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It's almost Valentine's Day! Want to hear something romantic? There's a chance your name and photo is on a site where anyone — seriously, anyone — can accuse you of carrying an STD. Better yet, the site is completely open to the public and there's practically nothing you can do about it. More »
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We should know by now that women don't suddenly stop having sex when they turn 50. But unfortunately, age doesn't necessarily make them more comfortable talking about safe sex with their doctors — or their partners. And according to a new study, this could put older women at risk. More »
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One in ten men are orally infected with the human papillomavirus, the nasty microscopic villain that can cause cancer of the genitals or throat. Because it's tough to test for the virus without a tissue sample and most of the infected don't know they have it, many don't think they're at risk for HPV-caused throat cancers until it's too late. Cancer is such a jerk. More »
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A new study argues that vaccinating boys against HPV isn't the best use of resources, since vaccinating more girls will actually lead to a greater reduction in overall infections. However, there are also political implications to consider. More »
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Welcome back to Guysourcing, where a panel of helpful gentlemen answer your questions! This week's question was the following: "how do you feel about condoms? Do you like them, hate them, feel neutral? Do you strongly prefer sex without them, or not so much? Do you have a favorite type or brand, and if so why? And have your feelings about condoms changed over time?" Read on for our guysourced answers. More »
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As if the SAT's, ACT's, PSAT's, Driver's License Exam, and that weird scoliosis test where you have to stand topless behind a screen in the locker room wasn't enough, American teenagers have one more test to add to their to-do list: an HIV test. More »
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In an important step in the right direction, a CDC panel has recommended that boys as well as girls be vaccinated against HPV. More »
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Last year AIDS researchers gave fellow scientists a standing ovation when they announced they'd developed a gel that reduced HIV infections by 39%. Now a new study has proven that the product can also protect against herpes. The gel was originally intended to cut HIV infection rates in Africa, but now there's talk of bringing it to the U.S. too. More »
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A new study found that women can check themselves for HPV with a test that's about as effective as the method doctors use. It's unlikely that your gynecologist is going to encourage you to replace the Pap test with an at-home speculum-free procedure anytime soon, but the test could have a big impact for women in developing countries. More »
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A New Zealand mom's plot to convince school admissions officials that her daughter's rival had an STD went awry recently, mostly because it was totally bizarre. More »
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According to a new study, the Gates Foundation's Avahan program, which involves sex ed, needle exchanges, and condom distribution among other efforts, has averted over 100,000 cases of HIV in India. And because every silver cloud has a dark lining, some are criticizing the study methodology. Still, World Health Organization experts are calling the study an "encouraging first step." More »
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A new poll shows parents may be talking to their kids about sex in general — but when it comes to the details, they're falling short. More »
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A bill passed by the California legislature this month would allow clinicians to vaccinate kids against HPV without their parents consent — and it could apply to other STDs too. More »
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Los Angeles County once had 36 clinics testing and treating sexually transmitted infections. That was in 1996; today, thanks to budget cuts, there are only twelve. Meanwhile, the county currently ranks first in the nation for numbers of chlamydia cases and second for gonorrhea, and the worst hit are young African-American women. Now, the county's experimenting with mobile, Internet-enabled kiosks with discreet mail-in kits — and unusually, it's got churches on its side. More »
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Next time a coworker appears to have a "case of the Mondays," remember that they aren't necessarily bummed out about being back at work; There's a good chance they're just preoccupied by the burning sensation in their pants. A new study found that after their weekly acts of debauchery on Friday and Saturday, people become concerned about the STDs they might have picked up on Mondays. More »
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In addition to the other benefits for many women, including very high effectiveness rates, a new analysis suggests that the IUD might protect against cervical cancer. Researchers found looked at studies of a combined 20,000 women and "found that the risk of cervical cancer in women who used IUDs was nearly half that of women who never used them." The link wasn't with HPV — there was no correlation there — but with the likelihood of developing the cancer caused by some strains of the virus. The hypothesis is that the IUD triggers an immune response. The studies don't establish causation, though. More »
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Porn sets across L.A. were quiet today, after an anonymous porn star's positive HIV test prompted adult film studios to temporarily halt production. The companies should be back to cranking out the smut Americans crave later this week, but the news has reignited the debate over the best way to prevent the spread of HIV and other STDs within the industry. More »
