POSTS WITH TAG: sex life

Healthy Living Health Check

Plan B Out of a Vending Machine? It's About Time!

Posted by Kim Conte
on Feb 8, 2012 at 11:34 AM

vending machineWomen's reproductive health has certainly been a hot topic lately, which explains why a small university in Pennsylvania is suddenly making headlines for a "controversial" vending machine that has actually been in place for a couple years now.

The particular vending machine in question dispenses Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive to students who need it for $25. It's the opposite of shocking that some religious conservatives and activists are opposed to the machine simply because they are opposed to the "morning-after" pill in general. But in this case, there's not a lot they can legitimately complain about ...

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Healthy Living

Surprising Group of Women Has a High Risk of STDs

Posted by Amy Reiter
on Feb 7, 2012 at 5:38 PM

legsWhen you think of what kind of women are most in danger of getting STDs or HIV, you probably think of young, never-married women -- in their 20s, perhaps -- who are sowing their wild oats and engaging in risky sex perhaps because they don't yet fully grasp the potential consequences. But what if I told you that another group of women is particularly at risk for contracting STDs and HIV: newly divorced middle-aged women.

Yup, a new study has found that women who are well past their 20-something years and emerging from marriages are actually prone to take risks that make them vulnerable to STDs and HIV.

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Healthy Living

Brooke Burke Is Crazy to Put Sleep Before Sex

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Dec 23, 2011 at 9:00 PM

brooke burke on the cover of fitness magazineBrooke Burke has a lot going on these days. She's not only a host on Dancing with the Stars, but she also has four kids, a husband (sexy David Charvet), a modeling career, a product line (Baboosh Baby!) for moms, and probably a whole slew of other stuff I can't even think of right now. In short, she's a busy woman, and she barely gets enough shuteye. Not too much different from most moms, really. But the way she handles her sleep deprivation is a bit different.

Burke told Fitness magazine recently shared her secret to getting enough sleep, which in turn leads to a healthy sex life, as well as keeping her sanity. Throw all those guesses out the window, because it's probably not what you think.


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Healthy Living

Couples Trying to Get Pregnant May Want to Stop Surfing the Web

Posted by Adriana Velez
on Nov 30, 2011 at 5:17 PM

spermOh ladies, doesn't it seem like we always get the blame for our fertility problems? We're eating the wrong foods, we're waiting too long, we're too fat, we're too skinny. We're not sleeping upside-down in bat caves and slurping açai smoothies like we should be if we really, really want to have babies. But what about the guys? Can't we spread some of the blame to men -- you know, just as an equal opportunity measure?

Well thank you, Science, because yes we can! Guess what? Wi-Fi be killing sperm. An Argentine scientist found that when drops of sperm were placed under a laptop that was wirelessly connected to the Internet, a full quarter of the little spermy dudes stopped moving and 9 percent showed DNA damage! So ... that's nice. Now how can we make this still women's fault?

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Healthy Living

The HPV Vaccine Shouldn’t Be Only for Girls

Posted by Amy Reiter
on Oct 25, 2011 at 2:52 PM

syringeYou know how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that girls, generally when they're around 11 or 12, get immunized against sexually transmitted forms of human papillomavirus, which causes most cervical and anal cancers, in addition to mouth and throat cancers? Today, the committee is mulling whether to extend its recommendation to boys and young men. (It has previously been optional and not expressly recommended for boys ages 9 through 26.)

I'm no medical expert, but considering the fact that HPV can be passed along from boys and to boys, it sounds like it makes a lot of sense (and seems only fair) for boys to be routinely vaccinated as well. Doctors say vaccinating people of both genders will help protect everyone, saving thousands upon thousands of lives.

