An article published in the November/December issue of Medsurg Nursing found that not only are rates of HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, herpes and the human papilloma virus (HPV) rising among Americans older than 50, but doctors don’t seem to be addressing this concern. “Unfortunately, the common misconception still persists that people over 50 are no longer sexually active,” wrote study co-authors Lisa Jeffers and Mary DiBartolo. “As a result, healthcare providers often do not discuss risky sexual behaviors and STD prevention with middle-aged and older adults.” Researchers have come up with many different theories as to why this generation is more sexually active than the previous one. While some believe that it may be due to the prevalence and popularity of erectile dysfunction medication, others suggest it could be the high divorce rates and liberal sexual attitude of the baby boomer generation. The scientists said that, regardless of the reasons, healthcare providers need to step it up when it comes to increasing STD awareness among older populations. This includes informing them of the dangers of various sexual infections and explaining the importance of safer sex. Physicians also need to be sure to offer STD screening to patients over the age of 50, since older individuals are less likely to seek out testing on their own.

Communication is the key to ensuring that individuals remain educated about their sexual health. Doctors need to encourage older patients to be comfortable discussing their sex lives, to reduce STD rates among this population.

Alcohol use has been associated with an increased risk of STDs for years, but in the past researchers were unsure if this was correlation or causation. What this means is that scientists did not know if drinking was leading to the practice of unsafe sex or if individuals who were consuming high amounts of alcohol and not using condoms merely possessed certain personality traits that made them more likely to engage in risky behaviors. After this study, the researchers believe that heavy drinking affects decision-making, regardless of an individual’s usual behavioral pattern.

“Drinking has a causal effect on the likelihood to engage in unsafe sex, and thus should be included as a major factor in preventive efforts for HIV”, commented J. Rehm, M.D., the principal investigator of the study. “This result also helps explain why people at risk often show this behaviour despite better knowledge: alcohol is influencing their decision processes.” Furthermore, the researchers added that individuals who already have HIV should not drink because it could potentially compromise their immune system and increase their risk of infecting others if they engage in unsafe sex. It’s important to remember that two people with HIV still need to use protection in order to keep from potentially contracting a different strain of the virus.

“Our results suggest that people who use drugs have a 74 percent greater risk of overdose if they are HIV-infected compared to their counterparts who are not HIV-infected…Our study found that premature death by overdose is an issue that affects people with HIV disproportionately,” said researcher Traci Green, Ph.D. The scientists said that an individual’s HIV status and the toll that this disease takes on the body’s immune system could potentially be influencing the number of overdoses this population experiences. These overdoses could also be potentially caused by HIV infected individuals living a riskier lifestyle. Researchers said that these findings highlight the need for overdose awareness and prevention programs aimed at this population.

Understanding the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and the importance of practicing safer sex is key to reducing infection rates in the U.S., and yet researchers are finding that teen boys are not being given the information they need. Furthermore, the studies found that young men are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, which shows that they truly require more education in this area.
For example, the researchers noted that past studies found that 26 percent of sexually active young men have had sex while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and nearly 30 percent have engaged in unprotected intercourse.

The scientists believe that a lack of guidelines regarding what services need to be offered to teen boys in terms of sexual health, such as STD testing, may be to blame.
“Many clinicians currently forego delivering some or many of these services because of limited time during visits, lack of evidence on the benefit of doing so and absence of guidelines on how to go about it,” said lead author Arik Marcell, M.D., M.P.H., a teen health expert at Hopkins Children’s. The researchers said that creating guidelines for physicians to follow that include offering STD testing to boys 13 and older, screening for substance abuse and mental health issues, and discussing the male role in pregnancy could help reduce the risky sexual behaviors that these young men are engaging in.

The Durex Sexual Wellbeing global survey found that six out of 10 U.S. men and women (60 percent) used no protection against STDs when they had intercourse for the first time. This is an extremely high number compared to other countries such as Mexico, where 49 percent of survey respondents said they hadn’t used protection when they lost their virginity.
Furthermore, one in five Americans surveyed said they were unsure of whether their partner was infected with an STD when they had sex, and a quarter of U.S. women said they regretted participating in risky sexual activity.

