By Blue Rose on Monday, 30 of August , 2010 at 1:47 am
- STDs are on the rise, especially among the young. Health authorities from the UK report a 3% rise in cases of STIs in the past two years and they believe that young adults are responsible for the upward trend.
Two-thirds of new cases of STDs were reported in women under 25. 66% of the new cases of genital warts and 88% of chlamydia were found in young women. “These latest figures show that poor sexual health is a serious problem among the UK’s young adults and men who have sex with men,” remarked a doctor from the Health Protection Agency.
- A group promoting the legalization of weed paid Facebook roughly $5,000 to run an ad that featured a picture of marijuana leaf. A week after it went up, Facebook pulled the picture, saying the image violated its policy against promoting smoking. Just Say Now, the pro-pot organization, is now accusing Facebook of censorship.
- A study out of Sweden found that binging on fast food for four weeks is—shocker!—bad for you. The effects of an energy-dense diet can stick with you for years, even after you switch to a healthier plan.
- “Tying the knot is Bad for your sex life,” the Daily Mail reports. According to researchers, six out of ten couples believe marriage ruined the excitement of having sex. The survey also found that married couples only do the nasty about once a week. But before you freak out, it seems significant to note that the poll in question was conducted by an extra-marital dating service, LovingLInks.co.uk.
- New guidelines issued by the UK National Institute for Health suggests women with high blood pressure take aspirin from the 12th week of pregnancy onward in order to help prevent complications. Risks that are linked to high blood pressure include pre-eclampsia, premature birth, still birth, and underweight infants.
- Three teenagers who were named on a hit list on Facebook have been killed in the past two weeks in a Colombian town. The hit list was posted on August 17 and told the 69 people listed that they must either leave the town of Puerto Asis or be executed. Police do not know who is behind the list or the murders.
- This Saturday, more than 100 women—all over the age of 60—will go skydiving in Wisconsin to demonstrate that “having fun in life never stops.” Good luck, ladies!
- A couple was recently caught having sex on the floor of a rural Elma home — which was not their own — when a neighbor stopped by to collect mail for the homeowner. The fornicators apparently broke into the house to film their love making, but unfortunately for them, they left the resulting tape behind. Police have identified the culprits and issued arrest warrants.
By Blue Rose on Sunday, 30 of August , 2009 at 12:00 pm
The consequences of having sex when you’re in your teens don’t seem to be real. Statistics after statistics have shown us that while the number of teens having experience with sex is not declining, knowledge on STDs and birth control methods (whether natural or artificial) is not on the rise. Proof of this is the fact that one-third of women between the ages of 20 to 24 years old gave birth to their first child before turning 21, and that “of the estimated 1.7 million babies being born every year, around 30 percent comes from young women,” cites Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS) in a press conference.
College student Lily, who admits to being sexually active, also ‘fesses up that she and her boyfriend don’t us any kind of protection. “I don’t want to take pills and my boyfriend isn’t too keen on using a condom,” she says. “Sometimes we abstain, but when we do it, I just really hope that I don’t get pregnant. I don’t worry about the other bad stuff because my boyfriend is faithful to me and we’re young. So far we’ve been lucky.”
Relying on luck though when it comes to life-altering choices is never ever that reliable. But the problem is most teens don’t think that those choices they’re making about sex now can alter their lives to begin with. According to many studies on adolescent psychiatry, most teens fail to see how their actions now will affect their future. Have sex now, worry later. Others, without knowledge on what they’re getting into, don’t even know what to worry about.
The risk of early premarital sex
Although unwanted pregnancies and STDs are the more immediate consequences teens might face due to early sexual activity, what’s happening to their body should also be of concern. As adolescents are still in a stage of development, so are their reproductive organs. Because when you engage in early sexual activity, you’re exposing the immature cells (in your developing reproductive organs) to external environmental factors – like the coitus (or intercourse). The cervix is not yet ready to take on the kind of activity. So what happens is through the years the cells grow into dysplastic or abnormal cells. Those developing abnormal cells put one at high risk in developing cervical cancer. Another risk factor is promiscuity, the more partners you have, that’s also a problem. The good thing is cervical cancer doesn’t happen overnight; however, this just makes the risk not all that immediate, hence not a reality for many sexually active teens. But the risk is so real; more than half of women who developed cervical cancer later in life became sexually active at an early age.
