Most women in the dark about HPV- - MSNBC.com

NEW YORK - Awareness about human papillomavirus (HPV) infection and its link to cervical cancer, is relatively low among American women, according to a survey of 3,076 women 18 to 75 years of age।


Only 40 percent of women responding to the 2005 Health Information National Trends Survey had ever heard about HPV and, of those, less than 20 percent knew that HPV could sometimes lead to cervical cancer.
Sixty-four percent of women knew that HPV was sexually transmitted and 79 percent knew it could cause abnormal Pap smears.
"Therefore, one of our main findings is that being aware of HPV does not guarantee accurate knowledge," Dr. Jasmin A. Tiro, of the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, told the American Association for Cancer Research's Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting in Boston.
Younger women, those with higher education levels, and those exposed to more health information were more likely to have heard about HPV. "But the only factors associated with having accurate knowledge -- knowing that it could lead to cervical cancer -- was an abnormal Pap test or testing positive on an HPV test," Tiro said.
"This suggests that most women are finding out about HPV after experiencing a negative consequence," she said.
HPV is a very common sexually transmitted infection but in most women there are no symptoms and infection often clears without treatment so most women do not have the opportunity to learn from their doctor that HPV can become persistent and then can develop into cervical cancer.
In June 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the first vaccine to block infection by certain high-risk types of HPV. The vaccine is recommended for women 9 to 26 years of age.
This survey, Tiro noted, was performed before the HPV vaccine was approved, so it therefore provides good comparison data to measure future levels of HPV knowledge in the American population. A similar survey looking at HPV awareness is planned for 2007.
Summing up, Tiro said "we need to increase women's knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer before chances of them becoming infected so that they can protect themselves, because cervical cancer is one our greatest success stories from a screening perspective in that women do have options to prevent and detect cervical cancer early."

When it comes to sex, do women settle for less?

NEW YORK - Women have high expectations for nearly every area of their lives, but when it comes to sex, they settle for less.
And most women keep their dissatisfaction with sex a secret, leaving their partners (let alone their doctors) in the dark, said Anita Clayton, a psychiatrist who focuses on women's sexuality at the University of Virginia Health System.
"Whereas men, if they have trouble with sex, it's a crisis. They run to the doctor and say 'I need something for this.' Women don't do that. They just sort of stuff it down and push it further down on the list," Clayton said.
With surveys and years of clinical experience, Clayton has compiled a vast collection of data on women's sex lives. Often, she said, a female patient would visit her with issues like marital problems or depression, and only when directly asked about sex, the patient would divulge dissatisfaction.
Clayton attributes several factors to a woman's lack of sexual satisfaction, including:
Sex gets shoved to the bottom of the "to do" list for women. And when they do have sex it becomes just another task. Women are not getting their emotional needs met during sex. An orgasm might not be the point.
Many women strive for unrealistic physical perfection seen in the media and are unhappy with some aspect of their physical bodies.
Women don't ask for what they want in bed, fearing their partner will be hurt or leave them. Medications such as antidepressants can reduce a woman's libido and ability to reach orgasm.??What is mediocre sex?
Some women did complain about difficulty reaching orgasm or lack of sexual desire, but frequently they just felt an overall letdown regarding sex, Clayton said।

"It tends to be this feeling that they're not satisfied and a lot of times that's on an emotional level. They might have had an orgasm. But many women don't feel like [an orgasm is] the end-all, be-all every time they have sex," Clayton explained.
Not knowing why they feel so deflated after sex, women assume it's their fault or they just don't bring up the topic to their partner. Plus, Clayton said women don't have a clear awareness of their sexual desires because of social, cultural or religious beliefs that label such female wants as shameful.
Outside pressures impact a woman's view of her body, which can make having sex even less appealing.
"Women are so obsessed with our physical appearance, and we really are trying to achieve some idealized woman's body that we see in the media। We always feel like we're lacking," Clayton told LiveScience.

Instead, they focus on the ever-growing to-do list and sex becomes another task at the very bottom of the list.
"Work and family come first. We end up putting sex low on the priority list," Clayton said. "Then when our partner initiates sex, it's just another task. I really believe that we as women accept a level of dissatisfaction that we don't need to accept."
Make it a priorityTo ramp up sexual satisfaction, Clayton suggests both partners can play a role.
For one, women should know that the perfect body doesn't equal good sex. "You don't have to be a sexy bombshell-looking person to have great sex. It's really not about that. We might think that Victoria's Secret models have a great sex life, but their sex life is no better than anybody else's," Clayton said.
A confident, sexy attitude and an openness to explore sensuality can breathe life into lackluster sex. Also, women can give a higher priority to sex, holding the laundry for another day.
Guys can be more open to talking about what a woman wants in bed, to the point of initiating the conversation, Clayton said. And to make more time for sex, she said, men can help a girlfriend or wife with tasks around the house.
?2007 LiveScience.com. All rights reserved.

