Sexual Health

CDC Reports Rise In STIs, Chlamydia Rates

Blacks were disproportionately affected by sexually transmitted infection rates in 2007, including chlamydia rates that reached a record high and syphilis rates that increased for the seventh consecutive year, according to a CDC report released on Tuesday, Reuters Health reports (Dunham, Reuters Health, 1/13). The report found 1.1 million chlamydia diagnoses were reported in 2007. [...]

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Syphilis Makes a Comeback Among STD’s

Syphilis is a disease that was close to being eliminated as a public health threat less than a decade ago. Each year since 2000, it has increased and remains a serious threat to the health of gay and bisexual men. Syphilis is of particular concern because it can facilitate HIV transmission. All this and more [...]

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Dallas Officials Lift Condom Distribution Ban

In a 3-2 vote on Tuesday, the Commissioners Court in Dallas County, Texas, lifted a 13-year-old ban on condom distribution, authorizing the county health department to distribute no-cost condoms in an effort to curb the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, the Dallas Morning News reports (Levinthal, Dallas Morning News, 1/14). According to [...]

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Young People Might Overestimate Condom Use

Some teenagers and young adults might overestimate how often they use condoms during sex, according to a study published recently in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Reuters Health reports. Eve Rose of Emory University and colleagues conducted the study among 715 black women and girls ages 15 to 21 who were enrolled in [...]

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Young People Carry Disproportionate Burden Of Sexually Transmitted Infections

The Health Protection Agency has reported a 6% increase in the total number of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in 2007 compared to 2006. To coincide with the launch of the Agency’s fifth Annual Report and Accounts, figures are released today showing that across all age groups almost 400,000 (397,990) new STIs were diagnosed [...]

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Viagra Enhances Sexual Performance In Depressed Women

A recent study into the use of anti depressants has confirmed the suspicion that Viagra can help improve the sex performance of women on antidepressants. The study was published in the he Journal of the American Medical Association. Developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Viagra is particularly popular in the treatment of male erectile dysfunction [...]

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Doctors Often In Dark About Patients’ Sexual Behavior

Don’t ask, don’t tell. That impulse may help prevent awkward conversations, but it’s a losing strategy for slowing the spread of HIV. When health care providers know about their patients’ sexual behavior, they can help prevent infection through testing, counseling and other services. But a new study from the Health Department suggests that those opportunities [...]

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Freedom’s Just Another Word For Less Sexually Active Teens

Sophisticated statistical research is providing more evidence of a link between rigid parenting and increased sexual activity in older teens. Although it is difficult to confirm that controlling mothers and fathers cause kids to have more sex, the findings suggest it is wise to give children freedom, said Rebekah Levine Coley, lead author of a [...]

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Causes of Sexual Dysfunction Linked To Aging, Partners

Earlier sexual experiences with multiple partners and STDs take their toll on the causes of sexual dysfunction. Sexual dysfunction is not an inevitable part of aging, but it is strongly related a number of factors, such as mental and physical health, demographics and lifetime experiences, many of which are interrelated, according to a new study [...]

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Contraceptive Pill Influences Partner Choice

The contraceptive pill may disrupt women’s natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves, research at the Universities of Liverpool and Newcastle has found. Disturbing a woman’s instinctive attraction to genetically different men could result in difficulties when trying to conceive, an increased risk of miscarriage and long intervals between pregnancies. Passing on [...]

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Increased Sexual Education Improves Reproductive Health Of Black Women

Recent opinion pieces and other statements that imply racism is behind higher numbers of black women having abortions miss “the point and distrac[t] from the real issue: the persistent health disparities faced by women, and men, in the African-American community,” Melissa Gilliam, an associate professor of ob-gyn at the University of Chicago and chair of [...]

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Many Black Girls Unaware Of Emergency Contraception Option

Many black girls living in urban areas appear to lack general knowledge about emergency contraception, according to a study published in the August issue of Pediatrics, Reuters Health reports. For the study, Cynthia Mollen of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues conducted one-hour interviews with 30 English-speaking black girls ages 15 to 19 who [...]

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