Syphilis - Understanding the Four Stages of the Disease

Syphilis is a disease which is sexually transmitted; it can lead to a number of health problems as it is very infectious. 'Treponema Pallidum' is the bacteria which causes syphilis. Both men and women are prone to this disease.

There are four stages of Syphilis; these stages are classified according to the harshness of the indication of the disease. They stages are:

The Primary Stage: This is the first stage, that is the start of the disease, this when an ulcer or a sore starts to appear around the genital parts, the mouth or the anus. This initial ulcer appears on the perineum, vulva or the cervix in case of women and in men it appears on the penis or the scrotum.

This ulcer often does not bring about any pain. It can be seen clearly in about three to four weeks after the infection. If treatment is done at this stage, the recovery is faster, and the sufferer is back to normal in about a month's time.

The Secondary Stage: At this point of time the infection would spread to the whole body. A rash on the skin which is red in colour would appear on the feet or the palms; this is the indication that the infection that reached the next stage. In the stage the sufferer might also have loss of hair, fatigue, inflamed lymph nodes and headache. Many ulcers would appear in the mouth and the throat.

The muscles and the liver will also be affected. At this stage, the disease is very infectious. In case, the sufferer is not treated in time, he or she would definitely start facing the symptoms of the next stage.

The Latent Stage: The start of this stage is when the indications of the pervious stage start to diminish. This syphilis comes in two parts that is 'early and late'. In the early stage there are no indications of syphilis, whereas the infection is already present in the body of the sufferer, but the disease at this point is highly transmittable as such sexually activities should be avoided.

However, in the later stage of latent syphilis, the microbes are not infectious and also not transmitted through sexual activities.

The Tertiary Stage: This stage is the last and highly perilous stage. This stage would take a very long time that is even a few years to come to light after the infection takes place. The microbes start multiplying in this stage and in turn start damaging the organs in the body, like the bones, brain, eyes, joints, nervous system and the heart. These microbes, within the body could even form tumours.

This in turn would cause cancerous developments in the skin, bone or other tissues. There could also be a development of 'Aortic Aneurysum' which is a cardiovascular problem. In a few cases where the sufferer has reached the extreme levels, there would even be weight loss. The harm which the body faces is irretrievable; therefore it is advised that treatment should be taken in the third stage of the disease.