Proctitis
According to the Mayo Clinic, proctitis is an "inflammation of the lining of the rectum... Sexually transmitted diseases are the most common cause, but other causes include inflammatory bowel diseases, such as ulcerative colitis, and non-sexually transmitted infections."[1] Sexually transmitted diseases that cause proctitis include gonorrhea, syphilis, cytomegalovirus, herpes, chlamydia, lymphogranuloma venereum, and amebiasis.[2][3] According to the Mayo Clinic, "proctitis in general mainly affects adult males".[4]
On March 15, 2004 Medscape published an article entitled New Look at "Gay Bowel Syndrome" in which they commented on the 2004 journal article Etiology of clinical proctitis among men who have sex with men published by JD Klausner and C. Kent in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The article in Medscape stated the following:
| “ | There were multiple studies of the newly recognized "gay bowel syndrome" in the late 1970s and early 1980s. However, subsequent attention and study has been sparse, in part attributed to reduced frequency thought to reflect changing practices by gay men in response to the HIV epidemic. This study clearly indicates that it is still an issue, since the cases were studied in 2001-2002. Also, the etiology is about the same as previously, although HSV is newly recognized as an important component. This finding not only affects management but also has HIV prevention implications. The authors note that two thirds of the participants were HIV negative and that proctitis increases the risk of HIV by up to 9-fold.[5] | ” |