Posted on 02/03/2005 6:02:48 AM PST by Tax-chick
Wild oats, now and later John R. Diggs, Jr., MD
Every college student in America has heard multiple lectures on “safe sex.” But before rolling your eyes and mumbling, “Here comes another one,” let me say at the outset: This is not your grandmother’s sex lecture.
My credentials: I am an Internal Medicine physician, BA from Haverford College and MD from the University of Buffalo. My current work involves lecturing on sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) nationally and internationally. And I am nobody’s grandma.
Students reading this article have to pay the bill for the cavalier ways of the sexual revolution. At some colleges the rate of HPV infection stands at 20%, or 1 in 5 young women. Two decades of condom and “safe sex” promotion has resulted in more than 65 million Americans over age 12 having an incurable STD, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
I shall limit my remarks to HPV since it is (1) the most prevalent STD, (2) very high numbers of students are infected, and (3) it can lead to cervical cancer in women. But it must be emphasized here that nearly all cervical cancer is caused by HPV. Moreover, in the USA, more women die from cervical cancer than die from AIDS!
Women frequently suffer along the lines of the following two scenarios. A young woman acquires HPV and develops cervical changes discovered on a Pap smear. As the cells mutate towards cancer, her gynecologist may recommend cervical freezing (cryosurgery) or worse, surgery to remove a large portion of the cervix. Later, this leads to difficulty conceiving and then, more difficulty keeping a pregnancy. If this treatment fails, and invasive cancer develops, she may need a hysterectomy or chemotherapy.
A more common scenario is that she doesn’t know she has been infected with HPV until an abnormal Pap smear arises 5-20 years later. The Student Health Center nurse retired, the boyfriends have faded. Then, the same medical offerings may await her. The fortunate ones get only genital warts.
In both cases, unless she has had sex with only one man, it is impossible to pinpoint by whom she was infected. Was it the first, second, or third steady boyfriend or was it one of many ‘hook-ups’?
The most dangerous misinformation surrounding HPV today is the myth that prophylactics will protect women. "Condoms, condoms, condoms," cry university health staffs. Incredibly, condoms are offered up like sacrifices to ‘the pleasure god’ to ward off ugly HPV. However, scientifically, condoms have been shown to be ineffective in significantly reducing HPV transmission. Lacking an alternative, public health officers are loath to admit this. They are left to sigh, shrug, and slide condoms across the desk. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) say:
For HPV, the Panel concluded that there was no epidemiologic evidence that condom use reduced the risk of HPV infection, but study results did suggest that condom use might afford some protection in reducing the risk of HPV-associated diseases, including warts in men and cervical neoplasia [cancer or precancer] in women.
Notice that the NIH says condoms “might afford some protection” and not “do provide protection.” The research on condoms fails to show significant protection. If the world’s biggest medical research organization cannot say ‘they work,’ should you really rely on condoms to protect you from genital warts and cervical cancer?
HPV is still contagious whether warts are visible or not. Only about 2% of infected persons have visible genital warts; 98% of infected persons have no symptoms.
Pap smears diagnose women with HPV. How many men do you know that get Pap smears? There is no commercially available test to diagnose men with HPV (outside of having visible warts). This puts men in the pitiful position of being ignorant that they are a vector for the Big C, cancer. Men, how will you react when you future wife has an abnormal Pap smear because of her college behavior?
HPV, like many STDs, infects both sexes, but women bear a higher burden; don’t bother filing a discrimination complaint -- HPV is not an equal opportunity offender.
Because there is no cure for HPV, men cannot be tested, most infected people have no symptoms, and condoms do not stop transmission -- students need to make other choices. Maybe you’ve read of students who have had sex only one time and yet contracted HPV. Sadly, they have paid the price of a culture that endorses multiple partners -- including "serial monogamy" -- which truly are the greatest risk factor for STDs. Before you resort to the latest faddish alternative, know that HPV and many other STDs can also be spread by sexual non-intercourse practices, too.
If you want to avoid HPV, as old-fashioned as it sounds, the only truly effective strategy is to avoid sexual activity until you have found Neo, “the one”, and pledge "til death do we part."
