Posted on 06/10/2002 4:35:38 AM PDT by Pern
But with my dad, I think he actually believed both of them. By the time I learned otherwise, I understood the context of his statement and respected it.
WOW. I remember rumors in middle school about certain girls but they sure are starting young. I know why too. It's because parents are too weak to say no anymore, about anything. Parents and kids watch things on TV and take that as their life lesson and run with it. They seem to be unable to realize that the TV is their enemy and the situations presented there are lies.
The voice of enablers of abuse everywhere lashes out once again!
The depraved indifference with which you and your kind view the abuse of children by well-paid government functionaries is contemptible.
There is little to distinguish you from cannibals, really.
Yeah, this bit of news freaked me out. It's one thing for an 11th grade girl to get pregnant (tragic enough), but seventh grade?!? You're exactly right. There are two forces at work. The media and society are bombarding our kids with filth and bad ideas, and parents are rolling over. If you love your kids, you'll fight what society is trying to do to them.
Like I say, it can work. But when it fails on some kids, it fails with bad consequences.
Here is an example of just that very thing. Read over this information and then tell me that. http://pages.nyu.edu/~smh5965/main.html
"I guarantee that the "point of origin" is those youngsters who have sex with a young adult - someone in their late teens or early twenties. "
Ok, whatever.
"And there is no way that every other 12 year-old black kid, on a national scale, has an STD."
I won't debate this point since I can't validate the finding of the study.
Again, people prioritize -- yet they can come to regret their earlier prioritization. It isn't an exact science.
Who can doubt that actions have consequences -- some foreseen, some unforeseen.
What we are dancing around about is who gets to determine those priorities, for good or for ill, for each individual. The collective or the individual himself.
Neither has a lock on infalibility.
Well, you are smuggling some psychobabble -- giving over to who? I mean presumably people are responsible for their own behavior, so whatever they're doing is to their latest prioritization. That is a clinically accurate way to state it without all the smuggled baggage you want to place on activities you may disagree with.
People eat to feed a hunger, few people eat to get fat. It is a conflict of priorities.
Their descriptions were very general. They reference no scientific study that said any of the STDs can be contracted by a male, from a female who is perfroming oral sex on him. Most "experts" will tell you that females are, and always have been, at the greatest risk because it is much more difficult for a man to contract an STD from a woman, than it is for a woman to contract one from a man. And because of the general uncleanliness of their sex, queers are at even a greater risk.
It's not psychobabble, jlogajan. It's giving over to those parts of your mind that would push you to engage in activities which will harm you or others (and which you know will harm you or others) down the line. When a loose woman invites you to have sex with her, part of your mind (and part of your body!) desperately wants to commit that act. Another part of your mind tells you that the act is wrong and unfair and harmful to both of you (and frequently to others as well). If all the actions and moral decisions you make in your life are purely clinical and a matter of prioritizing, then I honestly feel sorry for you. A great deal of the richness of life, including especially the great play between good and bad, may be missing for you. It may be psychobabble to you, but the vast majority of people understand perfectly well what I'm talking about.
The majority of homosexual men are infected with multiple venereal diseases at any one time. (Center for Disease Control statistics)
The Challenge of STD Prevention in the United States
November 1996
Globally, an estimated 333 million new cases of curable STDs occur each year among adults. Over the past four decades a great deal of progress in STD prevention has been made in the United States. Rates of gonorrhea and syphilis have recently been brought to historic lows. Yet the U.S. still has the highest rates of STDs in the industrialized world, with rates that are 50-100 times higher than other industrialized nations. There are an estimated 12 million new cases of STDs in the U.S. each year. Of these, 3 million occur among teenagers, 13 to 19 years old. A recent CDC report documented that over 85% of the most common infectious diseases in the U.S. are sexually transmitted.
The immediate and long-term disease burden and costs associated with STDs globally and in the U.S. are immense. STDs are one of the most critical challenges in the nation today because of their severe and costly consequences for woman and infants, their tremendous impact on the health of adolescents and young adults (especially among minority populations), and the integral role other STDs play in the transmission of HIV infection. Conversely, an investment in STD prevention is leveraged several ways--it improves the health of women, infants, and young people, and slows down the spread of HIV infection in our most vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. In addition to the human costs, STDs add $17 billion dollars to the nation’s health care costs each year.
Dangerous and Deadly Consequences Most Americans are aware of HIV infection and AIDS, the most deadly of all STDs. But, for much of society, the other serious risks related to unsafe sexual behaviors may have been forgotten. There are over 20 diseases that are transmitted sexually. Many have serious and costly consequences.
