by yoursl | Jul 2, 2015 | Men's Sexual Health, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
When a person experiences stress, his or her body releases cortisol, a steroid hormone. Cortisol belongs to a class of hormones called glucocorticoids, which are present in almost every vertebrate animal cell, and is produced from cholesterol in the two adrenal glands located on top of each kidney. In addition to being released during times of stress, the body releases cortisol after a person wakes up and during and after exercise. Cortisol and the hormone epinephrine, which is also known as adrenaline, work together in “fight-or-flight” responses. After an individual is faced with stress, the adrenals secrete cortisol, which in turn floods the body with glucose (a simple sugar used as a source of energy in living organisms) that supplies immediate energy to large muscles. Cortisol causes this glucose release when it taps into protein stores in the liver. Cortisol’s focus is on supplying the body with glucose for quick energy which is why cortisol blocks insulin production as well. Insulin is a hormone produced in the pancreas that regulates the amount of glucose in the blood. Lack of insulin causes a form of diabetes. As cortisol narrows the arteries, epinephrine increases heart rate. Both of these occurrences force blood to pump harder and faster through the body. Once the stressful situation is resolved, hormone levels return to normal. All this sounds very simple in theory, but many health experts theorize that our fast-paced lifestyles with ever-present stress causes our bodies to pump out cortisol almost constantly, which can have a negative impact on our health in general and on our sexual health in particular. Since cortisol stops the...
by yoursl | Jun 25, 2015 | Just For Fun, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
Representative Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) is planning on introducing legislation that would make the posting or sharing of non-consensual pornography a federal crime. She is calling her proposed bill the “Intimate Privacy Protection Act.” The bill is aimed at reducing “revenge porn,” which is the act of posting or sharing of sexually explicit images online without consent of the depicted. University of law professor Mary Anne Franks wrote in a Huffington Post article the term “revenge porn” is “misleading” because “while a number of cases do involve bitter exes whose express purpose is to harm or harass their former partners, many perpetrators don’t know their victims at all.” Franks further explains, “A more accurate term is non-consensual pornography, defined as the distribution of private, sexually explicit material without consent.” Websites, such as Twitter and Reddit, have taken steps to stop the posting of non-consensual pornography. Google recently announced it would “allow people to petition for such images’ removal from search results” on its site. This is an interesting move on the part of these websites as federal law currently grants legal immunity to Internet service providers and online platforms for most content posted by third parties, with exceptions for child pornography, copyright infringements and sex-trafficking ads. The advocacy groups Without My Consent and the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative have helped increase awareness of online privacy and both sites offer advice on what to do when someone is a victim of “revenge porn.” The mission statement of Without My Consent, which appears in bold print on the group’s main website page states the group “empowers victims of egregious online privacy violations...
by yoursl | Apr 2, 2015 | Women's Sexual Health |
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of death among women. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime, according to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). “Each year it is estimated that over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer, and more than 40,000 will die,” reports NBCF on their website. A mammogram is an X-ray of the breast and can be used to detect breast cancer. There are two types of mammograms: a screening mammogram which is used when there are no signs or symptoms of the disease and a diagnostic mammogram which is used after a lump or other sign of the disease is found. A diagnostic mammogram takes longer than a screening mammogram as it allows for multiple views of the breast from several angles. Not all organizations agree on mammogram guidelines. For example, doctors at the Mayo Clinic offer mammograms to women beginning at age 40 and continuing annually, which is typically yearly. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends biennial (every other year) screening mammograms for women ages 50 to 74 with selective offering of mammograms to those women under age 50 with personal and/or family history of breast cancer. My mother (also known as Coolest. Mom. Ever.) dreads her yearly mammogram, so I make an appointment for both of us to visit our gynecologist. I drive us the 120 round-trip miles to the doctor’s office. After our appointments, we enjoy some mother-daughter time as we go shopping and have lunch. This year went a differently than planned. Four days after...
