Maintaining a good sexual health is one of the foremost concerns of individuals who actively participate in a sexual activity. However, a latest study suggests that men could face a bit more challenges when it comes to sexually-transmitted infections.
One of the greatest risk in terms of sexual health is developing throat and mouth cancer linked to oral sex. According to a research team at the John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, oral sex increases the risk of head, neck, throat and mouth cancer through human papillomavirus (HPV).
It is estimated that HPV affects nearly 70 to 80 percent of sexually active men and women and is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. The researchers claim that men are twice likely to contract HPV-related cancers than women. The risk is particularly higher in middle-aged white men, as compared to men belonging to other races.
In case of men, the researchers found that the risk of oral HPV increases with the number of oral sex partners that men have had. However, the effect is opposite in the case of women. That is, the number of sexual partners does not seem to increase the risk of oral HPV in women. Women with greater number of vaginal sex partners had a lower risk of contracting HPV-related cancer as compared to men.
The researchers say that the difference lies in the robustness of the immune response in men and women. Men do not seem to have a robust immune system, however, women develop an immune response that prevents them against an oral HPV infection as soon as they encounter HPV vaginally, reports MedicalXpress.
According to researcher Gypsyamber D’Souza, two of three cases of oral cancer in the US can be can be attributed to the HPV 16 strain infection, reports The Tech Times.
The complete details of the study have been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
After weight-loss surgery, married people tended to lose less weight than singles, and some reported a negative impact on their relationships, a recent study notes.
A research team from Ohio State University reviewed 13 studies on weight-loss surgery, published between 1990 and 2014. Four of those specifically focused on romantic relationships and how they were affected by the procedures, and six others included that data as part of their research.
One study found that married patients were 2.6 times less likely to reach their target weight a year after surgery. Another noted that single patients were 2.7 times more likely to stick to diet and exercise goals. In terms of relationship quality, three studies reported that participants had a higher interest in sex after the surgery, but that some marriages still ran into trouble.
Patients may experience physical discomfort that affects intimacy, or they may feel disconnected on a deeper level, while trying to change eating habits and physical activity levels.
Writing in a blog post for Obesity Action Coalition, weight-loss surgeon Dr. Walter Medlin noted, “Relationships change in many ways, as you change after surgery. Even though life may have been hard in many ways before surgery, leaving familiar old ways behind can be stressful.”
He added that this stress can be a threat, especially for a spouse who might feel that he or she is “losing” some version of the person who had surgery. “Some spouses have gotten away with taking advantage of power if you have had to rely on them, and may fear you will retaliate with increased freedom and power after obesity no longer limits your financial and relationship prospects,” Dr. Medlin wrote.
About 65 percent of people seeking weight-loss surgery are married. In the recent study, researchers suggested that health care teams could capitalize on the potentially positive influence of supportive and engaged spouses. In situations where the spouse is not supportive, a health care team could work to line up other resources to assist the patients in reaching goals after surgery.
Health in the News does not reflect the views, opinions or policies of UnitedHealthcare or its affiliates. Content is for general information purposes only and not intended to be medical advice or a substitute for professional health care. Copyright 2016 by . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A new study conducted by US researchers claims that over-the-counter herbal pills and dietary supplements aiming to improve sexual dysfunction might actually be ineffective and harmful for the health.
According to the researchers at the Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, common dietary supplements that claim to improve male sexual health are ineffective at large. In addition, such herbal pills could prove harmful if taken without consultation from a physician.
Senior author of the study, Ryan Terlecki says that for some of the products available over-the-counter, there is no scientific evidence that they help correct erectile dysfunction, sexual performance and libido. In addition, the study has found that some of the “natural” products contain minute amounts of phosphodiesterase-5-inhibitors (PDE5Is), a chemical contained in prescription drugs such as Viagra, reports The HealthSite.
“Men who use these medications without a physician’s supervision run the risk of taking them inappropriately. Patients with advanced heart disease, for example, or who take nitrates, such as nitroglycerin, should not use PDE5Is as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure,” said Terlecki, reports The Financial Times.