Some of the most common and serious STDs include:
Chlamydia An estimated 4,000,000 new cases each year Gonorrhea An estimated 800,000 new cases each year If not adequately treated, 20-40 percent of women infected with chlamydia and 10-40 percent of women infected with gonorrhea develop upper genital tract infection, also called pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Among women with PID, scarring will result in involuntary infertility in 20 percent, potentially fatal ectopic pregnancy in 9 percent, and chronic pelvic pain in 18 percent. Ectopic pregnancy is the leading cause of first trimester pregnancy-related deaths among American women. The ectopic pregnancy rate could be reduced by as much as 50% by early detection and treatment of STDs.
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) An estimated 500,000-1,000,000 new infections each year Sexually transmitted HPV is the single most important risk factor for cervical cancer, which was responsible for approximately 5,000 deaths in American women in 1995. Pap smears can identify early signs of cell abnormalities and precancerous conditions. In addition, there are non-cancer-inducing types of HPV that cause genital warts. There are many treatments, but no cures for genital warts. The warts may go away, but the virus remains and others can be infected. There are likely more than 24 million Americans infected with HPV.
Genital Herpes An estimated 200,000-500,000 new cases each year
(symptomatic)
Herpes may be the most common STD in the United States. It is estimated that as many as 30 million Americans may now carry the herpes virus. There is no cure, but there are drugs to reduce the pain and length of outbreaks and reduce the likelihood of infecting a sexual partner.
Syphilis An estimated 101,000 new cases each year
Congenital Syphilis An estimated 3,400 new cases each year
(babies born who need syphilis treatment)
Fetal or neonatal death occurs in up to 40 percent of pregnant women who have untreated syphilis. As many as 40 percent of live-born infants of women with untreated early syphilis suffer irreversible health consequences. The genital sores caused by syphilis in adults make it easier to transmit and acquire HIV infection sexually.
HIV An estimated 40,000-80,000 new infections each year
Sixty-four percent of all people diagnosed with AIDS, to date, have died. Exciting new advancements in the treatment of HIV disease, namely combination therapy, appear to increase the quality of and prolong life for people with HIV infection. But we must remember that prevention remains our best and most cost-effective tool for saving lives and bringing the epidemic under control. We cannot lose sight of the ultimate goal of preventing HIV infection, so that people don’t have to undergo complex and costly treatment regimens.
Disproportionate Impact on Women, Infants, Young People, and Minorities
Women bear a disproportionate burden of STD-related complications. For women, STDs can lead to PID, infertility, potentially fatal ectopic pregnancies, and cancer of the reproductive tract.
In the U.S., chlamydia and gonorrhea are responsible for the majority of PID, which, in turn, is the leading cause of preventable infertility and ectopic pregnancy.
Tubal scarring from PID increases the risk of ectopic pregnancy. The number of ectopic pregnancies in the U.S. in 1992 (108,800) was the highest level in nearly two decades.
For infants infected by their mothers during gestation or birth, STDs can result in irreparable lifetime damage, including blindness, bone deformities, mental retardation, and death. Most congenital syphilis could be eliminated if all pregnant women had access to prenatal care where syphilis screening and treatment were a standard of care.
In 1995, ninety-one percent of all babies born with congenital syphilis were Black or Hispanic, yet Black and Hispanic women represent only 21% of the female population. Adolescents and young adults, especially minorities, are disproportionately affected by STDs. A number of factors may play a role in the high rates of STDs among minorities. Race and ethnicity are not risk factors but are risk markers that correlate with fundamental determinants of health, such as poverty, limited access to quality health care, illicit drug use, and living in communities with high prevalence of STDs.
The highest rates of gonorrhea and chlamydia in women are in 15- to 19-year-olds.
The rate of syphilis and gonorrhea among blacks was nearly 60 and 40 times that in whites, respectively. The syphilis rate among Hispanics was about 4 times that in whites.
The proportion of blacks ever infected with genital herpes infection is 2-3 times that in whites (1991).
STD Prevention Works
Compared to the U.S. (which has among the highest STD rates in the industrialized world), Canada and some countries in Western Europe have nearly eliminated infectious syphilis. U.S. rates of gonorrhea are 50 to 100 times higher than rates in Sweden.
Large-scale screening programs have rapidly, dramatically, and reproducibly reduced chlamydia prevalence in women. For example, screening programs in family planning clinics in four states in the Pacific Northwest (WA, ID, OR, AK) have demonstrated almost a 60% decline in chlamydia positivity within the first 5 years of implementation.
A study of chlamydia screening in a managed care setting suggest that such screening programs can also reduce the incidence of PID by as much as 56% within one year.
