Nation Observes STD Awareness Month

This month of April the nation observes STD Awareness Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced recently.

The annual observance aims to raise public awareness on STDs - how it impacts the lives of Americans and why it is important to practice safe sex to prevent these diseases from spreading.

CDC cites the following key facts:

• There are about 19 million new cases of STDs each year, almost half of them among young people ages 15 to 24.

• STDs costs the country an estimated at $15.3 billion annually in direct medical costs.

• Chlamydia remains the most commonly reported infectious disease in the U.S. with 2.8 million new infections each year.

• Young females 15 – 19 years of age have the highest chlamydia rate.

• Gonorrhea is the second most commonly reported infectious disease in the U.S. with about 700,000 new cases each year.

• Racial disparities in gonorrhea cases are high: nineteen times higher among African Americans than among whites; three times higher among American Indians/Alaska Natives than among whites; twice as high among Hispanics than among whites.

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Abstinence, being faithful and the correct and consistent use of condoms are the only ways to prevent the spread of STDs. The Condom Zone offers the top condom brands at great prices. Discreet shipping guaranteed.

One in Five College Students has STD

According to the Health Services at Columbia University, 20 to 25 percent of college students are carriers of or have been infected with an STD. That's one in five college students.

In fact, nearly 65 percent of all STD cases occur among people younger than 25. Isn't that enough reason to practice safe sex?

If you are sexually active, have several partners, and do not practice safe sex, there's a good chance of you getting an STD. If you have any of the common STD symptoms it is best for you to see a professional and have yourself checked.

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Abstinence, being faithful and the correct and consistent use of condoms are the only ways to prevent the spread of STDs. The Condom Zone offers the top condom brands at great prices. Discreet shipping guaranteed.

Newfound Benefits of Circumcision

Male circumcision is a hotly contested topic. Though it continues to be a popular procedure, there are those who argue against its supposed benefits saying it is an unnecessary procedure and that it is a form of genital mutilation.

From the viewpoint of STD/HIV prevention, male circumcision has some value as it has already shown to reduce the incidence of HIV infection in men. The World Health Organization even endorses the procedure for HIV Prevention.

A recent study found that circumcision also reduces transmission of both herpes simplex virus Type 2 and human papilloma virus.

This is a significant finding considering that at least 45 million people in the United States ages 12 and older have had herpes and that about 20 million have HPV.

Herpes, or H.S.V.-2, is an incurable infection that can cause recurrent painful genital lesions. HPV also has no treatment or cure but a vaccine is available for females.

The study, which was conducted on 3,000 Ugandan men, showed that those who had circumcision had a 25 percent reduced risk of infection from herpes and 35 percent reduced risk of infection from HPV.

While the study was conducted in Africa, the authors believe the findings are applicable in the US where.

You can read the source of this post here.

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Global Crisis Spikes Condom Sales

Economics has taught us that in times of recession, many products suffer in sales as people tend to save money because of decrease in income, pending unemployment, or, general lack of confidence on the economy.

Amidst the economic downturn, there is a product that has performed well sales-wise. Sales of condoms are reported to be on the rise not only in the U.S. but in many parts of the globe as well.

A USA Today report notes that condom sales in the U.S. registered a 5 percent increase in last quarter of 2008 and 6 percent increase in January compared to the same month last year.

In the UK, 2,142,857 packs of condoms were sold during Valentine's Day despite the recession according to The Sun.

In India a condoms manufacturer, HLL Lifecare reports “In the first 10 months of this fiscal, from April 2008 to January 2009, we have sold 65 million condoms in the commercial segment, as against the corresponding period in 2007-08 when the sales were 54.2 million” according to the Economic Times.

This unusual trend is attributed to several factors:

1) With unemployment rates at high levels many couples have more time for one another;
2) Couples also tend to stay at home during these times to avoid unnecessary expenses; and
2) Couples just want to enjoy sex while avoiding the anxiety of having another child to raise.

Thus, this proves the motto "Sex Sells" rings true even during these hard times.

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The One Touch Condom from Japan

The Japanese love technology and, just like everyone else, they love sex; safe sex, that is.

An obvious combination of both technology and sex brought this amazing innovation. You just gotta watch it to believe:



Here's hoping this kind of condom reaches US stores soon. In the meantime, great condoms are available at great prices at The Condom Zone.

Great Durex Performa Ads

Here's the next set of great Durex Performa pictures harvested from the web. Enjoy!

Promising Anti-HIV Drug Bevirimat Gets New Owner

Bevirimat, a promising drug against HIV, was recently acquired by Myriad Pharmaceuticals from Panacos Pharmaceuticals of Watertown, MA. Under the terms of sale, Myriad acquires the rights to develop and eventually sell the drug, while Panacos receives a $7 million payment.

Bevirimat is an anti-HIV drug derived from a betulinic acid-like compound, first isolated from Syzygium claviflorum, a Chinese herb. It is believed to inhibit HIV by a novel mechanism, so-called maturation inhibition. (From Wikipedia).

According to a press release from Panacos:

"Bevirimat (PA-457) is a maturation inhibitor, the first in this new class of HIV drugs under development. Bevirimat is designed to have potent activity against a broad range of HIV strains, and studies have shown bevirimat is a potent inhibitor of HIV isolates that are resistant to currently approved drugs. Panacos has completed 15 clinical studies with bevirimat in nearly 650 patients and healthy volunteers, showing significant reductions in viral load in HIV-infected patients and a promising safety profile. It is currently in Phase 2b clinical studies. Panacos previously determined the optimal dose range of bevirimat and identified patient response predictors to bevirimat, which now have been confirmed in multiple laboratory analyses and a prospective study. Panacos has recently developed a tablet formulation of bevirimat that demonstrates bioavailability and pharmacokinetics comparable to that of the previous solution formulation."

Panacos has this cool movie on how Bevirimat works. Takes awhile to load, though.


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Prevention is always better than cure. Always practice Safe Sex, its cheaper that way.