Tag Archives: sexually transmitted disease

erectile dysfunction, premature ejaculation, sex and relationship, Sex Health

Sexual dysfunction – Facts and Symptoms

It is difficult to establish the prevalence of sexual problems in the population because of the difficulties involved in carrying out surveys of people’s sexual behaviour. The commonest kinds of problems presenting to a sexual dysfunction clinic are,

Women

Low sexual desire 50%

Orgasmic dysfunction 20%

Vaginismus 20%

Dyspareunia 5%

Men

Erectile dysfunction 60%

Premature ejaculation 15%

Delayed ejaculation 5%

Low sexual desire 5%

The assessment of sexual dysfunction

Patients with sexual problems initially often complain about other symptoms because they feel too embarrassed to reveal a sexual problem directly. For example, a patient may ask for help with anxiety, depression, poor sleep, or gynaecological symptoms. It is therefore important to ask routinely a few questions about sexual functioning when assessing patients with non-specific psychological or physical symptoms.

In a full assessment, the interviewer should begin by explaining why it will be necessary to ask about intimate details of the patient’s sexual life, and should then ask questions in a sympathetic, matter-of-fact way.

Whenever possible both sexual partners should be interviewed, at first separately and then together.

The assessment should cover the following issues.

  • Has the problem been present from the first intercourse, or did it start after a period of normal sexual functioning? Each partner should be asked, separately, whether the same problem has occurred with another partner, or during masturbation.
  • The strength of sexual drive should be assessed in terms of the frequency of sexual arousal, intercourse, and masturbation. Motivation for treatment of sexual dysfunction should be assessed, starting with questions about who took the initiative in seeking treatment and for what reason.
  • Assess each partner’s social relationships with the other sex, with particular reference to shyness and social inhibition.
  • Enquiries should be made about the partners’ feelings for one another: partners who lack a mutual caring relationship are unlikely to achieve a fully satisfactory sexual relationship. Many couples say that their relationship problems result from their sexual problems, when the causal connection is really the reverse. Tactful questions should be asked about commitment to the partner and, when appropriate, about infidelity and fears of sexually transmitted disease, including HIV.
  • Assess sexual development and sexual experience, paying particular attention to experiences such as child abuse, incest, or sexual assault that may have caused lasting anxiety or disgust about sex.
  • Enquiry should be made about homosexual as well as heterosexual feelings.
  • In the medical history, the most relevant things to look for are previous and present psychiatric and chronic physical disorders and their treatment, pregnancy, childbirth, and abortion(s), and use of alcohol or drugs, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
  • In the mental state examination look especially for evidence of depressive disorder. Physical examination is important because physical illness often causes sexual problems Physical examination of women may require specialist gynaecological help. Further investigations may be necessary depending on the findings from the history and examination (e.g. if diabetes is suspected as a cause of sexual disorder).

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Human Papillomavirus Related Diseases and Treatment

Human papillomavirus is a very common sexually transmitted disease. It is a DNA virus that can be found at the mucous membranes of the entire genital area as well as the mouth and throat. It has lots of subtypes. Some types are harmless. Other types (oncogenic types) may lead to cancers.

Have a look at the following descriptions. You can prevent these diseases if you do not get infected with human papillomavirus. Use condom when you have sex, and, most of all, get vaccinated against human papillomavirus!

Risk Factors of HPV

If your immune system is weak (after an illness), you have multiple children. You have been taking oral contraceptives for a long time or you have a chronic inflammation within the genital area. If that is the case you are more likely to get infected with HPV and develop cervical cancer.

HPV Related Diseases

Cervical Cancer

If you live with human papillomavirus, you are at risk of developing cervical cancer.

Cervical cancer has no symptoms. By the time it has symptoms (for example, you bleed between periods, sex is painful, you bleed after having sex. Your period is unusually long or you have plenty of vaginal discharge), it is in an advanced stage. However, the disease does have warning signs: cancerous cells in the lining of your cervix. Only a health care provider is able to detect the subtle changes within your cells. Get tested! Pap tests or HPV DNA tests may save your life.

If the lab tests mean bad news, your health care provider will ask you to undergo further testing. Your doctor might want to a biopsy, a tissue sample from your cervix.

Cancer can spread to other organs within your body. Your doctor might suggest x-rays, MRI or CT scan.

Probably it is only your cervix that is affected, probably cancer has spread to the vagina, too.

Treatment

There is no treatment available for human papillomavirus infection. On the other hand, doctors are able to heal related conditions like genital warts, precancerous lesions and – if detected early – cancers.

Precancerous cervical lesions can be treated by cryosurgery (freezing the cancerous cells); loop electrosurgical excision procedure which means your health care provider surgically removes the cancerous tissue with a hot wire loop; surgical conization i.e. removing a cone shaped part of tissue, using a laser, a scalpel or both of them; as well as laser vaporization conization.

You may undergo a surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy, or a therapy of the combination of the three. They may have side-effects.

