The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection

The Use Of Petroleum Jelly Can Lead To Bacterial Infection.
Women who use petroleum jelly vaginally may put themselves at gamble of a worn out infection called bacterial vaginosis, a nugatory study suggests. Prior studies have linked douching to ill effects, including bacterial vaginosis, and an increased hazard of sexually transmitted diseases and pelvic fomenting disease results. But little research has been conducted on the possible effects of other products some women use vaginally, said Joelle Brown, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who led the redesigned study.

She and her colleagues found that of 141 Los Angeles women they studied, half said they'd Euphemistic pre-owned some exemplar of over-the-counter product vaginally in the past month, including sexual lubricants, petroleum jelly and toddler oil. Almost as many, 45 percent, reported douching ingredients and women. When the researchers tested the women for infections, they found that those who'd occupied petroleum jelly in the one-time month were more than twice as likely as non-users to have bacterial vaginosis.

Bacterial vaginosis occurs when the normal consider between "good" and "bad" bacteria in the vagina is disrupted. The symptoms include discharge, pain, itching or intense - but most women have no symptoms, and the infection usually causes no long-term problems. Still, bacterial vaginosis can judge women more vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV.

It also from time to time leads to pelvic inflammatory disease, which can cause infertility. The new findings, reported in the April delivery of Obstetrics & Gynecology, do not prove that petroleum jelly presently increased women's risk of bacterial vaginosis. But it's possible, said Dr Sten Vermund, leader of the Institute for Global Health at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn.

Petroleum jelly might advance the growth of bad bacteria because of its "alkaline properties," explained Vermund, who was not complex in the study. "An acidic vaginal environment is what protects women from colonization from anomalous organisms". He noted that many studies have now linked douching to an increased risk of vaginal infections. And that may be because the usage "disrupts the natural vaginal ecology".