anal warts

what will happen to me if i don't get treatment for my anal warts? they are big , itchy and burning. Can I die from this disease without doing anything about it?

[chazb]

if they have been diagnosed as hpv. they are highly contagious and can spread to other parts of your genitals, not to mention other sexual partners...if you are a woman, or engage in sexual activity with women, then there is also thhe risk if infertillity and cervical cancer so get tested..get them treated, and if positive warn you current past and future partners of the situation: women can get innoculted agaist particualr stands causing genital warts and cancer: so find out form the doc which strain you carry and inform all partners....

unfortunalty once you have hpv there is no cure for it...they are treatable, the doc will offer either surgery meds or cream to help the outbreak, and keeping healthy will help your immune supress any outbreaks...

[DasKapital]

A few points of clarification:
-Genital warts do not cause cervical cancer.  They are caused by (mostly) HPV strains 6 and 11.  The ones that cause cancer are (mostly) strains 16 and 18.  The wart causing strains are not the cancer causing strains, chaz is incorrect above.

-As far as informing partners goes, this is a gray area too.  Go to the doctor STD forum and search HPV inform partner.  You'll see what a gray area it is.  The long and the short of it is this:  warts will stop, you won't be contagious forever, and most doctors will agree that you don't have to inform future partners once your body clears the virus (over 90% of people clear within 2 years).

[Eddie_R]

This is related to my other post and this as well:  90% of people clear within 2 years.  This means the warts just go away?  In my case they were there, unchanged for years (over 10).  Does that in and of itself mean anything?  Also, can someone carry more than one strain of the virus - say the type that causes warts AND the type that can cause cervical cancer?

[DasKapital]

"Clearance" means that your body's immune system suppresses the virus to the extent that you won't have any more breakouts of warts and you are no longer contagious to anyone you have sex with.  And yeah, people can certainly carry more than one type of the virus.  Most people do.