by yoursl | Mar 26, 2015 | Taboo Topics, Women's Sexual Health |
Females differ from one another in how their individual exterior genitals look and in how they orgasm. Anal stimulation, vaginal stimulation, clitoral stimulation, or a blend of two or even all three of these can create a female orgasm. Some women only orgasm through one of the three forms of stimulation. Some women have never experienced an orgasm, a condition called anorgasmia. Other women have the ability to have multiple orgasms in the same sexual encounter. A woman named Savannah shared her experiences with clitoral stimulation and multiple orgasm during an interview to help unwrap the mystery of the female orgasm. Savannah maintained her virginity until she was 18-years-old and out of high school. She found herself with opportunities to experiment sexually with men her own age and quickly discovered that sex made her feel beautiful when she did not consistently feel that way in her everyday life. Savannah’s third sex partner was her then roommate’s boyfriend, and this one-time encounter was when Savannah discovered she could have multiple orgasms. Savannah points to this shining, yet not-so-shining, moment as a turning point in her individual sexuality. She remembers very vividly the feeling of this first multiple orgasm and how she withered and shook for a very long time afterwards. Her partner held her close, rubbed her back and delighted in her personal discovery. After this encounter, Savannah explained that she began to develop increased sexual desires that lead to dozens of partners in a just a few years’ time, but that she felt bad about having been the other woman in a few of those sexual encounters. Savannah said...
by yoursl | Mar 19, 2015 | Just For Fun, Men's Sexual Health, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
I was that child who asked “Why is the sky blue?” until I was satisfied with the answer I was given. My mother quickly adapted to my questions; she bought my brother and me a set of encyclopedias and a “how science works” book series along with two dictionaries. She gave us both unlimited access to the public library and encouraged me to bestow some questions on the librarians. We were both encouraged to read anything we wanted, no matter how challenging the material or how questionable in nature the material was deemed by other mothers. Our mother never stifled our creativity, intelligence or curiosity. Perhaps this is why I still ask questions to this day. I want to know as much as I can about everything that interests me, which is one reason I spend more time reading and researching than watching television. The other day I was reading a book for some ideas for some Tweets and found information that excited me. I discovered a treasure trove of anatomy-related information about sex and reproduction. I want to share this information because it is just good stuff to know. The Italian anatomist Gabriel Fallopius was born in 1523 in Modena, Italy, and served as a canon of the cathedral of Modena before returning to the study of medicine. In 1549, Fallopius became a professor of anatomy at the University of Pisa. He performed multitudes of dissections using human cadavers and described his work in the book Observationes anatomicae, which was published in 1561. Fallopius described many of the major nerves of the head and face as well as...
by yoursl | Jan 8, 2015 | Men's Sexual Health, Sexual Discussion, Women's Sexual Health |
A urinary tract infection (UTI), which is sometimes called cystitis, happens when bacteria in the bladder or kidney multiples in the urine and enters the urinary tract. UTI’s are not necessarily sexually transmitted, but being sexually active can increase the likelihood of developing a UTI due to the transfer of bacteria during sex between the vagina, rectum and urethra. UTI’s are relatively common among both men and women, but women tend to develop UTI’s far more easily than men due to the structure of female anatomy. The distance between a woman’s bladder and the urethral opening is relatively short with the opening in close proximity to the vagina and rectum, making quick transfer of bacteria possible. Brown University reports that an estimated 50 percent to 80 percent of women will develop UTI’s sometime during their life and that 20 percent to 50 percent of these women will have recurrent UTI’s. Common symptoms of a UTI include urine that appears cloudy, presence of blood in the urine, foul-smelling urine, urine with a strong odor first thing in the morning, frequent or urgent need to urinate, pain or burning with urination, needing to urinate with very little fluid coming out, night sweats, shaking or chills, pressure in the lower pelvis and low-grade fever. Men with UTI’s may experience a feeling of fullness in the rectum. A UTI can occur anywhere along the urinary tract. As a general rule, the higher up into the urinary tract that the infection is, the worse the infection will be. The most common type of UTI is iscystitis, or infection or inflammation of the bladder which...