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Healthy Living

Jane Fonda's Aging Secret Is Just Plain Dangerous

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Aug 22, 2011 at 11:59 AM

jane fondaAt 73 years old, fitness queen and political activist Jane Fonda is still the picture of health and youth, but it's pretty clear she's not just leaning on Botox. So, it's no wonder women of all ages the world over want to know her secret. Recently, Fonda revealed that the key to looking and feeling amazing into her 70s comes in the form of a drug. (No, not pot. Although, it seems Fonda is still very much a fan of that, too.) Try ... testosterone! Yeah, the manly-man male hormone has supposedly been Jane's savior -- in and out of bed. 

She claims that she started taking the sex hormone from the age of 70, and she's raving that it makes "a huge difference if you want to remain sexual and your libido has dropped." She advises women to use it in various forms: a gel, pill, or patch.

Doh! As much as I love that Jane is encouraging women to embrace sexuality into their golden years, I'm really disappointed in her for sending this oversimplified message to the masses.

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Healthy Living

Free Birth Control Will Make Women Healthier Than Ever

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Aug 1, 2011 at 1:21 PM

hhs secretary kathleen sebeliusVictory! The U.S. Health & Human Services (HHS) has announced new guidelines today that health insurance plans beginning on or after August 1, 2012 will cover various women's preventative services, including birth control, voluntary sterilization, and emergency contraception. Sure, we had sort of seen this coming after last month's scientific review by the Institute of Medicine, which noted that health insurance coverage of various preventative measures would bolster women's health in the U.S. But it wasn't definite that the HHS would approve those recommendations. And now, they have! Whoohoo!

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the decision is a part of the Affordable Care Act's attempt to curb problems before they even begin. In other words, these guidelines FINALLY recognize that controlling our fertility promotes our health and well-being.

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Healthy Living

Don't Let the Gonorrhea Scare Freak You Out

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Jul 12, 2011 at 10:55 AM

gonorrheaComedian Russell Brand may have sung a hilarious song about it in Get Him to the Greek called "The Clap," and we tend to think of this old-school sexually-transmitted disease as something maybe our great-grandparents' generation had to worry about. Or pirates passed around! And that's funny for about two seconds -- until you hear the latest news about gonorrhea. Turns out, there really isn't much to laugh about.

Caused by a bacterium, the STD -- which is surprisingly the second most infectious disease in the U.S. -- is usually treated with antibiotics. But now an untreatable strain of the disease has been discovered in Japan. This news comes on the tail of news from three days ago in which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that U.S. gonorrhea samples had been showing signs of drug resistance as well. Eeeep!

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Healthy Living

Popular Birth Control Pills Are a Nightmare That Must End

Posted by Maressa Brown
on Jun 2, 2011 at 1:37 PM

yasmin yazType in Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals' Yaz or Yasmin into Google, and above any regular drug info, you'll see a slew of legal sites pop up. The paid-for links inquire if you're a "Victim of Birth Control," ask if you were "Hurt By Birth Control," wonder if you are looking for a settlement? Hey, what's this about gallbladder attacks and gallstones? Blood clot risk? STROKE? Huh??

As you probably know, these popular, newer, lower-dose birth control pills made with the synthetic progesterone known as drospirenone have developed quite a bad rep for themselves over the last couple years. And judging from firsthand experience, research, news stories, and friends' anecdotal evidence, it's completely warranted. Now, the FDA is investigating the situation.

Seems to me their valiant effort is too little too late.

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Love & Sex

Help Is Coming for Women Who Can't Climax

Posted by Jennifer Cullen
on May 16, 2011 at 5:41 PM

MRI machineDid you know that a part of your brain turns off when you orgasm? I always wondered what caused that feeling of blissful release I get when I'm in the moment and now, thanks to some very liberal Dutch researchers, I know the answer.

For the study, scientists strapped female volunteers into an MRI machine and then had the volunteers' partners pleasure them to the point of orgasm. (For some reason, I’m picturing more oral stimulation than penetration.) The scientists were then able to pinpoint the timing of the orgasm based on the lack of activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) section of the brain. The OFC actually switched off in those moments.

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