Half of urban teenage girls may acquire at least one of three common sexually transmitted infections (STI) within two years of becoming sexually active.

Ok, some might say. STIs can be treated. The rebuttal to that is: yes and no.

Sure, some STIs can be successfully treated. But, there’s a big “but.”

1. The STI has to be identified.
2. The girl has to be willing to have it treated.
3. The girl has to seek treatment.
4. The girl has to be sure that she completes the treatment properly.
5. The girl has to be sure that it has worked.

Oh, and one more step: She has to prevent getting another infection.

Unfortunately, not all girls know they are infected so they don’t get treated. This can, and often does, lead to health problems down the road. Also, we can’t lose sight of the fact that some STIs are *not* curable – like HIV.

According to the study that was published in the most recent issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 381 teen-age girls who were studied had repeated infections with chlamydia, gonorrhea and trichomoniasis.

“Depending on the organism, within four to six months after treatment of the previous infection, a quarter of the women were re-infected with the same organism,” said Wanzhu Tu, Ph.D., associate professor of medicine at the IU School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute investigator.

Second infections, sometimes the same one but sometimes different ones, occurred frequently (75%) within two years of the first STI. The number reaches 92% getting a second infection within four years of the first STI.

So, parents, what is happening? How can this be stopped? While the seriousness of STIs may not be obvious to the girls when they get them, we do know how serious they are. If almost all the girls who get one STI as a teen are pretty well sure to get at least a second, then there is something wrong and more has to be done to prevent this from happening again – and again – again.

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Image: PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Healthbolt

Twenty years ago, a man who hated feminists, entered a male-dominated educational institution and began a massacre. At the end of it all, 14 young women were dead and 10 were physically injured, as were four young men. And countless lives were altered forever.

It’s hard to give a monster more publicity, but his name must be spoken out loud, because he is a representative of what is wrong with our society – what is wrong with women having to be afraid of some men. He, Marc Lepine, entered the Ecole Polytechnique, the engineering school of the French-language University of Montreal, with the express purpose of murdering so-called feminists and with not leaving alive. He had a suicide note with him and he was armed with a gun and a hunting knife. He had a job to do.

While it isn’t unusual for a woman to have to deal with some harassment from certain types of men or to be denied an opportunity because of our sex, most of us don’t have to live in fear of being killed because we were born women. But Lepine blamed his life’s problems on feminism and to him, women in a man’s world – in this case engineering – likely was the best example of women honing in on men.

It was a snowy, cold evening when the news reports began being broadcast on the local news. You could see big, thick snowflakes, ambulances, police officers, and stunned on-lookers. As the evening wore on, panicked friends and relatives joined the crowds. Rumors ran amok – there was one man, there were many. But in reality, the destruction was just one man.

How does the murder of 14 young, bright women affect women across the country, the continent, even the world? How does their murder affect people on the other side of the planet? It shows that there are still some men who blame women for their problem. There are still some men who are resentful that women may be doing better in their lives. There are places in this world – many places – where women are nowhere near equal to men and any attempts to balance this leads to violence, disfigurement, and death.

Educating girls in Afghanistan has resulted in the deaths of many. Educating girls in other similar countries is done only when the girls have been able to do all other chores and jobs they must do to keep their family fed and housed. And in many parts of the world, girls only need to go to school for a few years – because we don’t want them to get too smart, now do we?

Now, December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. But maybe it should be everywhere. No, no “maybe,” it should be everywhere.

Montreal learned a lot that day, some of it very frightening. But as long as women are victims of men who thought like the gunman or who believe that violence is the only way to keep women in their place, we need a day of remembrance and action. We owe it to the countless women who are subjected to violence every day, no matter who they are and where they live.

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Image: WikiPedia Creative Commons

Post from: Healthbolt

The women were asked if they were pre or post menopausal and then whether they felt sexually satisfied or not.