During the testing of the over-the-counter available products, the research team found that more than 80 percent of them available in the Asia and US contained PDE5Is. In addition, the researchers have warned that men with enlarged prostates who take a combination of medicines such as terazosin, doxazosin or tamsulosin should be aware of how to time the dosage. An unplanned timing of the dosage could result in dizziness and falls, leading to fractures.
It is estimated that 40 to 70 percent of men around the world suffers from some form of sexual dysfunction. Out of embarrassment or cost concerns, a majority of such men prefer to purchase over-the-counter supplements and products.
The complete details of the study have been published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine.
Are you tired of being embarrassed about your bulging abdomen that protrudes? Have you failed in your efforts to get rid of an overabundance of oodles around your midsection using all conventional methods like strict diet and regular exercise? Well, if your answer is yes, we are giving you a simple yet effective solution in this article.
A new study claims downsizing your large food portions and tableware could help you achieve weight loss and combat obesity successfully.
A team of researchers led by Theresa Marteau, PhD, a psychologist at the University of Cambridge in England recently conducted a Cochrane review and found that intake of food and non-alcoholic drinks consistently increases when larger-sized portions or packages are offered, or when served in larger items of tableware.
According to the study report, downsizing larger portions could have a significant effect on British and American calorie intake.
The report predicts it could reduce daily calorie consumption by 12% to 16 % among UK adults, while reducing larger portions to those of the 1950’s could drop U.S. citizens’ average daily calorie consumption by 22% to 29%, found the research team.
“The causes of obesity are complex, but overconsumption of food and sugary drinks is a critical proximal determinant, driven in part by large portion sizes,” the researchers noted in the report. “The importance of developing interventions and policies to reduce the size, availability, and appeal of large portions is underscored by the compelling evidence that people eat and drink more from larger portions.”
However, bringing the portion size down is more easy to imagine that to implement, the researchers argue.
“As exposure to larger portions has become more common, these sizes have come to be viewed as appropriate, with consumption correspondingly increasing. This suggests that reductions in portion size might, over time, recalibrate consumption norms,” the researchers said.
The team still hopes the significant reductions in the amount of food people consume can be achieved if the government intervenes to increase awareness of appropriate portions by making it mandatory for food packages to display information about the serving size where it is immediately noticeable. The public sector could also contribute by serving smaller portions at schools, hospitals, government offices and other public workplaces.
Tableware manufacturers should design utensils that encourage smaller mouthfuls such as straight-sided glasses, smaller, shallower plates, and smaller spoons and forks.
“Successful interventions, if implemented at sufficient scale, have the potential to help prevent obesity as part of a wider obesity strategy. Aligning the will of the public, private industry, and political leadership is key to progress,” Marteau and team concluded.
Funded by the U.K. Department of Health, the study is published in the BMJ (formerly the British Medical Journal).
SOME people eat as little fat as possible to lose weight and stay healthy, while others avoid carbohydrates. A vegan diet (with no animal products) and the paleo diet (with lots) both have enthusiastic devotees. One popular diet encourages intermittent fasting, another frequent small meals. Who’s right?
Perhaps they all are, according to the new field of “personalized nutrition.”
This month, an Israeli study of personalized nutrition was heralded by a media frenzy. “This diet study upends everything we thought we knew about ‘healthy’ food,” claimed one headline. The study suggested that dieters may be mistakenly eating a lot of some foods, like tomatoes, that are good for most people, but bad for them. And it raised the possibility that an individualized approach to nutrition could eventually supplant national guidelines meant for the entire public.
Personalized medicine has already become well established in clinical practice. We know that the effects of some drugs vary from person to person and that genetic analysis of tumors can help doctors select the best cancer treatment for a particular patient. Despite the recent fanfare, we have also known for a long time that people respond differently to specific foods based on their genes, past health or other factors.
