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ScienceDaily (June 1, 2011) — Gay young men in serious relationships are six times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who hook up with casual partners, according to new Northwestern Medicine research. The findings provide a new direction for prevention efforts in this population who account for nearly 70 percent of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in adolescents and young adults in the United States and who also have the highest increase in new infections. "Being in a serious relationship provides a number of mental and physical health benefits, but it also increases behaviors that put you at risk...

It's a personal story, but let it also serve as a public health rebuttal to the proposed ban on male circumcision that will be on the San Francisco ballot this November. San Francisco's ballot initiative would prohibit circumcision on all males under the age of 18. It would allow no religious exemptions, and it apparently gives no regard to the numerous studies demonstrating that male circumcision can substantially reduce—by more than 50%—the transmission of the HIV virus during sex. "Communities, and especially women, may benefit much more from circumcision interventions than had previously been predicted, and these results provide an...

Not only does Dominique Strauss-Kahn have to worry about a possible prison sentence, but now he also has reason to be concerned about coming into contact with the HIV/AIDs virus. The alleged victim of the IMF chief's sexual assault lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS. The hotel maid is a West African immigrant, and has occupied the fourth floor of the building with her 15-year-old daughter since January. Before that, she had lived in another apartment since 2008 that was set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United for adults with the virus and...

Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have more to worry about than a possible prison sentence. The IMF chief's alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, The Post has learned. The hotel maid, a West African immigrant, has occupied the fourth-floor High Bridge pad with her 15-year-old daughter since January -- and before that, lived in another Bronx apartment set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United strictly for adults with the virus and their families. The Post has not been able to ascertain whether the maid, 32, has HIV/AIDS because of medical confidentiality laws.

NEW YORK, May 5 (C-FAM) The UN is about to ask governments to fund the vaccination of every girl in the world against the sexually transmitted disease HPV, human papillomavirus. The controversial campaign could cost as much as $300 per person, totaling billions. Dignitaries who launched the campaign at the UN in mid-April included a prominent African first lady, leaders from the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the American Cancer Society, and the contraceptives manufacturer PATH. UNFPA and PATH want donor nations to buy the vaccine at $14 per shot. Three shots are required over a period of six months, totaling...

Across the nation, and especially in the Sunshine State, the free-love generation is continuing to enjoy an active — if not always healthy — sex life. At a stage in life when many would expect sexually transmitted diseases to be waning, seniors are noticeably ahead of the national curve. In the five years from 2005 to 2009, the number of reported cases of syphilis and chlamydia among those 55 and older increased 43 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In Central Florida, the rise is even more dramatic. Among those 55 and older, the reported cases of syphilis...

Bail was denied today for a woman accused of fatally shooting a man because she thought he had given her a sexually transmitted disease. A lawyer for Ashley Nicole Steele, 21, argued that she grew up a ward of the state, has a 10th grade education and suffers from bipolar disorder.

The combination of Live Action's undercover videos showing Planned Parenthood employees conspiring with sex traffickers and a new conservative majority in Congress adds up to trouble for Planned Parenthood. Following the lead of veteran Congressman Mike Pence (R-Ind.), the House took a historic vote that would remove federal funding for Planned Parenthood. But Planned Parenthood and their allies on the Left, fearing an end to the federal gravy train on which they have become dependent, are fighting back. Planned Parenthood's political arm reportedly is spending a small fortune on political ads and a PR campaign. And Planned Parenthood is not...

Planned Parenthood Corrects Staffer Telling STD Man to Give Blood Roanoke, VA -- Planned Parenthood in Virginia has reportedly taken corrective action regarding an employee who encouraged an undercover investigator who said he may have an STD to donate blood. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/03/17/planned-parenthood-corrects-staffer-telling-std-man-to-give-blood/

Planned Parenthood Advises Man With STD to Donate Blood Washington, DC -- By now, many Americans are already familiar with the slate of new videos showing Planned Parenthood staffers helping alleged sexual traffickers get abortions and STD testing for the underage girls the said they exploited. But one section of one of the videos contains another concern. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/15/planned-parenthood-advises-man-with-std-to-donate-blood/

Planned Parenthood Advises Man With STD to Donate Blood Washington, DC -- By now, many Americans are already familiar with the slate of new videos showing Planned Parenthood staffers helping alleged sexual traffickers get abortions and STD testing for the underage girls the said they exploited. But one section of one of the videos contains another concern. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/02/15/planned-parenthood-advises-man-with-std-to-donate-blood/

