{"id":8815,"date":"2014-07-23T06:00:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T11:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/?p=8815"},"modified":"2014-07-22T17:31:05","modified_gmt":"2014-07-22T22:31:05","slug":"tennessee-department-of-health-says-parents-need-to-discuss-sexually-transmitted-diseases-with-their-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/2014\/07\/23\/tennessee-department-of-health-says-parents-need-to-discuss-sexually-transmitted-diseases-with-their-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Department of Health says Parents need to discuss Sexually Transmitted Diseases with their Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TennesseeNashville, TN<\/strong> – Sex. It\u2019s a difficult topic for many parents to discuss with their children, but those conversations may save a life or prevent pain and suffering from a sexually transmitted disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are more than 20 sexually transmitted diseases and while all are preventable, not all are curable,\u201d said Carolyn Wester, MD, MPH, medical director of the TDH HIV\/STD Section. \u201cSome are deadly, some can cause permanent damage to the reproductive and nervous systems, and some can cause bouts of pain for the rest of a person\u2019s life. Unfortunately too many children become sexually active at very young ages, so it\u2019s important for parents to provide accurate information earlier than later, and to help their children understand the consequences of their actions.\u201dIn 2012, the Tennessee Department of Health recorded 31,013 new cases of chlamydia, 8,711 of gonorrhea, 923 of HIV and 261 of syphilis. In that year, 246 people under 24 years of age were diagnosed with HIV, with some of those under 15 years of age.<\/p>\n

TDH Epidemiologist Tim Jones, MD, who saw his first HIV patients 30 years ago, is concerned about the false belief that all sexually transmitted diseases, particularly HIV, can be cured with drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s dangerous thinking,\u201d said Jones. \u201cEven though advances have been made in treating symptoms and prolonging life, there is currently no drug that will cure a person of HIV. It is, sadly, still deadly yet also easily preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Public health departments across Tennessee provide services to help people of all ages avoid sexually transmitted diseases. TDH clinics also provide confidential testing so individuals can know if they have been infected. Knowledge of an infection and early treatment are critical to every STD patient\u2019s best chances for optimal treatment.<\/p>\n

Parents wanting information about discussing sexually transmitted diseases with their children should visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services \u201cTalking with Teens\u201d page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

About the Tennessee Department of Health<\/h3>\n

The mission of the Tennessee Department of Health is to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. TDH has facilities in all 95 counties and provides direct services for more than one in five Tennesseans annually as well as indirect services for everyone in the state, including emergency response to health threats, licensure of health professionals, regulation of health care facilities and inspection of food service establishments.<\/p>\n

Learn more about TDH services and programs at http:\/\/health.state.tn.us\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Nashville, TN – Sex. It\u2019s a difficult topic for many parents to discuss with their children, but those conversations may save a life or prevent pain and suffering from a sexually transmitted disease. \u201cThere are more than 20 sexually transmitted diseases and while all are preventable, not all are curable,\u201d said Carolyn Wester, MD, MPH, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[1295,9418,9420,1290,549,284,9417,9419,7379,1292,261,513,7746],"class_list":["post-8815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","tag-carolyn-wester","tag-chlamydia","tag-gonorrhea","tag-hiv","tag-nashville","tag-nashville-tn","tag-sexually-transmitted-disease","tag-syphilis","tag-tdh","tag-tdoh","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-department-of-health","tag-tim-jones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8815"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8816,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8815\/revisions\/8816"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.paristn.net\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}