Opposites attract: Compatibility's in the genes

Relationship quizzes in magazines are fun, but a test for genetic compatibility might be the better way to go to see if your wife or girlfriend will cheat on you.
A new study reveals that a cluster of genes, involved in immune function among other things, could predict how sexually attracted a person is to a partner and how likely a woman is be faithful to her mate. Couples in which the individuals had dissimilar versions of so-called major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes had the greatest sexual compatibility.?
"There's this idea of romantic chemistry, but until now we haven't been able to pinpoint anything that predicts it," said lead researcher Christine Garver-Apgar, a psychologist at the University of New Mexico.
"These are some of the first findings that I know of that get at this idea of romantic chemistry and what it is exactly that makes two people just so compatible and attracted to each other," said Garver-Apgar, whose husband is related to Virginia Apgar, who developed in 1952 the Apgar score used today in hospitals to rate a newborn's health.
The MHC genes direct the production of certain protein receptors that coat the outer surfaces of cells. The protein receptors signal to the body's immune system whether a cell is a native resident or a foreign invader. With more MHC variations, the immune system can recognize a broader range of foreign cells, making associated offspring more fit.
All you need is DNA ...Garver-Apgar and her colleagues studied 48 romantically involved couples, ranging from 18 to 35 years old. For genetic material, they scraped cells from the inner cheeks of subjects.
The couples completed surveys at the start of the study, when the female partner was at the fertile part of her menstrual cycle and during her infertile period. Questions gauged a person's overall satisfaction with the current romantic relationship, contentment with in-couple sex, number of sex partners and attitude toward sex in general.
A measure of female subjects' luteinizing hormone, which regulates egg production, indicated the stage of menstrual cycle and level of fertility.
It turned out that opposites did attract, particularly when women were most fertile. "As the [MHC] similarity increases, women are more turned off toward the guy sexually and more likely to be fantasizing about other men, specifically when she's at the fertile point in her cycle," said study team member Randy Thornhill, a biologist at the University of New Mexico.
Not only did they fantasize, but women in similar-MHC relationships reported more sexual encounters outside with other men.
"This speaks to the possibility that women do seek sex outside of the relationship for a particular reason and it's to possibly obtain genetic benefits, whether those are good genes or compatible genes," Garver-Apgar told LiveScience.
Men showed no discrimination when it came to sexual desire toward their partners. That supports the idea that men don't put as much energy into reproduction. They just copulate when the opportunity arises.

Am I still a virgin if I use a tampon?

Some girls worry that if they use tampons, they will no longer be virgins. The truth is, a virgin is someone who has never had sexual intercourse. Inserting a tampon is definitely not the same as having sex!
So why do girls ask this question so often? Girls who are virgins usually have a hymen, a very thin piece of skin-like tissue that stretches partly across the opening of the vagina. A lot of people mistakenly think that a girl is still a virgin if her hymen has not been broken. Most of the time a girl's hymen breaks after having sex for the first time.
But a girl's hymen can tear in ways that have nothing to do with having sex. For example, it is possible that inserting a tampon might tear the hymen (although that usually doesn't happen). So even if a tampon does break a girl's hymen, she is still a virgin until she has had sexual intercourse.

Orlistat Approved for Over-the-Counter Sale

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an over-the-counter version of orlistat, a prescription weight-loss drug available in the United States since 1999.
The OTC version, to be known as Alli, is recommended for overweight people ages 18 and older, along with a lower-calorie, low-fat diet and exercise program, the agency said. The higher-dose prescription version of the drug will remain available.
Orlistat, which works by decreasing the intestines' ability to absorb fat, is not recommended for people who cannot properly absorb food, or for those who are not overweight. The drug may also prevent the body from absorbing certain nutrients, so users should take a multivitamin at bedtime, the agency said.
A 60 mg. Alli capsule can be taken as often as three times daily at mealtimes.
Side effects may include loose stools and other changes in bowel habits, the FDA said. People who have had an organ transplant should not take OTC orlistat, since it may interact with other drugs they are taking. Also, anyone taking blood thinners, or being treated for diabetes or a thyroid condition should speak with a doctor before taking Alli, the agency said.
Alli is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, which in a statement said the drug "is the only FDA-approved weight-loss product available to consumers without a prescription."
More information
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