“We found that women who were sexually dissatisfied had lower well-being and lower vitality. This finding highlights the importance of addressing these areas as an essential part of women’s healthcare, because women may be uncomfortable discussing these issues with their doctor.”

said lead author Dr Sonia Davison, of the Women’s Health Program at Monash University, Australia. The study was published earlier this year in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.

Why do you think this may be? Sexual activity is a normal, healthy human function. A woman who has sexual needs and is having them fulfilled is bound to feel better about things than a woman who isn’t, isn’t she?

While studies like this may seem trivial to some people, it’s actually quite important. If a doctor facing a woman with issues that can’t be identified, it could be that there is something deeper and more personal than most doctors ask about.

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Image: PhotoXpress.com

Post from: Healthbolt

But now, the target is women. Women do experience sexual dysfunction. Many women would love to have satisfying sex lives but don’t because of various issues. While some researchers are actively working on medications to help women with their sexual desire, some discover a treatment by accident, as did researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine

The researchers were looking at a medication called flibanserin, an antidepressant. But what the researchers found by pooling information from three separate trials, was that flibanserin also helped boost sexual libido in women who were living with acquired hypoactive sexual desire disorder. In fact, the medication turned out to be a lousy antidepressant, but an effective libido-enhancing one.

Women who have difficulty with sex drive often live in silence. Their inability to enjoy sex isn’t quite as obvious as a man who can’t develop or maintain an erection. But the inability or the lack of desire to have sex in women can be just as devastating as erectile dysfunction is in many men.

According to this article, Viagra for women? Drug developed as antidepressant effective in treating low libido, between 9% to 26% of women, depending on age and menopausal status, have hypoactive sexual disorder (low sex drive).  The article says, “The researchers concluded that treatment with 100 milligrams of flibanserin once a day was associated with significant improvements versus placebo in the number of satisfying sexual events.”

What do you think? Would you take a medication to increase your sex drive?

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Image: iStock.com

Post from: Healthbolt

Actually, if you really read the study, it’s not the faithfulness that was the issue, it was how much the woman was exposed to the father’s semen. You know how I caution people to read studies carefully and not take news at face value? Here is yet another case. The news that came out of this study shows you how headlines can blow things out of proportion.

These “news” sources published exactly the same thing, which means they were using a press release:

• Faithful mothers have healthier babies (PhysOrg.com)
• Faithful mothers have healthier babies (Science News)
• Faithful Mothers Have Healthier Babies (Medical News Today)

On the other hand, the real information is here:

Duration of sexual relationship and its effect on preeclampsia and small for gestational age perinatal outcome. (PubMed)

Do you see the difference in the titles? Nowhere does it say fidelity or faithfulness – it says duration of sexual relationship. There’s a HUGE difference between the two. There are several reasons why a woman may not be exposed to the father’s semen after pregnancy. I can think of a few right off the top of my head:

• Father is away on deployment or other work-related issues right after conception
• Mother is away on work-related issues
• Mother (or father) doesn’t want to have sex
• Couple breaks up
• Father is unable to have sexual relation for some reason after conception
• Baby was conceived through methods other than sexual relations

Ok, here’s the real story:

Researchers followed 2507 women who were pregnant for the first time and were carrying only one child (meaning no twins or more). The women were asked about how long they had been with the father of the child, because the shorter the relationship, the less the woman was exposed to his semen.

The goal of the study was to see if women who had shorter sexual relationships with the biological father of the child had a higher risk of having a condition called pre-eclampsia – high blood pressure due to pregnancy – and/or smaller babies.

Briefly, what the researchers found was this was true. Women in longer sexual relationships had a lower risk of developing pre-eclampsia than women in shorter relationships.

There were 1,462 uncomplicated pregnancies within the group of mothers. Among the rest, 131 did develop pre-eclampsia and 263 had babies small for gestational age.

The researchers found that women who were in the shorter relationships did have a higher rate of pre-eclampsia, but this wasn’t found absolutely for babies of small gestational age.

