Beyond Taboos: Fostering Open Dialogue on STIs and Sexual Health
Nov 22, 2023Season 1Episode 4
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery (P23 Health)
You might think you've got the lowdown on STIs, but prepare for your perceptions to be flipped upside down. I'm Dr. Tiffany Montgomery, and today I'm sitting down with my co-host, Nick Cuevas, to dive into the commonly misunderstood world of sexually transmitted infections. Now, did you know that one in five Americans have an STI according to the CDC? Today we're stripping down the misconceptions, debunking myths, and getting real about this topic.
Are STIs always symptomatic? Not necessarily—an STI can be silent yet still potent. So, how does this affect us and our partners? Let's talk about it. We're also dipping our toes into the fascinating pool of genetics—can you believe some genes can make you more susceptible to STIs? But don't fret, we're also sharing about the magic of DNA testing for sexual health. These kits are discreet, user-friendly, and pain-free—putting power back into your hands. So, let's unmask STIs together and foster a healthier, more open future. Let's navigate this journey together, armed with knowledge and understanding, and take charge of our sexual health. No more fear, no more stigma, just pure, empowering facts.
You might think you've got the lowdown on STIs, but prepare for your perceptions to be flipped upside down. I'm Dr. Tiffany Montgomery, and today I'm sitting down with my co-host, Nick Cuevas, to dive into the commonly misunderstood world of sexually transmitted infections. Now, did you know that one in five Americans have an STI according to the CDC? Today we're stripping down the misconceptions, debunking myths, and getting real about this topic.
Are STIs always symptomatic? Not necessarily—an STI can be silent yet still potent. So, how does this affect us and our partners? Let's talk about it. We're also dipping our toes into the fascinating pool of genetics—can you believe some genes can make you more susceptible to STIs? But don't fret, we're also sharing about the magic of DNA testing for sexual health. These kits are discreet, user-friendly, and pain-free—putting power back into your hands. So, let's unmask STIs together and foster a healthier, more open future. Let's navigate this journey together, armed with knowledge and understanding, and take charge of our sexual health. No more fear, no more stigma, just pure, empowering facts.
P23 Knowledge, access, power. P23, wellness and Understanding at your fingertips P23. And that's no cap.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Welcome to Demystifying DNA, where we dive into topics that are often shrouded in secrecy and stigma. I'm your host, dr Tiffany Montgomery, and today we're tackling a subject that deserves a spotlight Sexually transmitted infections and sexual health. Join us as we break down barriers, challenge taboos and foster an open dialogue that's long overdue. Our expert guest today and my co-host, is Mr. Nick Cuevas. He is the marketing manager for P23 Labs and P23 Health. He is a father of four and an esteemed health enthusiasts, fitness coach and friend. We are so thrilled to have him joining us today. I couldn't think of a better co-host to join me for today. When I thought about who we could bring on the team to really debunk this, the first person that came to mind was Nick. So welcome, nick. Thank you for joining us.
Nick Cuevas:
Well, thank you for having me. That was a great introduction. I really appreciate the opportunity to come here on this great platform and just enjoy this. I can't wait to hear all of the great things that you're going to show me and tell the listeners. I know you have a lot of knowledge in this. This is your field. I'm just going to pick your brain and we're going to make this happen. Thank you for having me.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
More than my pleasure. Thank you so much, Nick. I know that the conversation is going to be an intense one, right? But I'm certain because you have four children.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
You are very familiar and comfortable with sex, so we're going to have a very open and honest conversation. I want to just thank you for helping me get beyond the taboos and really working to foster this open dialogue. I think that we have so much that we can just share with the listeners. When we think about where we are in the US with sex and STIs, we begin to wonder why don't we talk more about this? Right, it's a relevant topic. Did you know that one in five Americans have an STI?
Nick Cuevas:
What Really?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
This is according to the CDC Yep.
Nick Cuevas:
Wow.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
According to the CDC, there were more than 2.5 million cases of Chlamydia gonorrhea encephalus reported in 2019.
Nick Cuevas:
That's incredible.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
It is really a time where we can stop and we can think about it, because it's personal. It's a personal topic. We don't like to talk about it. Sometimes it's looked upon as bad or taboo, but it's so common that we have to take time and address these things and talk about how you deal with a positive diagnosis or how you work to get in cures and treatments for these types of things, because it's about our sexual health. The healthier you are, the more you're going to enjoy sex and the better sexual health you're going to have. You don't want to have painful intercourse or painful urination after your intercourse. You want it to be something that's enjoyable truly from the beginning to the end. I'm happy to really get into that. As we think about some of the basics and just what we know about sex, I think what's something that sticks out in your mind?