What does this mean when it comes to obesity, the most important nutrition problem today?
Unfortunately, standard diets typically fail to produce significant long-term weight loss. But those average outcomes mask tremendous individual variability. For instance, while a clinical trial published in 2005 of 160 adults randomly assigned to the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone diets reported modest results in all groups after one year, individuals in those groups experienced weight changes ranging from a loss of 35 pounds or more to a gain of 10 or more.
This variation is commonly attributed to behavior. Some people are simply more motivated and compliant with their assigned diet than others. But suppose the people who did poorly on the low-fat Ornish diet would have done well on the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet because of their biological makeup, and vice versa? If we knew that ahead of time, we could assign everyone the diet that’s best suited for him or her.
This is what the Israeli study intended to explore. Investigators at the Weizmann Institute of Science used specialized devices to monitor continuously the blood sugar of 800 adults. The data showed that blood sugar after meals varied among the participants in ways that couldn’t be explained by what they ate alone. The investigators devised a computer-based algorithm taking into account many non-dietary characteristics — including body weight, blood sugar first thing in the morning and even the type of bacteria in the intestines — to predict more accurately what would happen to blood sugar after a specific person ate a specific food.
Since high blood sugar after eating is strongly associated with the risk of Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, the study’s results now have people talking about whether a computer app might someday help us prevent chronic disease. Should you eat tomatoes, apples or chocolate? Input your characteristics and get a personal prescription for optimal health.
Blood sugar isn’t the only way to predict an individual’s predisposition to obesity-related problems. Insulin may be an even more powerful determinant. The pancreas releases insulin after you eat, and that hormone directs incoming calories into storage sites in liver, muscle and fat tissue. A few hours later, insulin levels fall, and calories re-enter the bloodstream for use by the body. This is why people with Type 1 diabetes who receive excess insulin predictably gain weight, whereas those treated with too little insulin invariably lose weight, no matter how much they eat.
The amount and timing of insulin release after a meal differs substantially from person to person. To assess this difference, researchers give volunteers a bottle of glucose to drink and measure their insulin levels 30 minutes later — the test is called the “insulin-30” level.
In a study published in 2007 in JAMA, my colleague Cara B. Ebbeling and I randomly assigned young adults to 18-month diets that were low either in fat or in processed, fast-digesting carbohydrates (called a low “glycemic load” diet). We found that individuals with high insulin-30 did better on the low-glycemic-load diet — losing 10 pounds more than they did on the low-fat diet. This suggests that people with this characteristic should really focus on cutting highly processed carbohydrates out of their diet. Individuals with low insulin-30, on the other hand, lost about the same amount of weight on both diets.
In another study published in this month’s issue of the journal Obesity, we found that people with high insulin-30 lost more muscle and less fat on a standard low-calorie diet. Their metabolisms also slowed the most when they lost weight, which means they would be likely to regain the weight in the long term.
The good news is that a person’s susceptibility to weight gain may not be written in stone. After a month on a low-carbohydrate diet, the high insulin responders were able to tolerate more carbohydrates without their metabolisms slowing down so much (though we don’t know how long this protective effect lasts).
Many other aspects of biology — genetic and acquired — undoubtedly influence how we respond to diet. But in the end, the Israeli study provides little reason to believe that a complicated 21st-century technology will work any better than a simple dietary prescription pioneered decades ago. We don’t need an app to control post-meal blood sugar; we just need to eat fewer processed carbohydrates.
Analyses of large groups of people followed carefully over many years, like the Nurses’ Health Study, suggest that many cases of diabetes and heart disease can be prevented by adhering to a few straightforward dietary practices. For this reason, it’s critically important that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015, scheduled for release by the Department of Agriculture in the next few weeks, reflect the latest science. They should jettison the traditional emphasis on low-fat diets, which we now know have no special benefit for body weight or general health, and focus more on the quality of the carbohydrates we are eating.