How do you stop yourself from being at risk?
- The most sensible (and obvious) way is to wait it out. Postpone having sex until you’re emotionally and biologically ready for the responsibilities and consequences sex entails.
- If you’re already sexually active, be monogamous. Having different sexual partners increases your chances of acquiring different STDs and developing a reproductive tract cancer (the most common of which is cancer of the cervix).
- Be aware of your body. If you’re not sexually active or if you’re monogamous, if you get infection in the cervix – characterized by a lot of vaginal discharge, which can be abnormal in color or with an abnormal smell – consult your family physician or gynecologist. Don’t let such infections go untreated because they can develop more abnormalities in your cervix.
- As soon as you start having sex or at the age of 25, you should get an annual pap smear screening.
By Blue Rose on Monday, 17 of August , 2009 at 5:32 pm
Though widely regarded as immoral and illegal, it’s the world’s oldest profession, and shows no sign of ever becoming obsolete. A comprehensive look at the psychology of prostitution
Webster defines the word prostitute as simply a woman “given to indiscriminate lewdness.” But to encapsulate the person, the profession, and the legal and moral implications in one perfunctory phrase is like looking at just the tip of the iceberg.
The origin of prostitution can be traced back to the Hetaerae, or a lady companion prevalent to Athens. These women were different from out currently regarded stereotype of the “buyable” woman; they were accomplished courtesans and sometimes, surprisingly even more educated than the “respectable” wives and daughters of the society. The role of these women in Athenian society seemed to be inevitable, given the tendencies of men to marry late, or to get trapped in arranged unions. The difference between these women and the common streetwalker we are familiar with is striking, “she dresses attractively and looks neat…smiles in a bewitching way…never cheats a visitor or as escort, and never throws herself at the men…” however, the basic purpose of such woman is clear: but her only aim is to attract the man and him love her.”
Other historical records show that the acceptance of a reward in money or in kind was not always considered the characteristics of prostitutions. According to ancient Roman law, a prostitute was a woman who wantonly offered herself passim et sine delecto (everywhere and without pleasure).
However the mental picture of a prostitute may have evolved, the basic idea of her practice stresses the lack of emotional participation, which lowers the sexual act to a mechanical function. Julia Roberts said it best in the movie Pretty Woman: “No kissing on the lips. It’s too personal.”
Desperate times, desperate measures
The majority of prostitutes enter their “occupation” for economic reasons; not because they were captured by “white slavers” or motivated by pathological sexual needs. The primary reason for the existence and extraordinary persistence of female prostitution is that it is an easy solution to the problems of poor women. Many girls (yes, some as young as 13) come from impoverished families, a journey to the big city seeking work they probably will not find.
“We don’t work there because we like the job or because we like American men,” said Alma, 36-year-old former bar worker from Olongapo, former bastion of the Subic US naval bas. “We go there because we need the money. We need to support the family.” These women are concerned with how to fill their stomachs on a day-to-day basis. They need money in hurry, and often times, the most feasible solution is to sleep with a man for an amount they can’t possibly earn through other means.
These girls pick their ways through several landmines: the threat of violence with the client or their pimp, the constant fear of sexually transmitted diseases (STD), and the danger of being arrested. This economic disadvantage is aggravated by the inadequate wages paid to women and their dependence upon men to pr5ovide support after marriage and childbearing.
Yet to write of prostitution as just another kind of career is also unjust. This is a part of a speech delivered in the symposium “Prostitution: from Academia to Activism”, “if you have been in prostitution, you do not have tomorrow in your mind, because tomorrow is a very long time away. You cannot assume that you will live from minute to minute. If you do, then you are stupid, and to be stupid in the world of prostitution is to be hurt, is to be dead… in prostitution, no woman stays whole. It is impossible to use a human body in the way women’s bodies are used in prostitution and to have a whole human being at the end of it, or in the middle of it, or close to the beginning of it. It’s impossible. And no woman gets whole again later, after.”
Thus, a prostitute becomes more of a receptacle for sex than anything else. It gets even worse – she is seen as the source of STD, such as AIDS. The speech puts it bluntly: “…the prostituted woman is seeing as the generative source of everything that is bad and wrong and rotten with sex, with the man, with the woman.”
