by yoursl | Jun 2, 2016 | Cancers of Reproductive Systems, Sex and Science, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Women's Sexual Health |
Last weekend, Dutch and I attended our friends’ annual Indianapolis 500 race celebration and Memorial Day cookout. At this party, I met a woman who is a two-time cancer survivor whose family carries one of the genetic markers for breast cancer. She survived breast and uterine cancer and is now battling the after-effects of chemotherapy on her digestive tract. During our conversation, I discovered this particular cancer survivor was not consistent with undergoing annual preventative exams during much of her adult life. Preventative care is essential to our health and well-being and can help detect any potential health problems, especially cancer during its earliest stages when it is easier to treat. Uterine cancer and cervical cancer are mostly asymptomatic, meaning there are no symptoms that indicate the presence of the cancer. Ovarian cancer is asymptomatic in its early stages and will exhibit symptoms in the later stages of the disease. Dr. George Papanicolaou (1883-1962) was a Greek pioneer in cytopathology, or the study of cells to determine the cause or nature of disease. He was an expert on early cancer detection who, in 1928, invented the Papanicolaou test after having studied his wife’s cervical cells under a microscope for several months. His invention, now commonly referred to as a Pap test or Pap smear, is a sample of tissue collected from the neck of a woman’s cervix or uterus that is then examined under a microscope in order to look for potential cancers in the uterus or cervix. Very rarely will a Pap smear detect the presence of ovarian cancer cells. The Pap test has stood the test of...
by yoursl | May 19, 2016 | Cancers of Reproductive Systems, Men's Sexual Health, Sex and Science, Sexual Dysfunction, Taboo Topics |
Earlier this month, the first penis transplant in the United States was completed successfully. This was the world’s third penis transplant since the procedure was first attempted ten years ago. In penis transplants, the penis is taken from a deceased donor only after special written permission is given by the deceased man’s family. The blood type of the recipient must match that of the donor. The recipient must have certain nerves and blood vessels intact as well as an intact urethra in order to be considered for a penis transplant. Skin tone similarities between the donor and the recipient are taken into consideration to allow the recipient to have a more natural look after transplantation. Only the penis is transplanted; testicles are never transplanted due to potential ethical and moral objections. If a recipient has one or both of his testicles intact, he may be able to father his own biological children after a successful penis transplant because his sperm production has been unimpeded. All transplant patients must take anti-rejection medications, such as tacrolimus, for the rest of their lives in order to keep their own bodies from physically rejecting the transplanted organ(s). There is a vetting process of potential transplant patients to ensure the patients will adhere to daily anti-rejection medication regimes. The world’s first penis transplant occurred in China in 2006 at Guangzhou General Hospital. The recipient was a 44-year-old man whose own penis had been damaged beyond repair in an accident. He was left with one centimeter (less than one-half inch) of his original penis and was unable to urinate. The 15-hour transplant surgery was considered...
by yoursl | Apr 7, 2016 | Dating/Relationships, Men's Sexual Health, Sex and Culture, Sex and History, Sex and Literature, Sex and Science, Sexual Discussion, Sexual Exploration, Women's Sexual Health |
Historically, America has held a somewhat negative societal view of masturbation that can be traced back to several centuries ago. In America in the 18th and 19th centuries, the perfect storm collided to help condemn masturbation as being a degenerate act. Decades of the Judeo-Christian tradition of condemning masturbation as being a misuse of one’s sexuality combined with the general prudishness of the Victorian era, which lasted from 1837 to 1901, and with the Great Awakening religious revivals of the early 18th century to the late 19th century to land masturbation into the banned acts arena. Literary works during the Victorian era helped move masturbation from being just a socially wicked act to being one of a physical and mental health nature that required medical treatments and even cures to eradicate. One of the biggest opponents of masturbation during this time was American physician Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943), who thought sex was detrimental to our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being. He had evener stricter views on masturbation. In addition to sharing his anti-masturbation and anti-sex beliefs with others, Dr. Kellogg physically lived his beliefs and values. It is believed that Dr. Kellogg was celibate, that he and his wife never consummated their marriage, that they kept separate bedrooms during their entire marriage and that all eight of their children were adopted. Dr. Kellogg was raised as a devote Seventh-day Adventist and kept to his faith all throughout his life. He went to medical school before returning to his home state of Michigan where he would eventually practice as a physician at an Adventist-operated sanitarium. In his written work...
by yoursl | Feb 25, 2016 | Fertility, Heterosexuality, Men's Sexual Health, Sex and Science, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
The Department of Defense (DoD) announced at the end of January that it is expanding fertility benefits for active duty service members to include the cost of egg and sperm freezing. These services will be covered during a two-year pilot program designed as part of the Force of the Future Initiative, which is a move to make the military a more family friendly employer and to encourage troops, especially women, to remain enlisted. Egg and sperm freezing will only be available to active duty service members who either request the benefit or who are anticipating a deployment. Deployed service members run the risk of sustaining injuries that can reduce or eliminate their ability to father children or to carry a pregnancy to full term. According to Military Times, more than 1,300 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffered injuries to their groin regions and genitalia that required advanced reproductive surgeries. These injuries are mostly from encounters with improvised explosive devices (IED’s) or shrapnel from explosions. “We can help our men and women preserve their ability to start a family, even if they suffer certain combat injuries,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter said of the new program. The DoD already offers in vitro fertilization (IVF), artificial insemination, sperm extraction and embryo preservation at no charge to severely wounded, active duty personnel and their spouses. Neither Tricare, the military’s civilian health benefits program, nor the Department of Veterans Affairs, which provides health care to former service members with service-connected conditions, cover the cost of IVF or other advanced fertility treatments, such as egg and sperm freezing. After the two-year pilot program...
by yoursl | Dec 17, 2015 | Sex and History, Sex and Science, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Syphilis |
Mankind was wrecked by the sudden appearance of syphilis in the late 1490s. At its onset and for centuries later, this new disease caused widespread epidemics throughout Western Europe and would eventually threaten nearly the entire world’s population at one time or another. Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, which is a corkscrew-shaped spirochete (a phylum or category of double-membrane bacteria). The exact cause of syphilis, Spirochaeta pallida, was co-discovered in 1905 by German zoologist Fritz Richard Schaudinn and German dermatologist Erich Hoffmann while the pair were working at the Berlin Charité, a large teaching hospital. When syphilis first appeared in the 15th century, its symptoms were much more severe than those of present-day syphilis. The early symptoms included genital ulcers followed by fever, general rash and joint and muscle pains. Weeks or months later, symptoms included large, painful and foul-smelling abscesses and sores, or pocks, all over the body. These sores would become ulcers that could eat into bone and into the lips, nose and eyes as well. Sometimes sores would appear in the mouth or throat and death would occur. People afflicted with the disease suffered from extreme bone pain, especially at night. Immunity to disease occurs after exposure to the disease, whether it be from exposure to the disease itself or to dead or weakened disease cells found within vaccines. Because the 15th century population had yet to develop immunity to syphilis, the disease spread quickly and had a much higher and quicker rate of morbidity than its present-day version. There are two theories as to how syphilis came into...