Despite the hype, personalized nutrition is not ready for practical application in the clinic. But this exciting field of research may help explain why people respond so differently to diet based on biology. In this way, personalized nutrition may build upon, rather than substitute for, national dietary guidelines, providing a common ground for all sides in the “diet war” to declare a truce.
Many myths and rumours about what affects sperm cells have surfaced.
However, according to EverydayHealth, a magazine which specialises on matters health, most activities men engage in don’t hurt their fertility.
The magazine sought experts’ opinion about so-called sperm killers in the rumor mill so you can get the truth about what affects sperm quality and what doesn’t.
Rumored Sperm Killer: Laptops
EverydayHealthsays: “In terms of both sperm count and sperm quality, there is some evidence that a laptop with a Wi-Fi connection might be a sperm killer.”
In a study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility, samples of sperm were collected from 29 men and stored either normally or under a laptop with a wireless connection.
The sperm in the laptop sample had decreased motility and more DNA damage was done to it – factors that could hurt chances of reproduction.
Ryan Terlecki, MD, an assistant professor of urology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., said heat is yet another factor with laptops that might affect quality of sperm.
“It is well established that heat has the ability to adversely affect semen parameters,” Dr. Terlecki said.
Rumored Sperm Killer: Hot Tubs
You probably don’t need to worry about a hot tub being a sperm killer unless you’re spending hours in it every other day, said Robert Kaufmann, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Waco, Texas.
“There has been an association with hot tubs and heat in the scrotal area and decreased sperm counts, although moderate exposure to hot tubs does not appear to create a problem,” he explained.
You should at all cost avoid prolonged exposure.
Rumored Sperm Killer: Tight underwear
Tight briefs are often implicated as sperm killers, which time and again lead to infertility because the testicles are held tightly against the body.
However, Dr Kaufmann said the concerns about sperm quality and sperm count are largely unfounded.
“Most wives will have their husbands switch to boxers, but they do not need to do so,” he said.
“The thought is that briefs keep the scrotal temperatures elevated and could damage sperm, but the impact is not enough to make a difference for men’s health.”
Rumored Sperm Killer: Cell Phones
Cell phones have massive impact on sperm count and sperm quality.
A review article from the University of California, Berkeley, looked at the findings of several studies on the topic.
Eight of nine results showed a negative impact on men’s sperm counts traced to cell phones, more so when the phones are kept in a trouser pocket.
Terlecki said: “The data on cell phones in regard to sperm detriment is growing.”
“Cell phones emit radiation in the form of electromagnetic waves, which may have adverse effects on the cells necessary for development of sperm within the testicle.”
Rumored Sperm Killer: Smoking
Smoking is with no doubt a sperm killer according to many health experts.
Over the years, research have found a higher chance of sperm count and sperm quality problems among men who are grave smokers, and additional study suggests smoking negatively affects sperm chromosomes.
“Interestingly enough, smoking may even impact the DNA of the sperm — best to avoid it,” Kaufmann noted.
Hormonal health is about much more than how grumpy we get when it’s that time of the month, or being a certain age. From our waist measurements to the way our skin ages, to how much sex we want and even our concentration levels, a complex, ever-changing balance of hormones influences every biological process in our bodies.
No wonder that hormone therapy is one of the buzziest areas in medicine right now. And for women in their 40s and up, it is being touted as an energy-boosting, anti-ageing, body-changing, sex-life-fixing cure-all.
For example, a recent study found that vaginally applied oestrogen could work wonders for dryness or pain during intercourse. While another found that, in pill form, it could help reverse arthritis. Researchers have also found that giving injections of growth hormone (a hormone our body stops making as we get older) to post-menopausal patients with osteoporosis could help reduce their rate of fractures.
Many doctors and health practitioners claim that simple lifestyle measures can help redress hormone imbalances Photo: getty
But it’s not all about pills and jabs. Many doctors and health practitioners claim that simple lifestyle measures can help redress hormone imbalances and improve your overall wellbeing – from how we gain or lose weight to how we age, or simply how we feel day-to-day. Here’s the hormonal low-down…
What exactly are hormones?
