Sexual Health

Making love or ejaculating every day can improve men's sexual health by improving sperm quality and thus increasing the chances of conception, according to an Australian study.

As a woman gets older, physical problems are less likely to influence whether she is sexually active than her partner's health or interest in sex, according to a new study by researchers at UCSF and Kaiser Permanente.

The study also showed significant differences in the frequency of sexual activity, as well as sexual desire and satisfaction, among racial groups of middle-aged and elderly women. Study results appear in the online version of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Women who have given birth vaginally are more likely to experience sexual dysfunction than women who have delivered through a planned cesarean section, according to a study in the June issue of The Journal of Sexual Medicine. In recent years, investigators have hypothesized that pregnancy and child delivery can result in changes to the pelvic floor and intra-pelvic organs. Exploring the hypothesis that “sexual function” is associated with mode of delivery is important, because sexual health is an integral part of general health.

Emergency contraceptive Plan B (Levonorgestrel) was first approved in 1999. The drug has been manufactured by Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cincinnati. Yesterday, the U.S. FDA approved the first generic version of Plan B.

From 1999 until 2006, Plan B was available only by prescription. In 2006, it was approved for nonprescription use for women ages 18 and older. Plan B has remained available as a prescription-only product for women ages 17 and under.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic version of the emergency contraceptive Plan B (levonorgestrel) tablets, 0.75 mg. The generic product will be available by prescription only for women ages 17 and under.

Plan B was first approved in 1999 for prescription use only for women of all ages. Plan B is manufactured by Duramed Pharmaceuticals Inc., of Cincinnati.

This week is National HIV Testing week, but syphilis continues to be a public health problem. In the U.S., the number of reported cases increased 11.8% between 2005 and 2006. In 2006, health officials reported over 36,000 cases of syphilis. The incidence was highest in women 20 to 24 years of age and in men 35 to 39 years of age.

Syphilis is caused by the Treponema pallidum bacterium. Like HIV, it is a sexually transmitted infection (STI). Like all STIs it can be transmitted by genital, oral, and anal sex.

As if women who suffer from sexual abuse don't have enough challenges in healing and moving on with their lives, a medical expert from the Mayo Clinic has revealed there are also physical side effects that plague victims sometimes as long as the emotional side effects.

According to Dr. Larry Bergstrom, MD, Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale Arizona the emotional stress of being a victim of sexual abuse may lead to physical illness such as fibromyalgia, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and even cancer.

A brief, one-time intervention delivered by a trained peer health advisor was an effective and low-cost method for reducing new infections among young, heterosexual, African American men diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD), according to an NIMH-funded study. Such programs may help reduce STD-related health disparities, which currently affect a disproportionate number of African American men in the United States. The study was published in the April 2009 supplemental issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Background

Proposals to improve people's sexual health and sexual health services are unveiled by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The plan also aims to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, particularly amongst teenage girls, reduce the rates of HIV and sexually transmitted infections and to create a culture that supports open and responsible discussion of sexual health.

Researchers at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) in Buffalo, New York, are strongly advocating a national discussion about the need to vaccinate both young men and women against HPV 16 to prevent head & neck cancers.

The call comes amid growing evidence that certain cancers of the head and neck are strongly linked to HPV 16, a specific strain of the human papillomavirus (HPV) that is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.