What the heck, don’t they have the right to defend themselves? Even if they are prostitutes, are they the only cause of these diseases? They have the right to live, to fight the poverty, to help their family, to feed their own stomach, to be part of the society. If they are educated, do you think they will do this type of job? Even some of the educated people are doing this kind of thing; the only difference is that they are not in the street, but why? Because of our economic situation, can you assured that all the men and women who graduate will have the better job?
It’s up for you to judge them or see them as a human being who just wants to live.
By Blue Rose on Wednesday, 5 of August , 2009 at 8:14 pm
When this young woman was diagnosed, there was anger, fear, and finally acceptance. With total frankness, this brave young woman tells the fateful tale of the day her life was change forever.
When you’re young, you feel invincible. But, that isn’t always the case. About 45 percent of sexually-active women ages 20 to 24 have human papilloma virus (HPV). And, many not suffer the health consequences. But unfortunately, others like this young woman aren’t that lucky. Here’s her sordid tale.
In the Dark about STD’s – She was 21 and a virgin when she moved out from home to make it on my own and launch a career as an illustrator. In the conservative community where she grew up, sex was never discussed. As for STD’s, she’d heard of herpes, yet she didn’t even know what HPV was. But then she fell for a guy, and soon they started living together, and she began her first sexual relationship.
Painful Symptoms Strike – Two months later, a mysterious genital sores developed. They were red, cent-sized blisters, with clear fluid draining from them. It hurts to touch them and even to walk or pee. She also noticed painless skin tag-liked white bumps on her vulva and vagina. Of course, she was really scared, but hoping that maybe it’s just an allergy to a new laundry detergent.
Shocking Diagnosis – No surprise, she knew that it’s not an allergy from laundry detergent. Her test gives a positive result to herpes and HPV. The blisters were herpes lesions, and the skin tags were warts, a common symptom of some strains of HPV. Sadly the doctor where she went to wasn’t especially sympathetic or helpful. She felt ashamed and embarrassed, but mostly she’s stunned. She’d never dreamed of getting not one but two STD’s, especially one she’d barely heard of.
How her guy reacted – When she told the guy about the bad news, he felt horribly guilty – he said he had no idea he had any STD’s. She believed him then and still believes him until now. Although his test results to positive of herpes and HPV, he never had the symptoms of either disease.
Why me? – In the days that followed, her self esteem plunged. Because of her upbringing, she couldn’t help thinking that STD’s were punishment for having sex before marriage. Then, she started doing research on the internet, and she found some comfort in the fact that STD’s are extremely common. That helps ease her guilt slightly.
Getting Treatment – While she was dealing with the emotional effects, she had to take care of the physical symptoms. The herpes sores went away within two weeks, after which her doctor prescribed a lotion for the warts. But the lotion didn’t work, she undergo treatments with an acid-based topical solution. She also had laser surgery to remove the warts from inside the vagina and, as it turns out, in her cervix. Both treatments were painful, but thankfully, the warts soon disappeared. A few weeks later, they could have sex again, no signs of herpes or warts, even though, she still felt dirty, and then life returned to normal.
A Killer Consequence – Since some types of HPV can cause cervical cancer, she had to see her gyne for frequent pap tests. Unfortunately, one came back suspicious; more tests confirmed her worst fear: she had cancer cells in her cervix. She had contracted one HPV type that triggers warts and two others linked to cancer, terrifying. She honestly thought she was going to die, even though the cancer was in an early stage.
Her Mother’s Harsh Words – Even though she didn’t share her STD condition to her family, she couldn’t keep the cancer diagnosis from them. Her mom looked at her with a blank face, then coldly asked, “How did you get it?” when she told her how, she said she wanted to kill her boyfriend. Then, she remarked that cancer was actually the result of her choices. In a sense it’s true, but to triumph over the disease, she needed to keep distance with that thinking. She told her brother and sister too, who’d also moved away from their conservative home and they understood where she was coming from. That helped her.
Cancer and Couple Stress – While she was undergoing treatment with laser surgery, her boyfriend wigged out. They were fighting more. She blamed him for the situation she was in, and felt that he didn’t understand what she was going through. He started seeing therapist, because it was so hard for him to accept that he was the cause of her cancer. She started seeing a counselor too, to work out the anger and all that had happened, it was a tense time for her.
