Causes of Yeast Infections in Women

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If you ask about yeast infections in women, then it is often referred to vaginal yeast infection! In fact, 3 of 4 women have this disorder at least 1 time during their lives, which also become the second most common cause of vaginal discharge, itching and burning. The next question ‘What are causes of yeast infections in women?”

You may also like to know about how to prevent and cure yeast infection, before continuing!

The answer is Candida yeast, which usually lives normally in the vagina (it also usually lives in small amounts in gastrointestinal tract and mouth). But a certain condition can make Candida yeast get an ideal environment to ‘overgrow’ that eventually will be out of its ideal balance and finally will cause what we call ‘vaginal yeast infections’.

What is a yeast infection in women and how do you get it?

Like mentioned before, yeast infection in women is often referred to vaginal yeast infection, and the rapid grow of Candida yeast to be out of its normal balance due to certain conditions is the key of the cause!

So, the next question if you want to clearly understand about the causes of yeast infections in women, you may need to know also about some common risk factors!

Common vaginal yeast infection risk factors

The following are several risk factors that can put you at risk for vaginal yeast infection:

1. Douching! It can upset the balance of bacteria & yeast in vagina, and even also can kill certain bacteria that help to control the amount of yeast (helpful to avoid yeast from overgrowing).
2. Diabetes! For women who have diabetes, the risk to get vaginal yeast infections more often is higher -- particularly if they cannot manage well their diabetes. Because high levels of blood sugar can contribute to make yeast in vagina to overgrowth!
3. During pregnancy! If you are being pregnant, your estrogen levels will increase significantly and this condition may also influence the normal balance of yeast in the vagina.
4. Poor immune system! Having serious diseases (especially like AID or HIV) can weaken the immune system of our body. And this poor immune system can decrease the performance of the body to fight off yeast infection. The performance of your immune system also may be decrease when you are having flu & cold or being extremely stressed!
5. Having birth control pills or other therapies that can influence your hormone level (particularly changes in your progesterone & estrogen levels) is another risk factor of yeast infection. Even at specific times some women who are being in their menstrual-cycles are also more likely to get & find yeast infection!
6. Another common cause is antibiotics! If you are taking antibiotics, your chance to change the normal level of certain organisms and bacteria is higher. This condition can influence the mechanism of the vagina to control the amount of yeast, because some helpful bacteria like lactobacillus acidophilus that can help to control the yeast cells will not work optimally since their number decreases due to your antibiotics! Moreover, certain antibiotics or medications also can influence the level of Ph-balance that can make worse a yeast infection.

Read also the previous post about yeast infection symptoms!