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Sex and drugs get safer
The good news: According to the CDC , Americans took fewer risks when it came to HIV between 2006-2010 than they did in 2002. The less good news: Among 20-24 year olds, 12% of women and 15% of men reported an HIV risk behavior in the last year, meaning that both women and men in […]
Know what’s risky? Pregnancy.
A new study from the Harbor UCLA Medical Center asked women from all walks of life to rate the risks of pregnancy versus birth control. The 246 women of all ages, education levels, and family sizes knew about some risks, but didn’t know which were more likely to occur. About half of the participants knew […]
Pap smear every year? Not so much.
A government-backed panel released new recommendations for women of reproductive age to get a pap smear every 3 years rather than annually. The recommendations are still in draft form and accepting public comment, but given that cancer patient advocacy groups like the American Cancer Society have voiced their support for the recommendations, they may not […]
Attitude Adjustment
A recent study found that three-quarters of doctors (74%) are likely to prescribe extended-use oral contraceptives—the ones that let you go longer between periods. More than any other factor, the doctors who prescribed the extended-use contraceptives shared “a positive attitude toward skipping periods.” Doctors aren’t supposed to let their personal feelings influence how they treat […]
Smeared and cleared
Your pap smear may be totally un-fun, but it’s also totally necessary. So, what exactly does it test you for anyway? original post
Happy Birthday Our Bodies, Ourselves!
Long before women could look to the Internet for advice, support, and information, a small group of feminist activists published a book that became a sort of Bible of sexual health. Our Bodies, Ourselves has just been published in its ninth edition and it’s no less relevant than the first, which turns 40 this year. […]
Minding the unplanned pregnancy gap
There are some things—acne, awkwardness, a curfew—it’s generally safe to look forward to outgrowing once your teenage years are behind you. One hazard that’s not so easily shed? Unplanned pregnancy. According to a report from the Guttmacher Institute , the proportion of US pregnancies that are unintended—already higher than other developed countries—rose slightly from 2001 […]
There’s STI good news and bad news
There’s STI good news: What if there was a shot that protected you against not just HPV but against every virus out there? We aren’t there yet, but some MIT researchers recently made a major leap toward developing one—they’ve invented an across-the-board virus-killer that’s proven safe and effective when tested in mice. It’s got a […]
Keeping the faith
Religious OB-GYNs, especially those who are Hindu, Catholic, or Protestant, are more likely to believe that abstinence counseling works than doctors with no religious affiliation, according to a recent study. This isn’t too surprising considering that doctors are people too and carry their beliefs with them to their jobs. The study didn’t look at whether […]