Moving On – Luckily the laser surgery removed all the cancer from her cervix, and didn’t need any more treatment; though always have to be checked because it can come back at any time. She and her boyfriend are getting along again. Two years later, they had a baby boy, they also get married, but it didn’t last – just for three months.
Dating with STD’s – She’d like to start meeting men again, but she’s really not sure how to tell the guys that she has herpes and HPV. But she said, she will definitely inform them early on. She thought, if they appalled on her diagnosis, then she doesn’t need them at all.
No Longer Feeling Guilty – She’s still cancer free, and hasn’t had an outbreak of herpes or warts since the very first one. It sounds crazy, but the main thing she regrets is wasting all the time feeling ashamed and dirty. What happened to her was unlucky, yes, but she’d no longer plagued on the idea that she brought it upon herself.
By Blue Rose on Thursday, 9 of April , 2009 at 5:21 pm
This is the continuation of the safer sex guidelines 1.
Use spermicides containing nonoxynol-9. This is the active ingredient in most spermicides sold in the United States. It’s actually a mild detergent that destroys HIV by bursting its protein membrane. It also kills microbes that cause other STD’s, including herpes, gonorrhea, syphilis and trichomoniasis. Generally, in fact, protecting yourself against AIDS with spermicide and condoms also protects you against a whole host of other STDs as an added bonus.
Herpes genitalis(When symptomatic, the typical manifestation of a primary HSV-1 or HSV-2 genital infection is clusters of inflamed papules and vesicles on the outer surface of the genitals resembling cold sores
Beware of open sores. Open sores increase risk. In order to infect a new host, the virus must somehow enter that person’s blood stream. Normally, intact, healthy skin provides a nearly insurmountable barrier against HIV. Even if you get some infected blood or semen against your skin, this is almost invariably safe. But if you have open sores on your genitals or in your mouth, the virus has a portal of entry directly into the bloodstream. Studies of homosexual men have shown that those with herpes, syphilis or chancroid (all STDs that produce open sores if untreated) are at greater risk of becoming infected with HIV than men who are free of genital ulcers. This is also why unprotected anal, intercourse, which tears the lining of the rectum, is one of the riskiest of all sexual behaviors.
Can HIV penetrate the mucous lining of the vagina, rectum or mouth if there are no cuts or sores? The answer to this is not known, because it’s never been tested in humans (and, for ethical reasons, never will be). To protect yourself, whatever the answer: Use condoms.
Syphilis(is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochetal bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum
Syphilis lesions on a patient’s back
Avoid high-risk practices. Being on the receiving and of unprotected anal intercourse is probably the riskiest sexual practice of all. (Don’t forget, though, that both partners are at risk in anal intercourse). Even using condoms is not entirely safe: With vaginal intercourse, about 1 in 100 condoms will break, but with anal intercourse, 10 in 100 will break, studies have found.
Worldwide, probably the most common mode of transmission is unprotected penis-in-vagina intercourse. Again: Don’t do it without using spermicide and a condom.
Don’t do unprotected sex with multiple partners, prostitutes or drug users. It’s also unsafe to have sex with someone who has had sex with multiple partners, drug users or prostitutes. Unfortunately, although it’s great to know the sexual history of your sex partner, the plain fact is that no area of life is more right with secrets – and – lies – than a persons sexual past. In one astounding study, 52 percent of sexually active HIV carriers admitted they had, at one time or another concealed their illness from a sex partner. So just because a sex partner tells you he or she hasn’t done anything risky doesn’t mean you can believe it.
vaginal syphilis(Secondary syphilis manifested perineal condylomata lata lesions, which presented as gray, raised papules that sometimes appear on the vulva or near the anus, or in any other warm intertriginous region.
Chancres on the penile shaft due to a primary syphilitic infection
When you ask people what they are doing to reduce their risk of getting AIDS, they often say, I’m being more careful about who I have sex with. But this is really very little help, because you simply can’t tell by looking at someone if they’re infected. After all, how do you think people are getting infected? They’re getting infected by having sex with people they think are not infected.
giant condom in Buenos Aires
By Blue Rose on Sunday, 5 of April , 2009 at 6:18 pm
How and where can I get AIDS?
All is not bleak, however. Even though there’s still no vaccine for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, and no cure for the disease itself, it’s not that hard to completely shield yourself from the risk of becoming infected. HIV is actually quite difficult to catch.
