Tag: Sex Studies

Sex Drive Patch

Once again it is Sunday and not much new to report…..Sex is always a good subject…..It is Sexy Sunday!

Intrinsa was recently licensed in the UK for the treatment of women, who have gone through the menopause as a result of womb and ovary removal, and who are subsequently experiencing a drop in sex drive.

The condition is referred to as hypoactive sexual desire disorder or HSDD for short.

There is some evidence to suggest that a fall in sex drive after the menopause might be linked to low levels of circulating testosterone.

Intrinsa is prescribed for women with HSDD, who are receiving oestrogen replacement therapy. It delivers a daily dose of testosterone from a patch replaced twice weekly and worn continuously on the lower abdomen.

The key trials on testosterone patches have involved highly selective groups of women – excluding, for example, those with various mental or physical conditions that could affect sex drive, says DTB. And in some trials a diagnosis of HSDD was made on the basis of short, unvalidated questionnaires.

There was also a large placebo response in the studies, with significant numbers of women not treated with the patch reporting improved sex drive, which indicates that low hormone levels might not have been the problem, says DTB.

Furthermore, the improvements were small. And the fact that some of the women were already having sex twice or three times a month before they entered the trials, raises questions about whether they really had a poor sex drive in the first place.

Lyrics And Sex

High exposure to lyrics that describe degrading sex is associated with high levels of sexual behaviour in teens, a new study suggests.

The research, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, was conducted in three large urban high schools in the Pittsburgh area, and involved asking Grade 9 students about the number of hours a day they listen to music and their favourite musical artists.

STDs are particularly problematic in poor communities, Primack said, and that was a reason for focusing on three urban high schools where about half the kids take part in a lunch program — indicating they fall below a certain income level.

“We divided the cohort into three … those who were exposed to the lowest amount (of music with degrading references), those who were exposed to sort of the medium amount, those who were exposed to the most,” he said.

“And those who were exposed to the most were more than twice as likely to have had sexual intercourse, and that’s even controlling for all of the other factors that we looked at that we thought might be related to uptake of sexual intercourse.”

Daniel Levitin, a cognitive neuroscientist at McGill University in Montreal, said the study “clearly adds to our body of knowledge about the connection between musical lyrics and … experiences of young people.”

But Levitin, author of the bestselling book “This is Your Brain on Music,” said the study wasn’t designed in a way that it could tell us about any causes of the young people’s behaviour.

“The important thing to bear in mind is whatever it is that’s causing young people to engage in increasingly risky sexual activity at a younger age — we don’t know whether there’s some third factor out there in the world that’s causing them both to engage in that activity and to seek out this music.”

JUst play the song backwards and thge teens will do their himework and cut the grass without being told.

Sex Ed Misinforms

It is Sunday….It is SEX!

The report is authored by Texas State University professors David Wiley and Kelly Wilson, who submitted open records requests to Texas’ 1,031 school districts (not including charter schools) for textbooks, curricula and other documents related to sexuality education. Wiley and Wilson said 990 districts, 96 percent, responded.

In the report, the researchers say:

“More than 3.7 million Texas students currently attend school in a district where they will not encounter even the most basic information about how to protect themselves from unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. … The size and location of a school district does affect the likelihood a student will encounter more comprehensive information (abstinence-plus). Students in large, urban districts still largely hear an abstinence-only message, but close to one in five districts include more comprehensive information. That is a substantially higher rate of abstinence-plus education than the state average. Compare that to rural areas, where we did not find a single instance of any information beyond abstinence among the state’s smallest districts. Worse still, 16 percent of these small, rural districts forgo sexuality education altogether.”

“If lawmakers intended [School Health Advisory Councils] to ensure appropriate content and instruction in the classroom, data gathered for this report would indicate that this experiment in local control must be judged a failure. … More than three-quarters of Texas school boards passed policies, adopted curricula and contracted with providers without any formal advice from their local SHACs. Almost a quarter (24.8 percent) of districts reported no formal policy at all governing sexuality education. Teachers in these schools must address the sensitive topics surrounding human sexuality with no guidance — or protection — from a policy adopted by the local school board.”

“A common thread running throughout materials submitted by most districts is the use of fear- and shame-based instruction about sex. … The state’s most widely used vendor-produced curriculum, Scott & White Worth the Wait, which is used in 17 percent of Texas school districts, is fairly typical in warning students that premarital sexual activity leads to depression, suicide and divorce later in life.”

