Smoking and Herpes or HPV?

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Al - 12 Oct 2005 04:49 GMT

Hello All,

Recently I read that smoking cigarettes increases your chance of getting
genital hpv, because it lowers the immune system. I was a smoker for years,
and smoked Marlboro regular (1 pk a day), until I quit in 1999. I suspect
that I contracted genital hpv and genital herpes at the same time or 9 years
ago approximately. Does anyone know if smoking is also a factor in
increasing the risk of getting genital herpes? I am curious mostly because I
am a male and have gotten both, where I was also told that females are more
likely to get herpes and hpv than males. I am wondering if smoking sabotaged
my immune system that much? I also read that drinking alcohol increases the
likelihood of getting either of the above, and although I don't really
drink, I have maybe 1-2 drinks a week, such as beer or wine coolers. Does
anyone know if this could have increased my chances also?

Thanks,
Al

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Angela S. - 12 Oct 2005 05:24 GMT

Hi Al ~

You might try doing some searches on smoking and herpes over on pubmed to
see if there is any significance to what you mentioned. Where did you hear
about all that? I was a smoker for 10 years before I quit in the spring of
1998. I don't believe my smoking had anything to do with the fact that I
contracted herpes simplex virus. Quitting smoking is probably a good idea
for everybody and not just the people that have herpes.

I believe that the reason why alcohol increases a persons risk is because
people have a tendency to participate in risky behavior when they are under
the influence. That's probably the only correlation at this point unless of
course you find something over on pubmed or medscape that I wasn't aware of.

Take Care,

Angela ;-)

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> Hello All,
>
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> Thanks,
> Al

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Grant - 12 Oct 2005 12:40 GMT

Hi Al,

Well, think about it. Where do you think women are getting herpes and HPV?
From men, of course. (At least, if you're heterosexual). So, that one comment
about it being more likely for women than men is kind of bogus, in my opinion.

Alcohol may be a contributing factor because when you're drunk, you're less
likely to use protection or you are more likely to make stupid choices.

As to your specific situation, who knows?

ar

>Hello All,
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>Thanks,
>Al

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M2slo2cht@nospam.invalid - 12 Oct 2005 17:43 GMT

>Where do you think women are getting herpes and HPV?
>From men, of course. (At least, if you're heterosexual). So, that one comment
>about it being more likely for women than men is kind of bogus, in my opinion.

Depends on how you look at it.
I agree that women contract herpes mostly from men, no question. But I
can also see why women can be more easily infected. I think it's the
way their plumbing is designed as compared to men (but I hope God
NEVER changes it). But whatever the reason, the studies that I've seen
of discordant couples, with results broken down by gender infected,
show a higher percentage of women being infected than men over the
same time period. In other words, say you have a study of 1000
discordant couples, starting with 500 infected men and 500 infected
women. At the end of the study, more women will end up being infected
than men. Seems to be a fairly consistent result study after study.

>Alcohol may be a contributing factor because when you're drunk, you're less
>likely to use protection or you are more likely to make stupid choices.

Bingo! .... and I think men and women can be equally stupid when
they're drunk ;-)

M2

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Al - 13 Oct 2005 00:13 GMT

Thanks everyone. I'll have to look into medscape or pubmed to see more info.
I agree that I did have some pretty risky sex in the past and in many cases
didn't use any protection. Through my 39 years, I have gotten alot more
std's than hpv and herpes, but those are the only two I am still left with.
Unfortunately, I had quite a few partners, probably more than my mother,
brother, aunt, grandparents and my two cousins put together, so now I have
to pay for it.

As far as alcohol causing risky behavior...I agree with that. I think I
agree with the fact that women can be infected more easily, but I am not
sure 100%.

Angela, you asked where I got the information on hpv being more likely
because of smoking. I got it from various sources including a book I had
just taken out of the Library near my house called: Everything you need to
know about Human Papillomavirus by Elizabeth Carter. I read some of your
information on www.yoshi2me.com regarding hpv and other sites including stds
for dummies, but I wanted to learn more. I have a couple of books on herpes
which include living and loving with herpes; a chronic std, and the truth
about herpes. I also read Westover heights and other things.

Thanks,
Al

> >Where do you think women are getting herpes and HPV?
> >From men, of course. (At least, if you're heterosexual). So, that one comment
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>
> M2

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