Treatment for premature ejaculation

HPV Related Cancers and Treatment

HPV can lead to other types of cancer: vaginal cancer, penile cancer.

Doctors can treat these conditions with medication, chemotherapy, surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery or laser surgery. It depends on the type of cancer you have, your age, health, and the stage of the cancer. Your health care providers may want to remove the cancerous tissues, as much as possible.

 

Sex Life Story

Safe Contraception Options: Who Should Use Protection

Who should use protection, men or women? It is an interesting question. Sex, contraception options and protection are mutual responsibility. Both men and women should know how to choose the right method. Both of them should think about their own and their partner’s health and well-being. It is not enough if one partner is responsible: both parties should know how to prevent pregnancy. Safe sex is not a matter that you can shrug away, saying that your partner is on the pill and it is not your problem. Contraception pill may not solve sexual problem and not forget about the side effect.

Honesty, Trust, Contraception Options and Your Health

Is your partner honest with you? Does your female partner tell you that she takes birth control pills – and is it true? Probably she has side-thoughts and she thinks it is time to settle down and have a baby, so she has just “forgotten” about her birth control pills. Maybe she is the happy-go-lucky one and she has skipped one or two days, so now both of you are at risk of an unwanted pregnancy. Has your male partner told you that he has undergone vasectomy, so he is perfectly safe for you; but what about sexually transmitted diseases? Would your partner tell you if they had some minor infection? Do you know your partner well? Are you in a serious relationship, based on trust? Are you into one-night stands or short-lived relationships? These questions are not moral issues. They have a lot to do with your health. Never leave protection to your partner! Whatever he or she says, make sure that you do your best to avoid an unwanted pregnancy or an infection. Has he had a vasectomy? Is she on the pill? Great. You should still use protection. Combined contraception options are safe. If he did have a vasectomy, you still can take your birth control pills and ask him to use a condom.

Prevent Pregnancy: Choose the Right Method

While hormonal contraception is unbeatable when it comes to avoiding unwanted pregnancy, do not completely dismiss barrier methods. Condoms protect you from sexually transmitted diseases, and even some kind of cancers like cervical cancer.

Prefer male condoms over female condoms. Male condoms have a lowest failure rate of the barrier methods. Use a condom with spermicide. Never restrict your protection methods to female condoms alone! They have the highest failure rate of all birth control methods (with the exception of coitus interruptus, the withdrawal method). For instance, diaphragms are not reliable when you want to avoid pregnancy. Neither do they protect you from the diseases of the upper genital tract.

The safest way of having sex is when both partners use some kind of protection. For women, combined oral contraceptive pills, implants, combined injections, intrauterine devices are the safest methods, and, of course, the irreversible methods: hysterectomy, tubal ligation, and essure. They should also insist on using a condom. For men, vasectomy and lubricated latex condoms will be the safest way (make sure that you use water-based lubes and avoid oil-based lubes that may damage the condom). They can use plastic wrap when giving oral sex to their partner. Oral sex may seem safe, but it can lead to ugly surprises – for instance, human papilloma virus that can cause serious sexual health issues.

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Tips For Practising Good Sex Health

You will be surprised at how few people out there practice good sex health. In fact, you may be surprised at just how preventable many of the sexual conditions that people suffer from actually are. On this page I want to give you a brief overview of the various things that you will need to do in order to ensure that you are practising good sexual health.

Firstly, a condom is a must. Unless you know your partner well, and you know that they are suffering from no problems, then you need a condom. A condom is the only contraceptive out there which is able to protect you from both sexual diseases and reduce the risk of pregnancy. If your partner refuses the use of a condom then do NOT have sex. The risks of something happening are far too high. It is worth noting at this point that there is no contraceptive out there which will eradicate sexual health problems completely. There is always a slim chance that something can go wrong. However, you need to remember that there is more of a chance of something going wrong if you do not actually use the contraceptive to begin with!

I do not want to talk about the risk of pregnancy that much more. We all know that this is a massive risk when you are having sex. If you really do not want to have children then I suggest that you look into a few other methods that you can utilize. For example, a woman may want to use birth control pills in addition to a man using condoms. Two contraceptive methods are better than one after all!

The thing that I do want to talk about here when it comes to sex health is the chance of suffering from a sexually transmitted diseases. What many people do not realize is that there are some sexual diseases e.g. Chlamydia which have absolutely no symptoms. However, they can cause some serious problems in your life. For example, they may end up making you infertile. This is why it is always important to practice good sex health.

Now, I am the type of person that would advocate that you ask people about their sexual history. Particularly if you have just met them and you are planning to have sex. Let’s be honest though, most people do not get themselves checked regularly (you really should, trust me, you are going to feel better in the long run!). People are also prone to lying. You should never rely on what somebody tells you. The only way in which you are going to stand a good chance of avoiding sexually transmitted diseases is by using a condom. There is no other contraceptive method out there which will actually work for you. You should always use condoms with somebody (even if they insist you don’t) until you feel comfortable with them and their sexual health. If you are entering a relationship then both of you may want to get checked out to give you confidence.