2009 Anal-Ocity

I do a lot of reading and I run across a lot of quotes from people but only a few that I feel are completely anal….and I guess what?  Found another PETA quote.

This one is on diet and sex…..recently there was a study in New Zealand on those who eat veggies and sex…but the best thing was what a spokesman for PETA had to say….

“Sex is a very effective form of outreach and activism,” said Dan Shannon, a PETA spokesman, and 10-year veteran vegan, who thought meat eaters could be converted by their partners.

To me this person is saying to use SEX as a tool to convert the meat eater.

I agree with Ron White……I did not claw my way up the food chain to eat carrots.

Oh Damn! More Bad News!

Marijuana use could increase the risk of testicular cancer, according to a study by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center out this week. If a man has smoked marijuana on a weekly basis or has been exposed to hashish for an extended period of time, the chances of testicular cancer double compared to someone who has never smoked marijuana

The study found that marijuana could also decrease sperm quality, decrease testosterone levels and cause impotency, since these are similar side effects of testicular cancer.

Men already produce a “cannabinoid-like chemical,” which protects the reproductive system from cancer, but marijuana use could reverse that protective chemical and instead work against the body. The marijuana link is somehow associated with “nonseminoma,” malignant germ cell tumors, and is increasing the risk.

The study has prompted more research as it has open up a bevy of questions, said Stephen Schwartz, a member of the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center.

“What young men should know is that first, we know very little about the long-term health consequences of marijuana smoking, especially heavy marijuana smoking,” Schwartz said in a press release. “So, in the absence of more certain information, a decision to smoke marijuana recreationally means that one is taking a chance on one’s future health.”

The National Cancer Institute estimates almost 8,100 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer, and 380 will die because of it in 2008.

Sex Is The Cure!

Sex can cure just about anything.

Sex can help ‘cure cold, prevent heart attacks, stave off cancer, increase longevity and stop mood swings’, according to The Daily Telegraph. The paper said researchers at UK’s Nottingham University had earlier found that “men who keep up a regular sex life into their 50s have a much lower risk in developing prostate cancer”. However, it noted, “too much sexual activity, more than 20 times a month, could increase the risk”. The report said doctors agreed that “regular sexual activity” was like exercise. The paper quoted cardiologist Dr Graham Jackson from Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital as saying, “In fitness terms, it’s equivalent is going for a mile-long walk or climbing up and down two flights of stairs.” It quoted Dr Sarah Brewer as saying, “Testosterone levels have been found to increase during and after sex.” The paper said a person’s mood was also boosted during and after sex. The paper quoted Professor Nadir Farid, consultant endocrinologist and founder of the London Endocrine Clinic, as saying a number of endorphins, neurotransmitters and hormones were released during sex.

“Oxytocin, in particular, is a hormone released during and after sex that has been shown to make people more generous towards their partners and can also help induce calm and sleep.” The paper said if a person had sex once or twice a week, the immune system was fortified, “thanks to the body producing higher levels of immunoglobulin A – a substance that helps fight colds and flu”. The paper also noted that sex had its disadvantages as well. It noted that unprotected sex resulted in the transmission of venereal diseases. It also noted that “since Viagra was released 10 years ago, the rate of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the over-45 group has doubled”. It quoted Professor Janice Rymer, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at St Thomas’ Hospital in London, as saying the over-45 group was a generation that did not have open access to sex education, leading to a possible rise in STIs.

Prostate Cancer & Sex

Men who are more sexually active in their 20s and 30s may run a higher risk of prostate cancer, research suggests.

These a/holes are sucking all the fun outta the party, right?  Or at least, tell us this stuff early enough that we can sorta regulate our activity to protect our wedding tackle.

The Nottingham University study quizzed 800 men on how often they had sex or masturbated.

Those who were most active while younger had more chance of developing cancer later in life.

The researchers said higher levels of sex hormones could lead to a bigger sex drive and the cancer, the journal BJU International reported.

Other findings:

  • 59 percent of the men in both groups said that they had engaged in sexual activity (intercourse or masturbation) 12 times a month or more in their 20s. This fell steadily as they got older, to 48 percent in their 30s, 28 percent in their forties and 13 percent in their 50s.
  • 39 percent of the cancer group had had six female partners or more, compared with 31 percent of the control group.
  • Men with prostate cancer were more likely to have had a sexually transmitted disease than those without prostate cancer.