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Starting this year, students in New York City will receive state-mandated sex education. That's a change from previous years, when kids had to learn about HIV but not necessarily sex per se. More »
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A Wisconsin woman is suing a man for $350,000 for giving her herpes. She hopes to get a payout from his homeowner and auto insurance. They were both married to other people at the time, but spent a day having an affair in Madison, the suit said. More »
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Middle aged women have it rough in today's world. Men their age start ignoring them in favor of younger women, younger men start paying attention them in hopes that they're some kind of crazy sex cat that will teach them lessons about life and love, they start relating to post-1995 Diane Keaton, and now we're discovering that many of them are infected with a sex parasite. More »
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Some hopeful news in the battle against HIV: a daily pill shows promise in preventing transmission of the virus. So much promise, in fact, that scientists stopped the trial so they could start giving the pills to the control group as well. More »
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Swedish scientists say they have found a new strain of gonorrhea in Japan that has "mutated to become resistant to current treatments." More »
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College student Alexandria J. Baker Pierce drove to Durham on Friday with two friends to tell the guy she'd slept with that she hadn't in fact given him herpes. Brinton Marcell Millsap, 23, responded by fatally shooting all three and then killing himself. More »
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My daughter is capable and caring — I bask in her virtuous light quite unfairly. She is her own doing. More »
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The Food and Drug Administration announced this week that it's going after over a dozen companies selling non-prescription pills and supplements—like Medavir, Herpaflor and C-Cure—that purport to cure STDs like HIV, Herpes and HPV. Federal health officials say that none of these products have been proven to be effective treatment for such diseases and are in fact a public health hazard, since patients could put off seeking proper medical care by taking the phony pills, allowing their conditions to worsen. More »
]]> http://jezebel.com/index.php?op=postcommentfeed&postId=5798170&view=rss&microfeed=true A quarter of gonorrhea strains in the US are now resistant to common antibiotics, and some are even resistant to the newer drugs that are doctors' last resort. If gonorrhea can't be treated with drugs, it can spread to your blood and joints and then kill you. So basically, never have sex again, and if possible, just stay in your house. You never know what's out there. More »
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The FDA has approved a new test for HPV, which detects risk of cervical cancer even when a pap smear comes out normal. More »
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Before Weapons of Mass Destruction, American soliders faced a different type of war-time casualty: venereal disease. While we remember the posters of Uncle Sam declaring "I Want You to Join the U.S. Army", the Army was also concerned that their potential recruits were clean. More »
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In a rare move, California regulators have fined two porn companies for failing to use condoms on their sets. If some groups have their way, such fines will become more common. More »
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Over-50 singles are a growing population...and an increasingly high-risk one, thanks to their penchant for "jumping into bed after only a couple of dates." More »
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Teens are apparently getting it on less often than they used to — and while abstinence-only education may be a factor, it's not the whole story. More »
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USA Today says female condoms are "making a comeback in U.S. cities." The evidence? Scant. But let's take a look at why no one goes crazy over this form of contraception. More »
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Last week, The New York Times published a piece about the ongoing debate about condoms use in pornography production. Now, a reporter on the inside is calling bullshit. More »
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After studying five labs, the CDC concluded 18% of people who tested positive for syphilis since the '80s don't actually have the disease. Congratulations! (Though now doctors are back to square one on explaining your sores and hair loss.) More »
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A new study has found that young black or Hispanic women are more likely to be screened for chlamydia than white women, suggesting that providers could have biased ideas about who's likely to get an STD. More »
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It doesn't take any fancy book-learning to realize that a user-driven website that purports to list STD carriers could be abused by the public, especially when third-party accounts of the state of the others' genitals are considered reliable. More »
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The Pope recently (kind of) okayed the use of condoms for male prostitutes to guard against HIV transmission — now he's clarified that his stance applies to women too. More »
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Good news: the porn actor who tested HIV positive did not infect any of his partners, personal or professional. But the battle over condoms in porn isn't over. More »
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According to new data out of the UK, "More men over 45 got genital herpes in 2009 than men aged 16 to 19." The Family Planning Association claims that adults over 45 are "oblivious" when it comes to condoms. More »
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The HPV vaccine, Gardasil, was expected to be a slam-dunk for pharmaceutical giant Merck. Instead, it's considered a business failure. Among the many reasons: The politicization of inoculating little girls against future STDs. More »
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