Archive for April, 2007

Sexually Themed Park to Open in Britain

They say the British are more relaxed about sex and censorship than us Americans, and this is just another fact that proves that point.  I guess the there is a new sexually themed amusement park in the works that will be built in Britain called the Amora Academy of Sex and Relationships which offers new sexual thrills and titillations to the average joe.  Not only that, it’s being built in the capital of Britain, London, known as a cosmopolitan gathering place for the wealthy and important!

It will feature fun little exhibits such as how to do a striptease and how to do the fun spanking of the playful and sexual nature as well.

Who knows, it may even feature themes on oral sex and other sexual education pieces, but of course not everyone is looking at this so light heartedly.  Of course, a few tight-knickered people have to ruin it for the rest of us, and there are protests already against the building of a sexual theme park.  Hey if you don’t like it, don’t go!

Sperm Cells Duplicated for First Time

Wow.  It’s truly a miracle of modern science.  Male sperm cells have been duplicated from completely different male cells, and this may even be treading on the morally ethical or not ethical line in terms of procreation, but I’m on the VERY LIBERAL side of the fence on this issue, trust me. 

In the ongoing research that is currently happening in the area of stem cell technology ( a very politically touchy subject at the moment ), apparently now sperm cells can be recreated, or synthetically generated from the cells found in bone marrow!  Now, this is truly significant, and also goes to show that we’re not in the age of innocence any more, scientifically, socially, and politically speaking.

But not so fast…researchers are saying that this is really just the beginning, and these bone marrow-derived cells are really just starting to show the signs that they are developing into immature sperm cells, and the genesis into mature sperm cells that are capable of reproducing may be as much as five years off, which is really only like minutes scientifically speaking. 

Heck, we all know how fast five years flies by in our lives.  Sad, actually how fast time goes, especially scientifically speaking.  One has to wonder though, are we meant to scientifically advance this far, genetically speaking? 

Or is this my skeptic speaking out loud?  Am I getting too existential on you?  I really do just wonder, should we really be “perverting” science to this degree, or is this truly a miracle that could help millions of people in ways we can’t even imagine?  Just an open discussion….feel free to add your comments on this controversial, thought provoking subject.  

Members of Abstinence Programs Still Having Sex?

Some say you can’t stop mother nature.  She’s like a freight train, once that momentum (hormones, puberty, adolescence) kicks in, there is no stopping the natural yearnings for sex and intimacy that occurs in both young men and young women.  But try we will to both stop them from having sex all together in their younger years, when judgment is not exactly ripest, and also to at least make sure if they are having sex, it is safe and won’t result in pregnancy or an STD.

A study that was actually put on by Congress to see if these government funded abstinence-encouraging programs worked in the youngsters of the US, said pretty clearly that the kids who participated in the abstinence programs still were just as likely a few years later to have sex and be sexually active as their counterparts who did not participate in similar programs. 

This is a darn shame, because currently the government is spending an astounding amount of money on funding these abstinence programs, and all evidence is pointing to the fact that they simply don’t work.  Like I said earlier, sex and sexual intimacy is basically an unstoppable occurrence, and it is natural for people to crave this type of female and natural male enhancement of the intimacy quotient between women and men. 

Education is key, but I don’t believe personally the preaching abstinence is the way to go about it, as it simply is not realistic or practical.  Here you have kids whose hormones are raging, and you’re telling them to not have sex.  What are kids in this age group most likely to do, too?  They are likely to rebel and do the exact opposite of what they’re told.  All in all, abstinence programs need to take a serious look at whether they are just a waste of taxpayers dollars. 

Education should focus on respecting your body, trying to stay abstinent, and using condoms if you really feel the need to have sex or be sexually active.  Also, for women, there may be a focus on preventing pregnancy, and showing that babies are a lot of work, rather than shaking the finger in their face saying sex is bad.  Again, I think this almost works in the reverse that it is intended when it is approached as a “dirty” or taboo subject. 

Ovulating Women Prefer a “Real Man”

We’ve touched on this before, but seeing the story with a slightly different spin in the “news” again drew my interest to this fascinating biological fact again.  Women, during their ovulation, which is when the egg is ready to be fertilized and is dropped far down into the tubes for fertilization (this also happens to be the time of the month when women crave sex the most, go figure), tend to pick more “manly” masculine men to bed. 

The other interesting fact is that women tend to pick more masculine men when they are looking for short term flings, as a purely sexually driven fling, but do not tend to pick these types of men when choosing a mate for lifetime, whether this is really a concious decision or not.  It most likely is a biologically, instinctually driven instinct though, as most sexual instincts and mating rituals do tend to be for both the male and female sex.