Dr. Diggs an Internist who lives in South Hadley, MA. He is co-chair of the Massachusetts Physicians Resource Council, and medical advisor to the Family Research Council.
I know VERY well what the subject is, being a single female. Are you married? If you are, that's peachy keen. If you don't believe that the sex drive is as strong as death itself then you're fooling yourself. Have a nice day.
That is point of the article.
The only way to be certain you will not die in a car crash today is to stay out of cars. And you can't do that; it's not "realistic". You might reason, therefore, that you should drive at 100 miles an hour while drunk, since there is no guarantee available. Or, another approach might be to slow down and buckle your seat belt and decrease the probability of dying.
Why simple logic gets all bolloxed up is beyond me.
Those who are not this way are few and rapidly dying off.
And you are just not thinking clearly.
Or because of his college behavior.
I see one after another "totally unrealistic" comment here. I am reminded of an article I read in a local health magazine. The physician-author was commenting on various serious and even incurable STDs he sees frequently among younger women, and he added in a very offhand way, "Of course, when I was younger, we would never have seen anything like this because sexual behavior was so different then." If it was terribly different within the lifetime of one human being, sexual behavior is obviously not programmed into us. Patterns that are learned can (and in this case, should) be UNlearned.
You will notice that illegitimacy in the Islamic countries is almost miniscule because those cultures are very unforgiving when it comes to fornication or adultery - to the point where people get banished from the family, whipped, or executed.
Apparently, the fear of death or physical punishment DOES overcome the libido in the vast majority of people who live there.
No, we didn't. We just decided to explore a slightly different topic.
I think you are correct.
Exactly.
Editorial Reviews, Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767913981/qid=1107469595/sr=2-1/ref=pd_ka_b_2_1/103-5723947-1539833
The closer a secret is kept, the more powerful the impact once it is finally revealed. Such is the case with author and activist J.L. King's intriguing look at the lives and lifestyles of black men who sleep with other men but do not consider themselves to be gay. These men live "on the down low," the "DL" for short, and their sexual activities have gained significant notice as the rate of HIV/AIDS infection in black women has skyrocketed, with the vast majority of cases coming from heterosexual sex. King is a veteran of the DL himself and his book serves partly as a social and psychological survey of the other men he has surveyed and partly as highly candid memoir. King was well regarded in his community, popular at his church, successful in his career, and married to a woman who had no idea that his secret life existed. But when she caught him in a lie and with another man, the marriage collapsed and King's long and painful path to self-awareness began.
King cites the negative image many socially conservative black men have of homosexuality as an obstacle to those men being honest with their partners and themselves about who they are. Among the more intriguing elements of On the Down Low are the peculiar approaches men on the DL have to the sexual act, seeking a strictly physical sexual relationship with their secret male partners while remaining in more traditional arrangements with women. Whether this discrepancy is a product of scrupulously guarded secrecy and shame or the natural preference of an understudied sexual identity is one of the numerous questions raised by this book.
Though the infection statistics make the DL a huge public health issue, King is neither a sociologist nor a medical professional. And while a more clinical look at this issue would be welcome, King accomplished what he set out to do: provide light and insight into a world that so many have worked so hard to keep in the shadows. --John Moe
I wonder why they got rid of that law in the first place. Good point.
Unfortunately, many of the new STD's can't be diagnosed with a blood test.
Really! Which ones?
I don't think HPV can but AIDS and syphilis can be blood tested. At least that would take care of those two. Otherwise, you are relying on your partner's honesty.
HPV and Chlamydia, to start with. Both of these often have no symptoms for men, but have very serious consequences for women.
And AIDS testing is iffy unless it's an older infection. I think I read 12 months or more, but can't swear to it.
The new strains of syphilis aren't detected by current testing methods. I read a story about a new strain of the disease cropping up in the city. Give it time and it'll be in the heterosexual population as well.
Apparently, the fear of death or physical punishment DOES overcome the libido in the vast majority of people who live there.
You've made an excellent point in supporting your argument, which I agree with you on.
The punishments in Islamic countries are for women. Men get away with all the adultery, fornication, incest, and pederasty that they have a fancy for.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.