Interestingly, at the 20 week ultrasound, doctors did find a problem with the uterine artery, the blood vessel that provides blood to the uterus, in 58 women and more of those women were the ones in the shorter relationship group.

So – now that you know what the study really said, what do you think?

Post from: Healthbolt

According to news reports out of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) annual meeting, injecting Botox into the pectoralis minor muscle in the chest, causes the back muscles to lift the breast, giving the appearance of a breast lift. It only works, however, on small-small breasts (A or B cups).

The technique also helps fight against slouching, say doctors and patients. The women say that it’s more difficult to slouch after they’ve had the injection. On the other hand, some doctors say that improving your posture would give you the same results as the Botox breast lift at a considerably lower cost. Botox into both breasts can run from one to two thousand dollars, while fixing your posture is free.

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Post from: Healthbolt

www.twitter.com

Ms Trunk’s tweet about her miscarriage raised a lot of eyebrows and considerable uproar. Surprisingly, much of the uproar was from women who felt that Ms Trunk was not feeling the “right” way after having had a miscarriage. That she should be mourning the loss instead of being happy about it. This despite the fact that she was about to abort the fetus anyway.

I think the uproar is more about twittering about something very personal, something very deep and something that touches most women in some way.

Women fall into a few categories: mothers who wanted to be mothers, mothers who didn’t want to be mothers, women who want to be mothers but who can’t biologically, and women who don’t want to be mothers and do whatever they need to do to prevent this from happening.

This is where the discomfort from the twittered miscarriage affects so many in so many different ways.

Mothers who want(ed) to be mothers may not be able to understand joy at miscarrying, let alone announcing the joy to the world. I can understand relief, particularly if you’ve made the decision to abort, but you aren’t overly comfortable with making the actual move yourself – but joy?

Mothers who are mothers but don’t want to be may be more understanding of Ms Trunk’s position, but some may feel a little uneasy with the idea too.

Women who want to be mothers but can’t biologically would likely be the hardest hit group emotionally when learning about Ms Trunk’s situation. It is understandable in many ways because they are hurting and would do just about anything to have the chance that she had.

And finally, women who don’t want to be mothers could fall on either side of the debate. They could be one with Ms Trunk, saying “more power to you,” or they could feel uncomfortable with the whole thing.

Which side do you fall in? Personally, if she’s relieved about the miscarriage, then I have no right to be upset or condemn her for it, particularly if she had already made the decision to abort. But I am uncomfortable with the twittering and the announcement of it. It just doesn’t sit right with me.

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Post from: Healthbolt

And the National Infertility Association and Fertility LifeLines™, a free patient resource provided by EMD Serono, want to hear their stories. They are  holding the first-ever In The Know Short Film Competition.

Have you got a story to tell about dealing with infertility?

Anyone touched by infertility can enter the In The Know Short Film competition by  submitting a creative, inspirational short film about their path to parenthood (or the journey of someone close to them).

These films will be reviewed by a panel of judges. Competition finalists will have their films screened at a festival in New York City this fall where a winner and runners-up will be chosen and awarded prizes.

The winner will receive $1,000 and two runners-up will each be given $500.

The deadline to submit entries is August 1, 2009

You can find the full guidelines at Fertility LifeLines .

Post from: Healthbolt

This is the time of the year when there are increased levels of pesticides, such as atrazine (which is banned in Europe but still permitted in the US) and nitrates, in surface water across the United States. Based on the evidence this study has uncovered, the researchers suspect there is a strong correlation between the seasonal increase in pesticides in the surface water and numbers of babies born with birth defects.

As Dr Winchester, lead author, says “… if our suspicions are right and pesticides are contributing to birth defect risk, we can reverse or modify the factors that are causing these lifelong and often very serious medical problems.”

(photo image – Sxc.hu/Jenny Rollo)

Post from: Healthbolt

Sure hope you do better than me…

The National Geographic Channel created this quiz as part of their In the Womb series.

By the way, the next episode of In the Womb screens this Saturday 28th February on National Geographic Channel.

Post from: Healthbolt