“A possible explanation for the protective effect that men in their fifties appear to receive from overall sexual activity, and particularly masturbation, is that the release of accumulated toxins during sexual activity reduces the risk of developing cancer in the prostate area,” Dimitropoulou said. “This theory has, however, not been firmly established and further research is necessary.”

OKay this one was done to death but it is Sexy Sunday…..

Dangers Of Lesbian Sex

Lesbians are just as likely as heterosexual women to get sexually transmitted diseases such as hepatitis and genital herpes, Australian researchers said on Tuesday.

Women who have sex with other women were thought to have a small chance of acquiring sexually transmitted infections (STIs), but a study by scientists from the Sexual Health Unit in Alice Springs, Australia, showed their risk is just as high as other women.

“We demonstrated a higher prevalence of bacterial vaginosis (vaginal disease), Hepatitis C and HIV and Aids risk behaviours in women who have sex with other women compared with controls,” Dr Katherine Fethers said in a report in the journal, Sexually Transmitted Infections.

The researchers compared the medical histories and sexual behaviour of 1 408 lesbians and 1 423 heterosexual women who attended a sexual health clinic in Sydney between March 1991 and December 1998.

“All women with a history of sex with a woman were compared with women who denied ever having sex with another woman,” Fethers explained.

She and her colleagues said only seven percent of the women who had female sex partners said they had never had sex with a man. But they were more likely to have had a relationship with a gay or bisexual man and to have had more partners than the other women during their lifetime.

“These data argue strongly for increased measures to improve our understanding of the sexual health of women who have sex with women,” Fethers added.

She also called for more basic research into STIs, including the HIV virus that causes Aids, and targeted intervention strategies for women with female sex partners. – Reuters

Hormones Made Her Do It

Women with high levels of a key sex hormone are judged more attractive by themselves and others, and may be more inclined to cheat on their partners, according to a study published Wednesday.

University of Texas psychologists Kristina Durante and Norman Li found that women with high concentrations of the hormone oestradiol were likelier to flirt, kiss and have a serious affair outside an established relationship.

In a study published in the British journal Biology Letters, the duo described the behaviour as “opportunistic serial monogamy” and not related to one-night stands.

Instead, they suggested, such women were more probably being prompted to trade up in their relationships — to find a better partner.

Other studies of oestradiol have shown that higher levels of the hormone are closely linked to enhanced fertility among women.

As a result, say some researchers, men have an evolved response that prompts them to pick up on telltale signs of the hormone’s presence.

High concentrations of oestradiol are associated with big breasts, facial attractiveness and low waist-to-hip ratio, with the result that men solicit such women.

Durante and Li measured hormone levels at two different stages of the menstrual cycle among 52 women aged 17 to 30 who were not taking the pill.

The women were asked to rate their own attractiveness and sexiness “compared to other women,” their satisfaction with current partners, their willingness to engage in uncommitted sex and about their past relationships.

Separately, a panel of men and women unaware of the experiments evaluated photos of the women, rating them for attractiveness.

The women with the highest levels of oestradiol scored the highest across the board, and reported a greater likelihood of having a serious affair.

The study says that oestradiol-related attractiveness provides opportunities in the sexual hunting ground.

So now you know what causes the wandering eye……..

How About Those Sexy Nursing Homes?

When Kansas State University sent researchers into nursing homes to find out how the topic of sex was being addressed, they initially found silence.

In response, the researchers have produced seminars and training aids to encourage nursing home caregivers to discuss and accommodate sexual desires.

The effort brings Kansas into a national discussion that advocates say will only grow as baby boomers age and take their beliefs about sexual freedom and civil rights into the nation’s nursing homes.

the training focuses on explaining what sexuality means for older adults, identifying barriers to fulfilling the sexual needs, finding strategies to help residents and how to discern appropriate from inappropriate sexual behaviors.

Solutions can be as simple as providing “do not disturb” signs or making sure staffers don’t barge into residents’ rooms without knocking. Claassen said her nursing home provides a discreet room for residents and has staff work through possible scenarios they may encounter.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as arranging a bed for someone who needs physical therapy in a way that also allows that patient to be with his or her companion

Sexuality doesn’t always mean intercourse. Many lonely or depressed residents are simply looking for ways to relieve loneliness and depression, Doll said.

For example, she told of one resident who had asked for pornography but dropped the request when the staff started spending more time with him.

Old farts need sex too….