Proper Genital Maintenance for Men

2015-07-28

Lots of guys ignore their health until it becomes a problem. They don’t eat right and fail to exercise. Many men wave away concern over health. But when it comes to sexual health suddenly they are all ears. The trouble is the two are inexorably linked. For instance, healthy blood flow is critical not only to good health but to sexual functioning.Those who are overweight or obese, smoke or abuse alcohol or have serious emotional problems like chronic stress, depression or anxiety, will eventually feel the effects in the bedroom. For any man who wants to perform well sexually up until their eighties and perhaps even beyond, proper maintenance of the genitals and the health of the body in general are essential. Here are some ways to live healthy and protect your sexual functioning as well. If you have abdominal weight, do your best to lose it. Fat around the abdomen saps testosterone, a hormone essential for sperm production, sex drive and the formation of erections.

If you start to experience erectile dysfunction, see your doctor right away. It could be an indicator of a more serious health issue. For smokers, it’s critical that you quit. Find the right cessation plan. Smoking injures blood vessels throughout the body including those that feed the penis and cause erections. Smoking doubles your risk of developing ED. There are lots of products on the market today to help you quit. Talk to your doctor and see which one may be right for you.  Get some exercise, particularly lower body exercise. Even if it means taking a walk after dinner each night, exercise gooses the endothelial cells that line the blood vessels, causing them to produce more nitric oxide—a key biochemical in the development of erections. The healthier a man is the more nitric oxide he will produce and the harder his erections will be. Lastly, those between the ages of 15 and 40 should inspect their testicles once a month for any hard growths or unusual lumps. Though uncommon, 8,000 men each year are diagnosed with testicular cancer, which has good treatment options and outcomes if caught early. Take care of yourself and you will enjoy a healthy sex life up into your golden years.

Everything You Need to Know about Penis Piercings

Some guys are thrill seekers. They also like women who walk on the wild side. Others like to shock and titillate. Then there are those who just think such a piercing looks cool. Whatever the reasoning, you are considering getting your penis pierced. This is a very simple, straightforward procedure. Still, if not done right it can lead to serious complications such as infection. You can even contract a life-threatening disease. It’s important that you take the time to look into the procedure and safeguard yourself. Here is everything you need to know about penis piercings. First, find a reputable establishment to perform the procedure. Make sure they are licensed and certified. Do they have a clean environment? Is the equipment sterilized? Never try to perform such a piercing yourself. Always seek a professional. How much will it cost? Depending upon where you live, about $50 plus the cost of the jewelry.

The procedure entails using a needle to make a hole in the penis and placing a ring or bar through it. Piercings may occur through the head, foreskin, the scrotum and parts of the shaft. Under no circumstances should a piercing pass directly through the shaft, however. This can cause serious injury. If you decide to remove it later on, say you don’t want it anymore, the hole often stays open. If it does close, a scar will likely occur. Once pierced, leave the jewelry in until it has fully healed. Follow the aftercare instructions faithfully. Keep the wound clean. Be sure to periodically check for any signs of allergy or infection. Select hypoallergenic jewelry as to avoid the chances of allergy. If you are going to have sex, use a sturdy condom. Select one with lots of room so the piercing won’t tear it, making the condom ineffective. Common aftereffects include a small amount of bleeding, soreness, redness, and the chance of infection including a urinary tract infection.Diabetics have a higher chance of it getting infected. If not performed with a sterile needle, one can contract HIV or hepatitis B or C.  Safeguard yourself and you should be able to enjoy your piercing without complication.