The body’s chemical messengers, hormones act as fuel for all our bodily processes – metabolism, digestion, energy levels, how we deal with stress, our moods, curves and skin. More than 100 hormones keep our bodies running smoothly, but as we get older things can go awry, causing a catalogue of often ambiguous symptoms that most of us might grudgingly attribute to middle age.
For London-based anti-ageing specialist Dr Daniel Sister, who treats women’s hormonal imbalances, the typical patient is in her mid-40s and can’t quite pinpoint what’s wrong – and nor can her doctor. “She might have become more constipated, her skin and hair may be drier than usual and her libido out the window. Sometimes it isn’t the menopause, but other imbalances.”
Dull, thinning hair and unexplained constipation, for example, could be due to an underactive thyroid – a common problem for women, he says – as the thyroid governs 300 processes in the body. And if your stress hormones are in overdrive, that could impact the balance of sex hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone, and make you look and feel exhausted.
“More than likely, it’s a combination of various imbalances working together,’ says Dr Sister. ‘There’s no one-size-fits-all.”
“Women make three times as much testosterone as we do oestrogen and we have a lot of it when we’re young,’ she says. ‘But we stop producing it somewhere between 40 and 50, about 10 years before men stop making theirs. We see a gradual development of ambiguous symptoms such as lack of sex drive, loss of concentration, tiredness and weight gain, and think it’s just the lead-up to the menopause. But it’s often low testosterone.”
But testosterone supplementation can have side-effects, from excess body hair and spots to increased risk of heart attack, and in the UK, prescription patches and gel for women were withdrawn in 2012.
‘Women make three times as much testosterone as we do oestrogen’
The first pill for low libido in women will go on sale in the U.S. after regulators decided that despite its modest benefit and serious side effects, the drug was worthwhile to address an affliction with no other approved treatments.
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that doctors will have to take a training course to be certified to prescribe Sprout Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s flibanserin, branded Addyi, which will be available as soon as Oct. 17. And patients must sign a form acknowledging risks that include fainting and extreme sleepiness.
Those precautions apply to a drug that has shown in clinical trials to improve sexual desire in patients only slightly. That means closely held Sprout still will have to persuade doctors to prescribe Addyi and insurers to cover the pill, which must be taken daily and will cost about US$350 to US$400 a month before insurance coverage. Sprout expects insurers to put the drug in tier 2 or 3 on their formularies with a US$30 to US$75 copay.
“With any kind of medication you always have to balance the benefit with the risk,” said Holly Thacker, director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Specialized Women’s Health. “Yes, there are side effects. They’re not life-threatening and they’re not outside the norm of medications in a similar class,” such as neurotransmitters for conditions like depression.
In clinical trials, women who took Addyi recorded a median increase of 0.5 to one more satisfying sexual events each month than those who got a placebo. Women began the trials experiencing two to three satisfying sexual events a month. Some women experienced as many as six to eight more satisfying sexual events each month, Sprout Chief Executive Officer Cindy Whitehead said in a phone interview.
More than 1,300 Canadian women have been involved in tests of flibanserin.
A spokeswoman for Sprout said in June that the company had not yet submitted an application for approval of the drug to Health Canada.
The drug was rejected by the FDA in 2010, and again in 2013, over concerns the less-than-overwhelming benefit — about one extra “sexually satisfying event” per month, compared to placebo — was outweighed by side effects such as dizziness, nausea and sleepiness.
The FDA faced a backlash from some doctors and researchers who claimed the agency was being sexist. Drugs to treat male sexual dysfunction have become ubiquitous since Pfizer Inc.’s Viagra was approved in 1998. Viagra generated US$1.69 billion in sales last year.
Unlike Viagra, which helps men who want to have sex get an erection by increasing blood flow to the penis, Addyi is designed to alter the brain chemistry of women so they find sex more desirable. The drug targets neurotransmitters such as dopamine and norepinephrine that the brain uses to transmit information and can affect mood. Antidepressant drugs use similar mechanisms.