The Pill Turns 50: Medicine That Makes You SickROBERT F. CONKLING, M.D.Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect. Recently three major health stories appeared in the Washington press in less than two weeks that were an occasion to pause and reflect.First, the Potomac Conservancy made headlines about the contamination of rivers and drinking water in major metropolitan areas, including Washington DC. Contaminants include not only bacteria, industrial chemicals and agricultural pesticides but also potentially endocrine-active pharmaceuticals, such anti-depressants, contraceptive sex hormones, antibiotics and...

Can the Playboy Mansion make you ill? Hugh Hefner's iconic bachelor pad is under investigation after more than 80 guests at a conference and party there became sick with a suspected strain of Legionnaires' disease. Scores of attendees at the Domainfest conference in Santa Monica, held Feb. 1 to 3, came down with symptoms including fever, respiratory infections and violent headaches. Four Swedish guests were diagnosed with Legionellosis or pontiac fever -- a milder form of Legionnaires' caused by bacteria that thrives in warm air-conditioning systems.

A new study from the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Regenstrief Institute has found that Black and especially Hispanic young women are screened for chlamydia at a significantly higher rate than young white women. This discrepancy in screening rates may contribute to nationwide reporting of higher rates of this sexually transmitted disease among minority young women... Despite a recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to annually screen all sexually active young women for this disease, only about half of sexually active women, ages 14 to 25, who receive health care, are screened appropriately. The IU and...

STD Test? There's an App for That By Ben Popper November 8, 2010 | 1:16 p.m Gives a whole new meaning to status update. Gives a whole new meaning to status update. British health officials are hard at work on a new app that will allow users to pee into their cell phones and find out within minutes if they have an STD. Seriously, we could not make this stuff up if we tried. According to The Guardian, 4 million pounds have been invested in the UK Clinical Research Collaboration, which is creating a smartphone app that will allow users,...

Sluthood wasn't always considered a virtue. Most normal, rational people look at sleeping around as something sad and wrong. It's not healthy, physically or mentally, it can be damaging to a young girl's reputation, and it can also be incredibly dangerous. Women that sleep around oftentimes end up feeling used and regret their choices when they get older and decide to settle down. Other women end up contracting STDs, which may or may not be treatable. For these reasons and more, being a slut is understandably looked down upon -- it can be genuinely harmful. Today's pseudo-feminists, however, have...

(CNN) – Sen. John McCain's daughter, Meghan McCain, wants to make one thing clear, "I am not the one running for Senate." McCain’s comments about Delaware Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell as a "nut job" while appearing on ABC's "This Week" program Sunday, immediately received harsh criticism and backlash. A response that day from the O'Donnell campaign mocked McCain for having "vast experience in politics and running for office." McCain is now firing back. The 25 year-old, whose departure from conservative orthodoxy on some issues is no secret and has put her at odds with some in the GOP base,...

(Sept. 17) -- The world's koala population is being ravaged by an epidemic that would seem at odds with the animal's image as the cuddly emblem of Australia. According to researchers, 50 to 80 percent of the marsupials are infected with a disease commonly associated with human promiscuity: chlamydia. That's right, chlamydia. The situation is so dire, in fact, that experts fear the koala may become extinct in a few decades if a vaccine isn't developed.

Despite repeated recommendations to provide reproductive health services to teenage boys as well as girls, few adolescent males are getting the information they need to protect themselves from HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, a new study reports. Fewer than one-quarter of boys ages 15 to 19 were counseled about sexually transmitted diseases or HIV by a health care provider during the previous year, according to a national survey of 1,121 young men done in 2002, representing no significant change since 1995, when a similar proportion received such counseling, the study found. Young men who had three or more female...

LONDON (Reuters) – The sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea risks becoming a drug-resistant "superbug" if doctors do not devise new ways of treating it, a leading sexual health expert said. Catherine Ison, a specialist on gonorrhea from Britain's Health Protection Agency said a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting in Manila next week would be vital to efforts to try to stop the bug repeatedly adapting to and overcoming drugs. "This is a very clever bacteria. If this problem isn't addressed, there is a real possibility that gonorrhea will become a very difficult infection to treat," she said in a telephone interview....