unfaithfulness.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the yoghurt story.

Well, vaginal itchiness that is accompanied by whitish discharge is typical of candidiasis, a fungal infection that is commonplace. It can affect any woman, sexually active or otherwise.

The birth canal has natural bacteria that protect it. Sometimes the bacteria get depleted and the space left easily gets colonised by the fungus that causes candidiasis. The result is severe itchiness of the vaginal area.

Vaginal itchiness

“But, doctor, I have no explanation for this itchiness other than the fact that I had sex with my husband,” Judy retorted, insisting that her condition was sexually transmitted.

Well, generally, cases of candidiasis are attributed to the depletion of the vaginal protective bacteria for reasons unrelated to infidelity. 

The first culprit is douching. Some women aggressively clean their birth canals and even add soap or other detergents in this process in the name of keeping clean. This practice is counterproductive. It causes the vaginal bacteria to get washed off and the fungus that causes candidiasis to take over, causing havoc.

Secondly, vaginal candidiasis is common when one is on antibiotics, often for infections that are unrelated to the reproductive system. The antibiotics are transported in blood and reach all parts of the body, including the vaginal canal. 

Broad spectrum antibiotics not only kill disease causing bacteria but also normal vaginal bacteria. The opportunist candidiasis fungus immediately takes over.

But sometimes the problem could be due to reduced body immunity. Candidiasis causing fungus is among the opportunistic infections that occur whenever the body’s immunity goes down.

Reduced immunity could be due to a pre-existing and often chronic medical condition which may or may not have been detected.

Diabetes is among the leading causes of reduced immunity and could be signalled by candidiasis. Other diseases that affect immunity include cancer and HIV.

Use of steroids, found commonly in people with diseases such as asthma, can reduce immunity and cause candidiasis. Steroids have also been abused by bodybuilders and other sports people.

Candidiasis symptoms

Pregnancy is a notorious cause of candidiasis. The changes in the body that happen in pregnancy create a fertile ground in the vaginal canal for the disease to thrive.

Judy had none of these common causes of candidiasis. The only significant finding in her case was that she was leading a stressful professional life. She was always fatigued, working late in the night and rarely eating enough.

From her stature it was obvious that she could do better with a few more pounds of body weight. Her BMI was below par. She was underweight.

“Looks to me like your body can no longer cope with your lifestyle”, I explained to her as I concluded on the cause of her problem, “your candidiasis is a warning sign of under-nutrition leading to low immunity.” 

She frowned and gave a look of disbelief, shook her head and blurted out: “But James could be sleeping out with other women too! Aren’t there cases where candidiasis is sexually transmitted?”

Well, on rare occasions, candida can move from one person to another sexually, but is unlikely to cause symptoms unless the victim has additional predisposing factors. 

Unless proven otherwise, occurrence of candidiasis symptoms is not reason enough to suspect a sex partner of infidelity. Virgins commonly suffer candidiasis too.

Also, yoghurt actually does contain the protective bacteria found in the birth canal that fights candidiasis. James’ scientific reasoning was, therefore, quite in order.