“The findings highlight how important it is to continue the efforts to inform and educate sexually active Americans of all ages,” commented Kevin Harshaw, of health and personal care company Reckitt Beckinser. Some other interesting results from the survey included the fact that U.S. men claim to have had an average of 20 sexual partners in their life, which is more than Mexico, France and Britain. American women admit to an average of 10 partners, which is the same number as Britain and France, but more than Canada and Italy.
Nobody can be truly sure of their partner’s STD status unless they ask him or her, and even then individuals should practice safer sex to ensure that they are doing all they can to avoid contracting an infection.

Researchers asked 25 gay and lesbian people to observe 10 to 15 commercials that “exemplified dominant gay and lesbian portrayals.” The scientists then asked study participants to analyze these ads and offer opinions. They found that this population believes that these ads are an important step in the LGBT community being recognized as consumers who are contributing to the economy. Even when the ads were showing stereotypical portrayals, the study participants still viewed them in a positive light. “I was ambivalent when watching this commercial. It’s playing up the stereotype. But for me, if you can see gay people on TV in Texas, it’s positive,” one participant said. Researchers say that the next step is to determine if political ads aimed at the LGBT community would be effective in encouraging acceptance of this population and helping them feel included.

The researchers found that of the more than 1,500 internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 surveyed, only 2.5 percent had sexted in the past year, and only 1 percent of these messages had involved images that could potentially violate child pornography laws. “Lots of people may be hearing about these cases discovered by schools and parents because they create a furor, but it still involves a very small minority of youth,” said lead author Kimberly Mitchell, research assistant professor of psychology at the UNH Crimes against Children Research Center.

One of the main concerns of parents is that these images may be getting widely distributed on the internet, but 90 percent of teens surveyed said any sexual messages or images they received were never shown to anyone else. Researchers spoke to police who confirmed that out of the images that had been brought to their attention, two-thirds stayed on one individual’s cell phone and were never circulated online. More research needs to be conducted to determine if this trend leads to an increase in promiscuous sex and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among teens.

While state health officials are pleased with this news, they are hoping to determine the cause of this drop so that these rates can continue to go down. “Possibilities include increased effort to notify and treat the sexual partners of people already diagnosed and undergoing treatment. The general increased awareness of STDs that follows a strong outbreak is also likely a factor,” according to the Dispatch. Also, chlamydia rates are down in the state. This is a key finding, as the number of people with this particular STD in the U.S. was higher than ever in 2011, with more than a million reported cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Furthermore, the organization estimates that half of the people infected with this disease don’t even know it, so the number of individuals with chlamydia may actually be dramatically higher.

It’s extremely important to keep gonorrhea rates under control, as MSNBC reports that a new strain of the STD has been discovered that is resistant to all antibiotics. This could lead to a serious problem if effective treatments for this strain are not developed, which is why all individuals should be sure to practice safer sex.

First, the news source detailed the high prevalence of the human papillomavirus (HPV). “At least 50 percent of sexually active men and women will have a genital HPV infection at some point in their lives. HPV, comes in both low- and high-risk forms; low-risk HPV can cause genital warts and high-risk can cause cervical and other cancers,” according to Live Science. Planned Parenthood states that while most HPV cases are harmless, there is no cure for the infection and it can sometimes lead to life-threatening cancers. This is one of the many reasons to practice safer sex. Some other interesting facts Live Science reported included the fact that women have an average of four sexual partners in their lifetime while men have seven. Also, approximately 5 percent of 40-year-old men and 15 to 25 percent of 65-year-old men experience erectile dysfunction.

One fact that was somewhat startling was that two-thirds of college students surveyed by Wayne State University and Michigan State University said they had been involved in a “friends with benefits” relationship, which is defined as a sexual relationship without emotional attachment or commitment. This is worrisome, considering that young people acquire half of all new STD infections each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If this population is having non-monogamous intercourse regularly, they need to be sure to practice safer sex.

“[Canadian men] might drop subtle hints like going for coffee but I had no idea if that meant anything special. It’s considered shameful where I’m from if a woman is noticeably chasing a man so I just stopped trying to date,” said the student, quoted by The Brunswickan. It’s important that international college students understand the differences in sexual behaviors in their new countries. “Hooking up” can mean one thing in one country, and something completely different in another. This kind of miscommunication can lead to hurt feelings and uncomfortable situations at the least, and, at worst, unwanted sexual advances.

Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that college-age people report four times more cases of chlamydia than the general population, it’s important to encourage clear and open communication among students about sexual health matters. This population is in need of as much education as possible about the importance of safer sex, and that includes understanding possible cultural differences that may surface.