Color Changing Condoms Signal STD’s
Sex is something that I’m pretty sure everyone on the planet can enjoy if it’s with the right person, and probably if it’s done with the wrong person as long as there is mutual consent (we’ve all been there). The problem comes with not knowing your partner’s sexual history. Sure, you can ask your sexual partner if they have or have had anything, and they can say no, but how can you be sure? Many people don’t ask because it can be offensive to someone thinking that they would have an STD.
A man can say he’s clean and convince a girl not to use a condom because she’s on the pill. A girl can say she’s clean and explain they don’t need to use a condom because she’s on the pill (the variations of that conversation can go on and on). Both can lead to pregnancy and the possibility of giving a sexually transmitted disease to the other. They’ll think they’re being honest when saying that they don’t have anything, but they haven’t been tested, so they probably don’t know. This brings me to the horrifying facts:
- One in two sexually active young people will get an STD by the age of 25.
- Most young people with STDs don’t even know they have them. Getting tested is the only way to know for sure.
- STDs are really common — every year there are more than 19 million new cases in the U.S.
- Left untreated, some STDs can cause infertility or increase your risk of getting cancer
- More than 50 percent of sexually active people will get HPV at some point during their lives. (Via)
Those facts make me want to live in a bubble, but what if there was a fast way to know if you or the person you’re with has an STD? Well, some very inventive teenagers from Essex, England have invented a condom that changes color when it comes into contact with an STD.
The condom, astutely named “S.T.EYE”, changes colour depending on the disease it detects, which include gonorrhea, chlamydia and syphilis.
According to the product’s designers, the condom exterior includes a layer covered with molecules that attaches to the bacteria and viruses associated with common STIs. This bad bacteria combined with the molecules covering the condom then causes the rubber exterior to glow a certain colour in dim light. The condom will turn green when it detects chlamydia, blue for syphilis and a whitish yellow when it detects herpes. (Via)
Not only is this a fantastic idea for pretty much everyone that has sex, it’s also a cheap way to see if you have an STD without having to set up a doctor’s appointment (you still should if you have symptoms or a suspicion of an STD).
Now, medical tests can be done by blood and urine for an STD. when I went they took a long q-tip thing and shoved it into a place where I saw my future and my past simultaneously. Thankfully, I had nothing. If this product were to hit the market right now, with the combination of teaching young adults proper sexual education, I’m sure the amount of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases would drop. Not only would they drop, but a person that had the disease would immediately know what they had and could go get treatment for it. Bless these kids.
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Jeff Sorensen is an author, writer and occasional comedian living in Detroit, Michigan. You can look for more of his work on The Huffington Post, UPROXX, BGR and by just looking up his name.
Contact: jeff@socialunderground.com