Page 157 - Push Back

HPV can lead to anal cancer. At the recent Fourth International AIDS Malignancy Conference
at the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Andrew Grulich announced that "most instances of anal
cancer are caused by a cancer-causing strain of HPV through receptive anal intercourse. HPV
infects over 90 percent of HIV-positive gay men and 65 percent of HIV-negative gay men,
according to a number of recent studies..."

Hepatitis: A potentially fatal liver disease that increases the risk of liver cancer.

Hepatitis A: The Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report published by the CDC reports:
"Outbreaks of hepatitis A among men who have sex with men are a recurring problem in many
large cities in the industrialized world."

Hepatitis B: This is a serious disease caused by a virus that attacks the liver. The virus, which is
called hepatitis B virus (HBV), can cause lifelong infection, cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, liver
cancer, liver failure, and death. Each year in the United States, more than 200,000 people of all
ages contract hepatitis B and close to 5,000 die of sickness caused by AIDS. The CDC reports
that MSM (Men having Sex with Men) are at increased risk for hepatitis B...

Gonorrhea: A CDC report documents "significant increases during 1994 to 1997 in rectal
gonorrhea . . . among MSM..." In 1999 the CDC released data showing that male rectal
gonorrhea is increasing among homosexuals amidst an overall decline in national gonorrhea
rates. The report attributed the increase to a larger percentage of homosexuals engaging in
unsafe sexual behavior.

The incidence of throat Gonorrhea is strongly associated with homosexual behavior. The
Canadian Medical Association Journal found that "gonorrhea was associated with urethral
discharge... and homosexuality (3.7 times higher than the rate among heterosexuals)." Similarly,
a study in the Journal of Clinical Pathology found that homosexual men had a much higher
prevalence of pharyngeal (throat) gonorrhea--15.2 percent compared with 4.1 percent for
heterosexual men...

Syphilis: A venereal disease that, if left untreated, can spread throughout the body over time,
causing serious heart abnormalities, mental disorders, blindness, and death... According to the
CDC, "transmission of the organism occurs during vaginal, anal, or oral sex." In addition, the
Archives of Internal Medicine found that homosexuals acquired syphilis at a rate ten times that
of heterosexuals.

The CDC reports that those who contract syphilis face potentially deadly health consequences:
"It is now known that the genital sores caused by syphilis in adults also make it easier to
transmit and acquire HIV infection sexually. There is a two to five fold increased risk of
acquiring HIV infection when syphilis is present..."

Gay Bowel Syndrome (GBS): The Journal of the American Medical Association refers to GBS
problems such as proctitis, proctocolitis, and enteritis as "sexually transmitted gastrointestinal
syndromes." Many of the bacterial and protozoa pathogens that cause GBS are found in feces