Nick Cuevas:
The first thing. I'm still stuck on what you said. One out of five people that's incredible. I mean, when I was young we didn't talk about those things really too much. It was just you heard about it. It was like that fairy tale that girl or that dude over there, they got something going on, but you never knew that it was so common. That, to me, is a crazy stat. One out of five people. Let me ask you a question as far as STIs go. Could somebody carry an STI and not really know about it?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
You can. I think that that is one of the common myths that we should just debunk right now. Our STIs are not symptomatic. Men and women are genetically different. If you are involved in a heterosexual relationship where two different sexes are involved male, female then your symptoms or how you express a disease, or even how you're treated for a disease, is going to be different from your partner. Might not be the same. There is a time there's a. Chlamydia and gonorrhea, I think, are perfect examples. Those two STIs are common. They're, of course, curable with antibiotics or around the antibiotics. It is definitely something that you want to be mindful of, as chlamydia and gonorrhea don't manifest themselves in both partners. Again.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Now if it is a same sex relationship, then that's going to be a bit different the females and males. There is a difference in how the body responds to chlamydia and gonorrhea. Some are completely asymptomatic and then some are symptomatic.
Nick Cuevas:
Okay, that makes total sense because you know I've heard of people that I get something and they don't really show nothing. They're just walking around the world and they don't even know it, sometimes until they go to the doctor or something. You know they have some kind of something on their skin, but it's not always that way where you could see it on top of your skin. It could be in in your body and you have no idea. That's kind of freaky, right.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
That's kind of crazy it's happening and you don't even know it is and it's. You know it's even crazier because it is not just intercourse right, it is fallatio, which is the act of oral sex, conning ligands, which is oral sex performed by a person on female genitalia. I think in the in the earlier days there were all kinds of nicknames for this. I think the most common nickname is eating out or something like that.
Nick Cuevas:
I don't even know that was in my day.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
I don't know what they say today.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
That wasn't my day too, which is anal sex. So these are infections or diseases that are passed even in these acts, right? So we have to be mindful of not just sexual intercourse but, in the cases of like mycoplasma genitalia and urea plasmas, these are contact past organisms, which means it's not just sexual intercourse, it's not just exchanging fluids, it is contact, coming into contact with those genitals, right? So even rubbing or grinding or sometimes, depending on you know how you're dressed and how the other person is dressed, it can even be dancing, really closely and tightly, really Dancing, yes.
Nick Cuevas:
Wow, that's crazy.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
So if your genitals are rubbing or touching, then that's an opportunity for these organisms to be passed and spread. Wow, that's true you think about putting something like that with the fact that it could be asymptomatic, meaning you have no symptoms at all. It is mind boggling. Never fear, because from the basics urine tests or blood screenings or swabs I'll break down what each test entails and why timing matters. Plus, we'll talk about the importance of regular testing, whether you're in a relationship or you've been in one for a while.
Nick Cuevas:
Okay, yeah, that's true.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
These are some things that you know. It just really. It doesn't matter the length of time that you've been in a relationship. Don't avoid the conversation. According to even the materials that the CDC expressed in their STI Awareness Week, it was important not to avoid the conversation. Talk to your partner before having sex so you can both make informed decisions about your sexual health, whether it's the type of protection that you use or the type of sexual acts that you're going to perform. Don't avoid the conversation. Be understanding.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Being respectful and non-judgmental can create a space for a more productive conversation and if you want to lay down the groundwork to keep those conversations going, that works as well. But I'd say definitely, strongly and intensely be respectful and understanding.
Nick Cuevas:
You don't want people to shut down when they're talking to you right. You can scare somebody and then that's it. You know, they close up, they don't tell you the truth, and then you guys are both walking around with STIs and have no idea. I have a question, though, regarding just genetics and genes and so on DNA, basically how does that intertwine with STIs? Can our genes affect our chances of getting an STI?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
I think that that is a great question and thank you for asking, because in fact it can.
Nick Cuevas:
Really All right, you got to tell me, but please, because I just didn't think that. I mean, I thought you know that's kind of like an even thing, you could just get it if you're at the wrong place at the wrong time, type of deal.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
So those little pesky genes in our DNA play such a huge role in about everything that happens to us, right? And I think even years ago when we were having those fake free will arguments, really, it was how much of this is predestined in your DNA, right, but genes can affect your ability to get an STI in different ways. Some genes may make you more susceptible to infection and take it away from even STIs. Let's just talk viruses and bacteria in general. Let's think about COVID, right, that was a big thing that a lot of people knew about, they were aware of and you heard very early on, some people were getting it and some people weren't, and we couldn't figure out why some people were getting it and some people weren't. Right, and we began to understand and explore that phenomena that some people were genetically resistant and some susceptible to infection. And that goes for any infection. It's no specific or respect to COVID, right? It's any infection, including HIV, HPV, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, so on and so forth. For example, some studies have found that people with certain variants of the HLA genes, which are involved in the recognition of elimination of foreign invaders people with that gene have a lower risk of contact than HIV or HPV okay.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
And then some genes may affect your immune response to STIs, which can influence the severity and the duration. So once you get through the genes that help influence susceptibility and resistance, how easy it is for you to catch it, you have more genes that will regulate or already provide some guidance to how severe it's going to be. For example, some people with the gene called IL-2AB, which regulates a projection of interferon, which is a protein that fights viral infections, may get better responses for hep C treatment. This is not a phenomenon when you think about how important it is to reflect on genes and their ability to respond to medication, to heal themselves. When we talk about those genetic predispositions, it's not on your family questionnaire at the doctor's office, but it's very relevant. Your genes, your genetics, will play a part in how susceptible or how resistant you are. And then the outcome of your treatment for the STIs, the ability for your body to respond to the STI medication all of those things are already determined in your DNA.