A community-level, randomized trial in a rural African community in Tanzania demonstrated a 42% decrease in new, heterosexually transmitted HIV infections in communities with improved STD treatment as compared to communities with minimal STD services.
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/facts_challenge_of_std.htm
No. If you are a junkie, you're a slave to serving your need for heroin. If you're a sex addict, you're a slave to getting a Lewinsky. If you are able to control yourself, then you are truly free.
Easy.
Regards, Ivan
What is this? Geography time in your 'special-ed' class?
It was ironic, in hindsight, that Joycelyn Elders got fired by Bill "I did not have sex with that woman" Clinton for honestly advocating a straighforward and meaningful sex education. Elders sure was a convenient scapegoat for the hypocrisy of politicians. She said:
"I don't think it's necessarily important to be that explicit. I feel that God gave us the know-how and desires and all of that. And nobody needs to be taught how-to courses. That's not what it's about."
"What it's really about is being able to have the facts and being able to make the judgements and make the decisions," she said. "That's what sexuality is all about. More goes on above the neck than goes on below the belt. And so we can get off into all of these details about how-to, but that is never a part of the human sexuality courses that are being taught."
"Nobody needs to be taught how-to."
AFRICAN AMERICANS DISPROPORTIONATELY
AFFECTED BY STDS
- Gonorrhea Rates are 30 Times Higher in African Americans than in Whites -
- African-American Women are at High Risk for Genital Herpes -
- Studies Find Media Campaigns Successfully Educate Young African Americans about STDs -
MILWAUKEE – Following years of steady decline, gonorrhea infections among African Americans increased by more than five percent from 1997 to 1999, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC report, released at the National STD Prevention Conference, being held Dec. 4 to 7 in Milwaukee, also shows that gonorrhea continues to disproportionately affect African Americans compared to other racial groups. Similarly, new data show that genital herpes continues to disproportionately affect African Americans, especially young African-American women.
Other studies presented at the conference today suggest approaches that may be effective in helping to reduce this toll. These studies found that culturally appropriate television, print, billboard, and radio ads can successfully increase awareness of STDs among young African Americans at high risk for infection, an important first step towards behavior change.
"It is unacceptable that sexually transmitted diseases, which are preventable and can often be effectively treated when caught early, continue to be found at significantly higher rates among African Americans than the rest of the population," said Helene Gayle, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP). "We must continue to develop effective prevention strategies and increase our efforts to reach communities at highest risk of infection."
CDC’s new report, entitled "Tracking the Hidden Epidemics: Trends in STDs in the United States," found that gonorrhea rates increased from 802.4 per 100,000 African Americans in 1997 to 848.8 in 1999. Although gonorrhea infections increased more among white Americans and Latinos over this period, gonorrhea continues to have a much greater impact among African Americans. Gonorrhea rates among African Americans (848.8 per 100,000) are more than 30 times higher than whites (27.9 per 100,000), and more than 11 times higher than Latinos (75.3 per 100,000).
African-American Women at Highest Risk for Genital Herpes
In the largest study of its kind, Sami Gottlieb, M.D., of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver and colleagues found that African-American women are at highest risk for infection with herpes simplex virus type-2 (HSV-2).
Dr. Gottlieb and colleagues analyzed questionnaires and HSV-2 blood tests from 4,128 high-risk individuals visiting STD clinics from July 1993 to September 1996 in five U.S. cities – Baltimore, Denver, Long Beach, Newark and San Francisco as part of project RESPECT, a trial evaluating HIV prevention counseling.
Overall, 40.8 percent (1,684) of the study participants were infected with HSV-2. Infection rates were higher among women (52 percent) visiting the clinics than men (32 percent), and higher among African Americans (48 percent) than whites (30 percent). Infection rates were high even among African American women who had few lifetime sexual partners. The infection rate for African Americans who had only one or two sexual partners during their lifetime was 29.7 percent, compared to 12.9 percent for all other racial groups with one or two lifetime partners.
The researchers also found that only 7.8 percent of African Americans infected with HSV-2 had been previously diagnosed, compared to 23.4 percent of whites. More than one in five Americans is estimated to be infected with genital herpes.
"It is alarming that such a small proportion of people with genital herpes know they are infected, especially African Americans who are at increased risk of infection. It is imperative that we increase awareness and testing for this serious disease," said Ronald O. Valdiserri, M.D., M.P.H., deputy director of CDC’s HIV, STD and TB programs.
Study participants were more likely to be infected with genital herpes not only if they were African American or female, but also if they had more than 20 lifetime sexual partners, had been sexually active for more than ten years, had a prior diagnosis of syphilis or gonorrhea, had less than a high school education, or were 25 years of age or older. ["Seroprevalence and Correlates of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2 (HSV-2) in Five Sexually Transmitted Disease Clinics," S. Gottlieb, et al.]