Addyi, also called flibanserin, is approved for women diagnosed with a condition called hypoactive sexual desire disorder, which is low libido that causes stress. Whitehead said doctors will be able to get certified to prescribe the drug by watching an online video.
They have gotten a drug that is barely better than placebo with serious side effects approved
Before the FDA ruling on Addyi, some women’s health experts had argued that the drug’s associated risks of fainting and extreme sleepiness outweighed any benefit. Studies found the risks are exacerbated by alcohol and birth-control medicine.
Sprout backed a lobbying campaign called Even the Score to help pressure regulators to approve Addyi, winning the endorsement of groups such as the National Organization for Women and the American Sexual
“They have gotten a drug that is barely better than placebo with serious side effects approved,” said Adriane Fugh- Berman, the director of PharmedOut, a Georgetown University Medical Center group that calls for thoughtful use of drugs and looks at industry marketing. “I think that we can expect all kind of creative attacks on the FDA to pressure them to approve bad drugs since that tactic appeared to work.”
Addyi’s label will advise women to stop taking the pill if they don’t respond after eight weeks, Whitehead said.
“This is a transformational moment, hopefully across all of women’s health care, certainly in women’s sexual health,” Whitehead said. “Our breaking through, I hope, opens the door for a variety of treatments to come forward.”
In June, FDA advisers recommended in an 18-6 vote that the FDA approve the drug. While advisers said the pill’s effect isn’t as strong as they’d like, they said they voted in favor to get the first female sexual desire drug on the market and boost awareness to get better treatments on pharmacy shelves in the future.
About 2 million women are currently seeking treatment for the disorder and more are expected to come forward once Addyi is on the market, said Carl Spana, CEO of Palatin Technologies Inc., which is developing its own female sex-drive treatment.
The company is in the final stages of testing its drug bremelanotide for use as needed, like Viagra, while Addyi is taken every night before bed. Palatin estimates the market for low female sexual desire treatments could total US$1.3 billion a year, based on the 2 million women known to be affected.
Palatin shares jumped 28 percent to US$1.20 in late trading after Sprout’s approval was announced.
Palatin could bring bremelanotide to market in early 2018, Spana said. The company has had talks with larger drugmakers, which he declined to name, that would likely license bremelanotide for sale.
With files from The Canadian Press and Postmedia News
Last year, a record breaking two out of three women tried to lose weight, and it’s estimated that the average UK woman spends a staggering £25,000 on diets over the cost of a lifetime.
But the word on the street is there’s a direct correlation between the less shut-eye a person gets, and how much they eat.
When we are tired, the hormones controlling appetite are affected, so people feel hungrier, and find it more difficult to stick to diets.
After a night of tossing and turning, levels of ghrellin – the ‘hunger hormone’ which stimulates appetite – are higher, according to the study.
Silentnight sleep expert, Dr. Nerina Ramlakhan, explained: “Not sleeping enough forces our body into crisis or survival type mode.
“We start to run on adrenaline which makes us conserve energy and store fat particularly around the middle – this is called ‘trunkal thickening’ – and we start breaking down our muscles.”
She added: “Not sleeping or poor quality sleep also makes you rely more on caffeine and refined sugars during the day and these are all substances that will make us put on weight.
“In the meantime, people who have difficulty getting to sleep delay going to bed, and then snack as a procrastinating exercise. People also drink alcohol in the evenings, mistakenly believing it will make them more tired, and these alcoholic drinks are high in calories.”
Simple lifestyle changes to get better quality sleep can therefore help Brits to lose weight and stick to healthy eating regimes more easily.
This news comes as it was revealed a whopping 75 per cent of people in the UK are not getting a good night’s sleep.
We all know what it’s like to have a few restless nights – low concentration, moodiness and lack of energy – to name a few of the pit falls, but imagine not sleeping at all.
