Syphilis
[toc]Treponema pallidum is a bacterium that causes syphilis which is a sexually transmitted disease that occurs in four stages. These four stages of syphilis are characterized by specific symptoms that are either visible or non-visible. A person who is infected with this disease goes through an incubation stage of twenty one days. This incubation period is different for different people.
Some people might have an incubation phase of not more than nine days while there are some people who might go through an incubation phase of ninety days. The symptoms of syphilis begin to appear only after this incubation phase. Men and women have similar symptoms that are generally very mild. The major symptoms include:
Symptoms Of Syphilis
Small Ulcer Or Sore
Sore
The appearance of very small ulcer or sore is considered as one of the most basic symptoms of the disease. This ulcer or sore is painless and is commonly known as a chancre. This sore mainly appears in that area of the body where the disease is transmitted particularly the vagina, the penis, the tongue, the lips, the mouth, the rectum or the anus.
There are people who might have a single sore while in some people more than two ulcers might also exist. The sore or the chancre is considered as an initial symptom that occurs within ten days to three months of exposure.
Swollen Lymph Glands
Lymph glands are very small organs that are found in the entire body of an individual and they are mostly located in the groin, the armpit and the neck. Some people infected by syphilis can also experience the inflammation of the lymph glands that can turn out to be very serious. This symptom of syphilis should be treated immediately as syphilis can pass on to the next stage if this symptom is left untreated.
Skin Rash
Skin rash is a symptom that appears on the body of the infected person once the painless sore disappears. This symptom also occurs after some weeks and is generally considered as a symptom of the secondary stage of syphilis.
The skin rash that is found and felt is non-itchy and it can appear on any part of the body. However, the soles and the palms are the most common areas where the skin rash is found.
Tiredness And Headaches
Headache
Headaches and tiredness are also considered as the symptoms of syphilis and these symptoms are also noticed in the secondary stage of the disease. Often, people do not take the necessary steps in getting rid of these symptoms because they feel that headaches and tiredness are common and normal conditions of the body. If such conditions persist for a very long time, it is important to go for a checkup because these symptoms can turn out to be the second stage of syphilis.
Uncommon Symptoms – Weight Loss, Hair Loss
Weight loss, hair loss, fever and joint pains are some of the uncommon symptoms of the contagious disease named syphilis. These are the symptoms that are not rigid and they always tend to appear and then disappear after some time.
Tertiary Symptoms – Stroke, Paralysis
Stroke, deafness, numbness, paralysis and diseases of the heart are some of the tertiary symptoms of syphilis that might appear after years and decades of the initial infection. These are the symptoms that mostly appear if people with syphilis are not treated in the initial stages.
Phioto Credit: http://www.healthcentral.com/sexual-health/h/symptoms-of-late-stage-syphilis.html
