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'Crystal Meth' Use Boosts STD Rates Among Gay Men Thu Mar 11, 11:47 PM ET By Randy Dotinga HealthDay Reporter THURSDAY, March 11 (HealthDayNews) -- Crystal methamphetamine -- or "speed" -- seems to be a driving factor behind higher rates of sexually transmitted disease among gay and bisexual men. In one study from San Francisco, gay men who visited a health clinic were twice as likely to be infected with the AIDS virus if they had recently used the illegal drug. And they were nearly five times as likely to be diagnosed with syphilis. Armed with the new statistics, federal...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Internet has played a significant role in the latest increase in cases of syphilis among gay men by introducing partners more likely to practice high-risk sex, according to a study released on Wednesday. About 22 percent of homosexual men diagnosed with early stage syphilis reported meeting one or more of their sexual partners through the Internet around the time they were infected, said the study by the Los Angeles Health Department. Researchers at a national conference in Philadelphia on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases also said they found gays who used the Web to meet...

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The Internet has played a significant role in the latest increase in cases of syphilis among gay men by introducing partners more likely to practice high-risk sex, according to a study. About 22 percent of homosexual men diagnosed with early stage syphilis reported meeting one or more of their sexual partners through the Internet around the time they were infected, said the study by the Los Angeles Health Department on Wednesday. Researchers at a national conference in Philadelphia on the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases also said they found gays who used the Web to meet sex...

Fewer Idaho teens drink, smoke and have sex than their peers across the country, according to survey results released by the state Department of Education on Friday. Students in the ninth through 12th grades in 36 of Idaho's public high schools were questioned last spring about everything from drug and alcohol use to sexual experience and eating habits. Many rates of "risky behavior" among Idaho teens were lower than those of two years ago, and several were far less than the natio nal average. Still, nearly a quarter of Idaho high school students engaged in binge drinking, consuming five or...

LONDON (Reuters) - Sexual antics of young British men and women on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza could be endangering their health, doctors warned on Wednesday. Around half the 1,500 people who arrived on Ibiza without a regular sexual partner said when questioned in a poll that they had sex with at least one person during their stay. One in four young men and one in seven women had more than one sexual partner. Eleven percent of males and three percent of females said they had indulged in sex with six or more people during a typical 10-day stay...

A new study by the British Medical Association finds that young people in Great Britain are living dangerously when it comes to eating, drinking, mental health, drugs, and sex. The frightening report reveals a burgeoning youth culture that is high on risk and low on character. The report found that one fifth of British adolescents aged 13 to 16 are overweight or obese. One in four 15 and 16 year olds smoke regularly, and one in five use drugs. Youth alcohol consumption now ranks among the highest in Europe, and binge drinking is becoming a serious problem. One in five...

New Report Details Sexual Trends Among Low-Income Black Urban Youth 1/21/04 9:01:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: Bill Albert of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, 202-478-8510 WASHINGTON, Jan. 21 /U.S. Newswire/ -- For many low- income Black urban youth, sex is seen as little more than a transaction and mainstream messages about sex, love, and relationships are having little impact in the inner city, according to a new report from MEE (Motivational Educational Entertainment) Productions, released today by MEE, in partnership with the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy. This extraordinarily frank report, This is My...

VANCOUVER, Canada (AFP) - Vancouver is facing the worst outbreak of syphilis per capita in the developed world, with city health officials fearful of a looming epidemic of the sexually transmitted disease once thought almost wiped out in North America. Some 254 new cases have been diagnosed locally this year authorities said early this week -- more than the total for North America in two decades, with more expected, said Dr. Michael Rekart of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control. "There's a lot of unsafe sex going on in Vancouver and the disease has simply taken hold," Rekart said....

Teen Drug Abuse Declines Across Wide Front; Eleven Percent Reduction Exceeds President's Two-Year Goal 12/19/03 11:36:00 AM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk and Health Reporter Contact: Tom Riley of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 202-395-6618; Blair Gately of National Institute on Drug Abuse, 301-443-6245 WASHINGTON, Dec. 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, today released results of the 2003 Monitoring the Future survey, showing an 11 percent decline in drug use by 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students over the past...

IT'S A GOOD THING OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WAL-Mart is just 150 yards from my office. In my very informal Belz Blue-Collar Poll on Homosexual Marriage (see last week's issue), I forgot one very important follow-up question, and had to hurry back this morning to get a few more opinions. (This very unscientific approach is why you should attach no statistical significance to my findings.) To put this account in context, you need to know that a couple of days ago, I had also stopped by for a visit to the local unit of Red Cross, where I go as often as...

ATLANTA (Reuters) - A growing number of gay and bisexual men in the United States are engaging in risky sex with partners they meet on the Internet, raising fears that the AIDS virus could be poised for a major comeback in the group hardest hit by the epidemic. Online chatrooms and Web sites are replacing gay bathhouses and sex clubs as the most popular meeting point to arrange high-risk sex, according to two new studies presented on Tuesday at the 2003 National HIV (news - web sites) Prevention Conference. The findings come amid growing evidence of an apparent resurgence of...