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Do You Have Syphilis?
The symptoms of syphilis are seen in three stages- primary, secondary and tertiary. The first stage symptoms appear any time within ninety days of contacting syphilis but not within the first ten days. The symptoms are common for men and women.
First Stage Symptoms:
You may see a painless small sore on the part where you contacted syphilis. This sore is like a blister and is called chancre. This is painless and disappears in few days. Some people get multiple sores. The sites may be typically- genitals, anus, lips or tongue. The lymph nodes in your groin may also enlarge. The symptom of chancre can always be mistaken for something else and as it disappears within few days even without any treatment. So most of the people never realize that they have syphilis.
Secondary Stage Symptoms:
The symptoms of secondary stage syphilis appear three to six weeks after you first see the chancre. This time may vary. The symptoms are-
- Fever
- Fatigue and tiredness
- Red/reddish brown coin-sized sores appearing on any part of the body, especially the palms and soles
- Ache in bones and joints.
These symptoms go away after some time. They may again appear or may not reappear again during the following two years.
Tertiary Stage Symptoms:
If syphilis is not treated in the second stage, the bacteria spread around in the body and after few years of latency, they cause wide spread damage in the body. The bacteria affect arteries and brain. Syphilis may cause paralysis, deafness, visual problems, and/or other neurological problems. If the problems are wide spread, death may result.
Article created on: August 24, 2006
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