Condom Detects STIs by Changing Color

Those who are worried about contracting a sexually transmitted infection (STI) may soon have a new, discreet option at their disposal. But it wasn’t developed by scientists. Instead, this STI-detecting condom was the brainchild of three U.K. teens. Called the S.T. Eye, this condom changes color when it comes into contact with detectable, sexually transmitted diseases. Two 14 year-olds Daanyaal Ali and Chirag Shah, along with 13 year-old Muaz Nawaz created the design. Don’t expect to see an S.T. Eye in your local pharmacy in the coming weeks. The condom is still in the development stages. But the science is there and a condom company has contacted the trio about their idea. It works by embedding antibodies that react to common STIs into the condom itself. When the antibodies come into contact with certain antigens–viruses or bacteria, they react changing the condom’s color.

The boys say their idea originated with an HIV test called Elisa, which also utilizes antibodies to create a color change. The transformation in hue can take place on both sides of the condom. What color it becomes indicates the type of STI detected.There is yellow for herpes, blue for syphilis, green for chlamydia and purple for genital warts.  Instead of the embarrassment of going to a clinic or the fear of not knowing, a person can know right away in the privacy of their own bedroom. Muaz said he and his team got the idea when they came across a Reddit post about things that should be invented. A color changing condom was one item on the list. But changing color to indicate the presence of an STI was the students’ own twist. At first, they were worried that no one would take them seriously. But with the guidance of a science teacher, they were able to form the scientific basis which could easily produce a prototype. The students entered their design into a contest, and won. They are now the recipients of a TeenTech award, in addition to making headlines worldwide. For winning the contest, their school will be awarded £1,000  and the team will be brought to Buckingham Palace to meet the Duke of York this coming October.

New features on Apple’s ‘Health’ app allow users to track sexual activity

2015-07-08

 By Jacob Bogage • Washington Post

Cue Siri to play Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get it On.”

New features on Apple’s pre-installed “Health” app will allow users to track their sexual activity, namely whether or not they used protection and the time of day they had sex.

The new Health app, which already tracks other health information like fitness and nutrition data, will be available on iOS 9, which is set to come out later this year, and will also include the ability to track other reproductive health metrics like menstruation and ovulation cycles.

And all that is great, some users say — Apple notoriously ignored women’s health issues as it developed previous versions of Health — but also not so great, others say, since tracking how often people do the deed is perhaps a little too personal.

“Really think it through. Why do I need a computer to figure out this part of my life?” said Teresa Schoch, associate director of Berkeley Research Group.

You don’t, Schoch thinks, especially if the data you enter ends up on some kind of cloud or external server.

You can choose to store your data solely on your device without backing it up to the cloud. But Apple also let’s you choose to share your data with your doctor or anonymously with researchers.

Apple is also set to release “HealthKit,” which will pool data entered into various health and fitness apps. For example, if you use an app that tracks blood pressure and another that tracks caloric intake, those apps could share the information they gather with HealthKit to provide a comprehensive overview of your health data.

And that, in a Utopian world where all data is safe all the time and nothing bad ever happens on the Web, sounds like a fantastic way to track your health.

“It just might be the beginning of a health revolution,” Apple’s Website reads.

Or it could be a great way to put personal information at risk and provide hackers nuanced and specific information.

“Data about reproductive health is very sensitive, but there are situations where maybe you want someone to know that,” said Harlan Yu, principal at Upturn, a technology consulting firm. “You might want your doctor or researchers to know that. But in other situations you might not want drug companies or insurance companies to have that information.”

Think about this: Harvard professor Latanya Sweeney found in a 2000 study that 87 percent of Americans were uniquely identifiable based on their gender, birth date and zip code. Sweeney found all that information using Census data that at the time was 10 years old.

So now, imagine what nuanced health information could say, even if it’s collected in bulk or anonymously and even if it’s not obtained nefariously, Schoch says.

“They can pinpoint you if they wanted to,” she said.

That doesn’t mean health data collection is inherently dangerous, though. Collection of reproductive health data feels more creepy, but it can still be innocuous.

“The way I look at this stuff is I look at harm,” said University of Washington law professor Ryan Calo, who specializes in Internet privacy. “Could this information be used in a way that could disadvantage you?”

That’s a question to answer before using an app to track your bedroom behavior.