Media Campaigns Can Educate Young African Americans about STDs
Two new studies released at the conference show that television, radio, billboard and other media ads can significantly increase awareness of STDs among young African Americans.
Ann Robbins, an epidemiologist with the Texas Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/STD Prevention, reported on the results of an STD media campaign to educate young people in East Texas about the risks associated with gonorrhea and chlamydia and the importance of testing. The researchers found that 19 percent of young people surveyed following the campaign said they were tested for an STD (other than HIV) as a result of the campaign.
The media campaign, which ran from October 1999 through December 1999, targeted African-American females ages 15 to 19, a group with particularly high STD infection rates in the area. Ads were field tested with adolescents before the campaign was launched to ensure that they were effective and culturally appropriate.
Researchers conducted pre- and post-campaign phone interviews with African-American females 15 to 19 years old in 125 households. The pre- and post-interview samples were selected independently to better gauge the effect of the campaign on the level of awareness within the community. Responses to the interviews suggest the campaign was successful at reaching its target audience. In the post-campaign survey, 72 percent of respondents reported seeing the campaign. Recognition of specific STDs mentioned in the campaign rose dramatically. Before the campaign, 28 percent of respondents spontaneously mentioned chlamydia when asked to name an STD, and 43 percent mentioned gonorrhea. After the campaign was completed, mention of these STDs rose to 62 percent for chlamydia and 76 percent for gonorrhea.
The media campaign appeared to have tangible effects on many young women in the target population. Of those respondents who said they had seen the campaign, 69 percent said it had made them think about STDs more, 28 percent said the campaign had caused them to talk to someone about STDs, and in addition to the 19 percent who got tested for an STD because of the ads, 76 percent said they were more likely to get tested in the future. ["Results of a Pilot STD Prevention Media Campaign in East Texas," A. Robbins, et al.]
In a second study on media campaigns, Lanya Shapiro, M.S.W., M.P.H., Project Manager of the American Social Health Association and her colleagues released findings from the "Know the Facts. Know for Sure" program in Jackson, Miss., and the Rio Grande Valley, Texas, to increase awareness of STDs among African Americans and Latinos ages 15 to 19. The campaign ran advertisements, developed with input from young people and community leaders, in a variety of forums, including 60-second paid radio spots, outdoor advertising, mini-magazines, in-theater advertisements and posters distributed through local community based organizations.
Following the campaign, Shapiro and colleagues used several approaches to assessing its success, such as school-based surveys, focus groups, interviews with people on the street and over the telephone, and tracking of calls to information hotlines. The researchers found that the campaign reached over half of the target audience at both sites. Sixty percent of teens in Rio Grande Valley said they were aware of the campaign, and of this group, 70 percent said it made them think about the risks of STDs. In Jackson, Miss., over 70 percent of teens surveyed correctly identified the main message of the radio spots, and over 65 percent identified the main message of the posters.
Researchers concluded that culturally appropriate electronic and print media can be used effectively to reach young people of color with information about STDs and other sexual health issues, and have plans to initiate media campaigns in California and North Carolina. ["Using Electronic and Print Media Advertisements to Reach Young Persons of Color with an STD Awareness Campaign," L. Shapiro, et al.]
Increasing Condom Use Among African-American Young Women
A new study suggests that condom use among adolescent African-American women is strongly associated with the power dynamics of their relationships and their condom negotiation practices. The study, authored by Catlainn Sionean, Ph.D., a behavioral scientist at CDC, and colleagues from Emory University, found that adolescent women who were less concerned that their partners would react poorly to suggestions of condom use were more than twice as likely to use condoms consistently than women who were more concerned about their partner’s reaction.
The researchers interviewed 522 sexually active African-American female adolescents ––– ages 14 to18 – in an effort to understand the relationship factors associated with consistent condom use in this population. They found that, compared to those with older partners, adolescents with partners of similar age were twice as likely to use condoms regularly. Young women who consistently refused to have sexual intercourse without a condom were more than four times more likely to use condoms consistently in the previous six months.
The study authors concluded that sexual risk reduction programs should help young women develop their skills to negotiate condom use and refuse sex unless condoms are used. The researchers also recommended that prevention programs address young women’s concerns about the possible negative consequences of condom negotiation with sexual partners. ["Power and Resistance: Partner Influences, Negotiation Practices, and Condom Use Among African American Female Adolescents," C. Sionean, et al.]
URL: http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/dstd/Press_Releases/AfAmericans2000.htm
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