Nick Cuevas:
Wow, what's crazy to me is that, like you know, when you go to a primary doctor, none of this stuff is discussed. Why and I guess this is probably a whole other conversation, but if you can just give it to me raw, no pun intended, but for real like, why isn't it not discussed like that? Why aren't other primary doctors or just regular physicians talking about how important your genetics are when it comes to all of these things? I mean, I would think that would be one of the you know, something that would be in the forefront of when they ask you you know about yourself, your family history. Why don't they do a genetic test on you? Why don't they take your saliva, like what you do with P23 health and all that good stuff with the testing kits? Why don't they? What's the reason?
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
I have to tell you, nick, I do strongly feel that the more we understand DNA and its impact on people, more medical models are going to be moving in the direction that we are at P23, where we're pushing personalized health and personalized medicine and personalized treatment. Having these decisions made based on your DNA and making informed decisions based on knowledge pre-established is going to revolutionize healthcare. This is where we're going. It's kind of, if you think back 10, 15 years ago, we would say why doesn't everybody have an iPhone? And it was so many people who were resistant to iPhone or to cell phones. You know, in the very beginning you wouldn't think 10 years later or 15 years later, everybody would have a phone. People are even getting phones for their elementary children. Okay, second, third, fourth grade. I've seen these children with their own phones.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
That's a long way from where we've been, and I think that it's really important to understand that this is technology, just like the phone. It's healthcare technology, but it's going to take some time and some understanding, some discussions like what we're having, to help people understand and be comfortable with the concept of the technology and what it can do for us.
Nick Cuevas:
So true, because it just seems like this would help a lot of people out if they knew more about their genetics, their genes, their DNA, how it all works for them, because everybody's different and we kind of label everybody as the same. You know like we're a template, you know like if you go to a new community they have like five different designs of the homes and every after every four or five homes is the same home over again. They kind of the medical system seems like it's just like that. Let me, let me get a piece of paper. I have 20 questions that ask this patient and then I go off and that's it. It's over. I might do blood work or might not.
Intro:
And that's it.
Nick Cuevas:
And it just doesn't seem right because, based on what you're saying, just I mean, and you're just talking about STI, you're not even going into all of the in depth stuff that you know about how everything works as far as all of it, and just by talking about STIs, that's crazy because it basically it seems like your genetics do affect how your body responds to STIs and so and stuff like that. So it's crazy to know that, because I kind of felt like it was a one fits all type of a thing.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Nick, I think that this has been an amazing discussion. I want to see how our guests feel about it, how our partners feel about it. I want to see if they contact us with any questions. We got to have a part two to this discussion because I think that we are just really tapping in to some really amazing things about DNA and about demystifying it and being more comfortable with it and applying it to every aspect of our lives, right?
Intro:
and so.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
I'm excited to just talk about. I have the opportunity to talk with you about it. I want to just say one of the things that have always been important with me in any of my relationships is being open and honest. Right, let people know if you've got something going on. Talk to your partner. Be clear about the number of sexual partners that you currently have and know when the last time you were tested. Be comfortable with those tests, because regular testing is crucial to preventing and reducing the spread of sexually transmitted infections, which, like we've already talked about, could be completely asymptomatic. You could not have anything wrong and yet be in a situation where you're spreading a STI from person to person that could have been prevented. Early detection leads to early treatment, preventing complications and future transmission. To reduce the bad stigma that we have associated with STI's or with sex, we need to normalize testing as routine health care practice, something that you would do on a regular basis based on your sexual health, just like getting a checkup or a flu shot, and with at home testing kits, you can do it privately, in the comfort of your own home with the partner, like P23 health, but anybody that you choose that you trust.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Before we wrap up, I want to encourage all of our listeners to take a proactive step towards their health, because you matter. If today's discussion has prompted any questions or concerns about your sexual health, I have a simple and convenient solution for you. You contact P23 health and make us your partner every step of the way. Set up your virtual health coaching, get partnered with your friend. That's not going to judge you, not going to condemn you, but we want you to be comfortable with you. Are you curious about your sexual health status? Do you want to take control of your well-being from the comfort of your home? Consider ordering an at-home testing kit with us today or joining our membership program. Our testing kits are discreet, user-friendly, pain-free and can provide you with valuable insights about your sexual health. I want to thank you sincerely for tuning in and I want to encourage you to stay curious, stay informed and take charge of your health, one gene at a time.
Dr. Tiffany Montgomery:
Thank you for joining demystifying DNA with your host, dr Tiffany Montgomery, and your co-host Mr. Nick Cuevas, thank you we exist to help you capitalize on your health and wellness, empowering you to embrace a richer quality of life, with a treasure trove of success stories from individuals just like you. We're here to help guide you on your goal and your journey. At p23, we're with you every step of the way, until next time. knowledge, access, power, well-nissing understanding at your fingertips, and that's no cap.