A human needs sleep to promote healing, improve mood, reduce stress and improve memory and not enough sleep can lead to conditions such as diabetes, depression, heart disease and obesity.
Dr Nerina’s top sleep tips to see results on the scales:
Your bedroom is your personal sanctuary. Never bring your work life into the bedroom – keep laptops and mobile phones out of this room. It should be a technology free zone
If you can, try and switch off from work as soon as you leave the office and avoid checking your emails or social media accounts 90 minutes before going to bed – put your phone, laptop and tablets away
Regular exercise is one of the most effective ways of reducing stress hormone levels (mainly adrenaline) thus enabling you to sleep more deeply
To sleep well we almost need to let go of wanting to sleep well. In other words, the more pressure we put on ourselves to sleep, the less likely we are to actually fall asleep. In these situations it might be helpful not to use the word ‘sleep’ but replace it with the word ‘rest’
If you’re lying in bed and you can’t sleep – cast your mind over your day and think about all of the positives things that have happened. Close your eyes, breathe deeply and you will be asleep before you know it
To help us sleep as well as possible we need a good balance of the hormones serotonin and melatonin in our system. Eating foods such as chicken, cheese, tofu, tuna, eggs, nuts, seeds and milk will help to boost these hormone levels. A glass of milk before bed is a great way to induce sleep
Former North East Side resident Daroun Jamison considers this a powerful question: What does it mean to be a black man?
Before it can be answered, he said, you have to take race out of it. A man has to recognize his personal belief system first, Jamison, 38, said.
“If a person doesn’t have that definition, then what do they have to work toward?”
Jamison and neighbors discussed such questions during a community retreat with researchers from Christiana Care, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and the University of Delaware.
The retreat focused on bringing light to pressing health issues on the East Side, especially surrounding infant mortality and the roles fathers play.
The infant mortality rate is over 14.4 per 1,000 births for the community, nearly double the state average.
Babies in Delaware are born too early and weigh too little, not because of medical reasons, said Dr. Iman Sharif, a pediatrician with Nemours. Mothers are dealing with chronic stress from poverty and volatile life experiences.
An analysis of Medicaid data from 2011 to 2012 found that women from the East Side under age 45 visited a New Castle County emergency department four or more times for complications related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Over 40 percent recorded fatigue, herpes gestation, insufficient weight gain and premature labor.
While we don’t want to dissuade people from getting help, said Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health, those are conditions that could be discussed with a gynecologist or prenatal provider earlier so emergency room trips could be prevented.
Rattay said that enforces the importance of home visit programs such as Parents as Teachers, Healthy Families America and Healthy Women, Healthy Babies.
Healthy Women, Healthy Babies targets African American women and women with risk factors such as depression or diabetes. Last year, 1,471 women from the East Side participated in the program.
Connecting women to services will only help so much, said Rysheema Dixon, a health advocate with Henrietta Johnson. Fathers need to be part of the equation, too.
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Jamison said he had many friends growing up that were young fathers. One friend had two children by the time he was 16.
How can you provide for someone when you are a teenager without a stable job?
Some find it easier to disappear from family life, which can have detrimental effects.
Jamison doesn’t have any children, but he recalls his relationship with his father as a complicated one.
At one point, he was on track to be a junior deacon. But life got in the way. Living on welfare made money tight. His family was eventually evicted from their home. He dropped out of school and began living on his own. Soon after, he began selling drugs.
Then the unthinkable happened. “I wound up shooting someone,” Jamison said. It was three days before he turned 18.
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Jamison turned himself in and spent 16 years in prison. It was there that he had a change of heart and mind.
While working on an art project for a substance abuse class, Jamison stumbled across an article about a man who was incarcerated and became a chef after taking culinary classes behind bars. Another man in that article started a publishing business in an urban community when he got out.
It gave him hope and made him want to succeed, he said. Now, four years out, he lives in New Castle and is taking critical thinking and entrepreneurship classes at Delaware Technical Community College in Wilmington. He’s also working on a manuscript on how to overcome personal setbacks.
