Bath Spa University ‘blocks transgender research’

Posted on 25/09/2017 by Boris Clair

It was feared studying people who reversed gender reassignment surgery could be “politically incorrect”.

Health24.com | Surgery may trigger opioid abuse in teens and young adults

Posted on 25/09/2017 by Boris Clair

Opioids are a class of drug that include illegal substances like heroin, as well as prescription pain relievers like oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine and morphine.

The reason why opioids can be highly addictive is because they cause the brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that brings about feelings of pleasure. With repeated exposure, these drugs can however become habit-forming.

Teens and young adults who have surgery may be at increased risk for opioid painkiller abuse, a new study indicates.

Substances believed not to be addictive

Opioids such as oxycodone (OxyContin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin) are commonly prescribed for pain after surgery.

“And until recently, it was generally believed they were not addictive,” said study lead author Dr Calista Harbaugh. She’s a general surgery resident at the University of Michigan Medical School.

“The study is an important step toward recognising that the [US] opioid epidemic is affecting adolescents and young adults in a major way,” Harbaugh said in an American Academy of Pediatrics news release.

Persistent opioid use

For the study, researchers analysed data from nearly 90 000 privately insured US patients aged 13 to 21 (average age 17) who underwent one of 13 common surgeries in this age group. The patients had no history of opioid painkiller prescriptions before their surgery.

The investigators looked for persistent opioid use – defined as continued prescription refills 90 to 180 days after the surgical procedure and beyond what is expected after routine surgery.

The overall rate of persistent post-surgical use was nearly 5%, ranging from less than 3% to more than 15% depending on the type of surgery and other factors, the findings showed.

The rate was 0.1% in a “control group” of teens and young adults who did not have surgery.

Leftover prescriptions

Patients who underwent gallbladder removal and colon surgery had the highest risk of persistent opioid use. Older youth with other chronic conditions, depression, anxiety or prior substance use disorders also had an elevated risk, according to the study.

Recent research has found that many adults become addicted to opioid painkillers after surgery, but this is the first study to suggest this problem also occurs in teens and young adults post-surgery, the researchers said.

“Most adolescents who misuse prescription opioids get the pills from leftover prescriptions of their family, friends, or their own,” Harbaugh explained. “We need to make sure that we treat pain after surgery, but it must be balanced with the risk of providing more opioid than necessary to patients and their communities.

Alternative treatments

Health24 recently mentioned a study where alternative pain treatments were explored. These include:

Acupuncture
Electrotherapy (the use of electric energy to stimulate nerves and muscles)
Cryotherapy (the application of extreme cold to the region of surgery)
Machine-based rehabilitation (continuous passive motion)
Pre-surgery exercise regimens

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Health24.com | This is why people start to lose interest in sex, according to science

Posted on 24/09/2017 by Boris Clair

Let’s face it, everyone is fascinated with sex. What are the best positions? How often are other people getting it on? Is something wrong if you don’t always want to do it with your partner? The list goes on and on. And new research is clueing us in on many of these curiosities.

A new study published in BMJ Open analysed data from a sample survey taken between 2010 and 2012 that asked people all kinds of questions about sex. The study included 4,839 men and 6,669 women between the ages of 16 and 74 years who had at least one sexual partner in the past year.

And the findings are interesting, to say the least. Overall, 15 percent of men and more than 34 percent of women reported having a lack of interest in sex. Researchers found that the disinterest was related to age, as well as physical and mental health for both sexes. It was also more prevalent in men and women who said that they had been diagnosed with an STI in the past, or had been forced to have sex before.

Not surprisingly, men and women were less likely to be into sex if they’d struggled with sexual issues in the last year, didn’t feel emotionally close to their partner during sex, or weren’t able to easily talk about sex.

Researchers found that the gender gap was mainly relevant for people who had been in a relationship for more than a year. In these cases, women were more likely to not share the same level of interest in sex as their partner.

This may not come as a huge shocker. Of course, you’re never going to be as hot for each other as you were when you first started dating. But the study findings also affirm how important it is to keep the spark alive—after all, you don’t want to risk losing your sex life altogether, right?

If all of this hits close to home, you’re not alone. “A lot of couples struggle when their sex lives become too routine,” says David Klow, owner of Skylight Counseling Center in Chicago and author of the upcoming book, You Are Not Crazy: Love Letters From Your Therapist. He recommends shaking things up by trying different positions or getting it on in new locations.

But to us, what really stands out is the huge discrepancy between women and men when it comes to a lack of interest in sex—women are more than twice as likely as men to not be down to get down. What’s going on here?

Dr. Ramani Durvasula, author of Should I Stay or Should I Go? says it’s also a good idea to embrace the idea of a quickie. “Sex doesn’t have to be all candles and foreplay,” she says. “Sometimes it can make it more playful within the time frame.” Cuddling, holding, and touching each other on a regular basis can also build intimacy that can translate to the bedroom, she says. Date nights and having scheduled moments where you can connect—just the two of you—can also help, she says. )

If you feel like your libido has been lower than usual lately, talk to your partner about it. Stress can torpedo your sex drive and it may simply be that you need your S.O. to help out a little more, Durvasula says.

If all else fails, consider couples therapy, advises Durvasula. “Find out if the mismatched sexual interest is time and stress or something more sinister.”

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za}

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Korin Miller