Just to clarify: There are only four basic ways you can get AIDS:
- - by using needles tainted with HIV-infected blood;
- - through transfusions or other exposure to tainted blood or blood products;
- - by fetal transmission, from a mother to a baby;
- - through unprotected sex.
By far the most common mode of transmission is sex – AIDS is primarily a sexually transmitted disease (STD). And you are the one who controls your sexual behavior.
You simply cannot get it from casual, nonsexual contact. There’s no evidence HIV has ever been transmitted by shaking hands, hugging, kissing on the cheek, crying, coughing or sneezing. You can’t get by donating blood. You can’t get it from mosquitoes, dogs, cats, toilet seats, office furniture, pools or hot tubs. And in studies of families in which one member had AIDS, there’s no evidence of transmission even though family members shared foods, utensils, towels, cups, razors, and toothbrushes and even kissed each other, according to the Surgeon General’s Office.
How can I know that I’m infected of AIDS? What are the symptoms?
Very briefly, though, once person is infected, the virus enters the white blood cells, mainly those called T4 cells or T-helper cells (are a sub-group of lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell or leukocyte) that play an important role in establishing and maximizing the capabilities of the immune system), “rewrites” the cells genetic blue print and changes it to its own blueprint. In a deadly turn about, the virus transforms this cells that were meant to protect the body into a factory for manufacturing more HIV. In this way, it can over-whelm the body’s defenses with amazing speed.
This is the Kaposi’s sarcoma (skin cancer)
Shortly after the initial infection, a person may experience a flulike illness (fever, swollen lymph nodes, aching joints or muscles, diarrhea). This is followed by a period in which they feel quite healthy but probably contagious. During this period – usually from 2 to 12 weeks after infection – they will test positive for HIV antibodies in their blood. Often there’s a period of latency, also during which the individual is contagious but shows no symptoms. This period sometimes lasts nine or ten years. Ten the virus begins spreading like mad, and when it does, the immune system is rapidly devastated, laying the individual open to attack by conditions such as Kaposi’s sarcoma (a rare skin cancer) or a certain type of pneumonia, Pneumocystis carinii, that has become one of the calling cards of AIDS.
Suffice it to say that everyone – especially people who are sexually active outside of stable, long-term relationship – needs to know the meaning of “safer sex.”
this is the Pneumocystis carinii (a form of pneumonia caused by the yeast-like fungus, Pneumocystis jirovecii)
Our world today is very much advance and it will be advance also for you if you know the safer sex guidelines. I will bring it up on my next issue, it’s very important so you must wait for it.
By Blue Rose on Tuesday, 24 of March , 2009 at 4:34 pm
What women should know about male fertility.
When it comes to male fertility problems, don’t reach for hormone treatments just yet. Doctors are finding they have the most success treating young couples with antibiotics – largely because sexually transmitted diseases and other infections often impede sperm count, shape and speed. Man ,in fact, account for 40 percent of fertility problems. And young men aren’t exempt: According to some fertility experts, the average male patient is a strapping thirty-something. Here’s why:
- Reproductive tract infections, including sexually transmitted diseases and prostatitis, an infection or inflammation of the prostate gland, can interfere with semen production and sperm function. Once the man is diagnosed and treated with antibiotics, however, his fertility may be restored.
- An illness may prompt a temporary drop in sperm count for three to six months. Excess white blood cells, which fight off infection, can disturb sperm function. Usually, antibiotics eliminate the problem.
- Daily use of marijuana can lower total sperm count because the drug may slow sperm production.
- Smoking may affect the shape and function of a man’s sperm, hampering fertilization.
- Certain steroids may shut down a man’s ability to produce sperm.
- About one third of men with fertility problems have a varicocele – varicose veins wrapped around a testicle. The testicles become overheated and can no longer produce sperm.
- Damaged sperm ducts block the passage of sperm from the testicles.
- Scrotal injuries may also block the passage of sperm from the testicles.
Not sure whether it’s your partner’s smoking habit or his recent bout with the flu that’s putting a damper on procreation? Send him to a doctor for a semen analysis. The longer you wait, the more likely his problem will worsen. Fortunately, it appears that in amny cases, once you’re aware of the problem, it can easily be resolved.