It takes time and introspection, but it is possible to change your life path, Jamison said. It’s especially important for young fathers. Sometimes being present is more than just providing.
If you have a daughter, Jamison said, “be the person she can talk to in her life.”
Jen Rini can be reached at (302) 324-2386 or jrini@delawareonline.com. Follow @JenRini on Twitter.
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Men’s Health magazine is all set to launch their first transgender cover model as transgender Aydian Dowling is topping the magazine’s cover contest poll.
Aydian Dowling, man who was born as woman, is leading the poll with around 33,000 votes to become the next cover model in the magazine’s Ultimate Guy Search contest to find a fit and fearless guy who can lead examples for others, the Daily Star reported.
Dowling, created a stir when he recreated Adam Levine’s nude photo shoot for transgender magazine FTM, said that as a transgender male, having a healthy body and mind was his ultimate goal to find peace within his soul.
I walked into the first session of my “Women’s Health” class this semester and again experienced disappointment. Besides me, there was one other guy in the room.
I’ve taken four classes in women’s studies. The only class that had some balance between the number of men and women was a hybrid journalism course called “Women, Men and Media.”
What is up with straight guys not taking classes in women’s studies? I sat down for close to an hour and thought about that very question.
The issue is not with women, but with men and perceptions of masculinity. Somehow there is a quality of being less manly should a guy take a women’s studies class. I already see men being teased about not “manning up.”
Men don’t want to be seen as “pussy whipped” or gay. No one is going to castrate guys in a women’s studies class.
I get it. Guys need to be seen as tough, macho, in control and in charge.
Men should consider that taking a women’s studies class or attending an event might make them better men.
The Gender and Sexuality Equity Center had a sex-positive event last year. One of the presenters was the nationally renowned sexologist Dr. Carol Queen. During her presentation she gave step-by-step instructions on how to find the clitoris, the sensitive female erogenous zone.
Men in the audience were laughing and giggling rather than taking notes. I don’t understand how those men wouldn’t want to learn more about what turns on a female partner. I’m gay, and I was actually irritated about it.
Women are often the targets of catcalling. Yet despite their own discomfort with it, men don’t speak up. Women are sexually assaulted at alarming rates in our country. Women who are liberal and open about their sexuality are shamed while we figuratively add another tally mark to our headboards.
Men should realize that the subjects of these classes are their mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmas and maybe future wives and daughters. If they’ve ever wondered why that girl they think of as cute doesn’t think the same about herself, take a class.
There is nothing wrong with a man taking a class that focuses on women.
Joseph Rogers can be reached at opinioneditor@theorion.com or @JosephLRogers1 on Twitter.
MADISON (WKOW) — If you’re looking to shed a few pounds for your New Year’s resolution, you may not have to look farther than your kids.
The Baby Diet, as it’s called, has members of the nutrition community talking. You’re not eating baby food, just mimicking your children’s eating habits, from what’s on their plate to the amount of times they’re eating meals and snacks.
Margaret Wertheim is a registered dietitian nutritionist in Madison. She says she would encourage patients to follow some foods in their kids’ diets. “If you can be introducing fruits and vegetables, simple foods like soft cooked meats, eggs, things like that for protein, both eating those kinds of things, then [the Baby Diet] could be beneficial,” says Wertheim.
She acknowledges, however, not all kids have such sophisticated tastes. “It can be that kids can be picky, and they want noodles or just really starchy foods and cheese, and it’s not very balanced. So as an adult we’re not getting all the nutrients that we need, but it can also lead to potentially to weight gain as well,” says Wertheim.
Wertheim says a beneficial part of the Baby Diet would be to follow your natural hunger and fullness instincts, like children do. “It’s really helpful for adults to really get back in tune with am I actually hungry? Am I satisfied? And just stop eating when we’re satisfied, regardless of how much food is on our plates,” she says.
