Yeast infections are more likely to develop if one's immune system is suppressed by drugs (such as corticosteroids or chemotherapy drugs) or impaired by a immune system disorder (such as AIDS).
Antibiotics taken by mouth tend to kill the bacteria in the vagina that normally suppress the growth of yeast.
They are also more common after menopause and during pregnancy, more so than at any other time in a woman's life, especially during the second trimester of pregnancy.
If you are suffering from this disease, you may be noticing an increase in the amount of thin, white, odd smelling discharge.
Yeast infections produce a spectrum of symptoms.
In general, the more intense the itching and redness, the greater the number of yeast organisms present.
Yeast infections are caused by overgrowth of the fungus Candida albicans.
Small amounts of yeast are always in the vagina.
Yeast infections can happen to any girl, and they're not related to having sex -- although they occasionally can be spread from one sexual partner to the other.
This is quite rare, though, and the partner of someone who has a yeast infection does not automatically have to be treated.
In general though, yeast infections are not sexually transmitted.
Yeast infections are often treated with a pill that you swallow or with a vaginal cream or vaginal suppository (a partially solid material that you insert into your vagina, where it dissolves and releases medicine).
Yeast infections are usually treated with medicine that you put into your vagina.
This medicine may be a cream that you insert in your vagina with a special applicator, or it may be a suppository that you put into your vagina and allow to dissolve on its own.
However, natural cures for yeast infections can actually be just as effective, if not more, than prescription drugs - especially if a natural cure targets the root cause of your problem, and not just relieving the symptoms.
Your health care provider can explain to you what your choices are and if one is better than another for you.