Interestingly enough, women tend to also base their choice of masculinity in men, and the level of masulinity, on how attractive they rate view themselves as.  Masculine traits in men tend to be a deeper voice, genetically larger sized penises, a strong jaw line and brow line, pheromones out the wazoo (some studies have actually shown that men with more masculine traits also tend to emit more pheromones for whatever reason).

The studies showed that women who were at their most fertile peaks during the month when shown pictures of various men would usually pick the pictures of the men with the most manly characteristics as mate choices, or as who they were most sexually attracted to at that moment. 

The really interesting part of this on a biological scale is that men who tend to have higher testosterone levels are actually viewed, instinctually, as being healthier, and more capable of providing, as well as more able to fertilize a woman’s egg.  Not only that, scientifically men with higher testosterone levels have been shown to be the healthier men with more stable health qualities than men with lower testosterone levels or even testosterone deficiencies. 

Women tended to find men with more feminine/less masculine traits more attractive during times of “off peak” for ovulation and fertility though, because supposedly in the woman’s mind, and often in nature, men with higher testosterone levels are more likely to not stick around, and to not be as stable and trustworthy of a mate.  Interesting stuff, definitely.

Man Awake During Surgery Commits Suicide

This is really a horrible story, and one that apparently is not as uncommon as I thought it was, after reading the article on this unfortunate (understated) situation.  A baptist minister actually went in for exploratory surgery in his abdomen, to investigate some abdominal pains he’d been complaining of for a while, and it ended up being related to his gallbladder. 

The problem is, he actually was not adequately anesthetized, and because of this, his family claims in the lawsuit filed against the anesthesiologist group, he suffered excruciating pain and was unable to move, tell anyone or cry out in pain, but was instead paralyzed by the paralysis drugs they had given him to prevent spasming which could interfere with the exploratory surgery.

The poor man was actually haunted by the experience, and the lawsuit further alleges that because he was not told by the hospital that the anesthesia was not administered until well into the surgery, he doubted his own sanity and thought maybe his memories of the terrifying experience were all “in his head”. 

As horrible as all of that is, the man ended up committing suicide about two weeks after the whole incident, killing himself with a shotgun wound.  The family claims the minister had no history of mental illness or suicidal tendencies, and that his suicide was directly caused by his horrifying experience of being conscious during the surgery.

I really hope the family gets what they deserve, this truly sounds like a malpractice case that deserves to be won. 

Men’s Age Management

We’ve officially lost our minds over never aging.  This millenium marks the era of anti-aging, and the age obsessed are going to great lengths to prevent aging of the body and the mind.  Mostly the focus is on the body, such as the skin and hair, but there is also a lot of emphasis on anti aging of the mind, since no one likes to lose their mental edge. 

I don’t disagree with this movement at all, in fact I embrace it as a new era of improvement and the human race simply taking evolution to the next level : namely, making it so that we can live longer, as functional as we were when we were younger, for a longer time.

There are natural supplements, such as GenF20 HGH releaser HGH enhancing supplement, which help to naturally increase that natural, elusive hormone that is known for the power of anti aging and keeping one younger, longer.  But there are also literally hundreds of vitamins, supplements, nutritional support foods, and “super foods” that are being marketed as the next big thing in anti aging and keeping the years off.

But some are saying that our age management medications and supplements are going too far.  There are specialists who called themselves “age management specialists” who specialize in, you guessed it – a newer form of practice called age management where doctors who are trained to nutritionally support a person and make their bodies appear and feel younger, help people to live a lifestyle which they are pretty much destined to live longer.

These specialists actually are not recognized as official “doctors” and the field is not yet recognized by the AMA (American Medical Association) as an officially recognized medical field of practice, but these professionals are becoming more and more popular as people simply desire to live longer and to want more out of life – and a longer, happier life at that.

A consultation with one of these age management specialists apparently does not come cheap though.  It is reportedly in the thousands for consultations, and then there are tests they do on your blood as well as the prescription of dozens of supplements and dietary restrictions.  In the end?  Sure it may be controversial, but I bet it’s healthy, so who cares.  If people want to shell out this kind of money, so be it.  They probably will live longer than us poor schlumps too……

Genetic Markers for Prostate Cancer

It was recently in the news how the genetic markers for prostate cancer are becoming more apparently important in the world of prostate cancer prevention and detection, as well as to help men know what their risk is so they can perhaps be more vigilant in taking preventive and healthy measures in their life to lessen the risk.

The new studies are pointing to the possibility of what they’re calling “junk DNA”.  Scientists have always known that if the fraternal side of the family has a history of prostate cancer, then the men in the current generation are all the much more likely to get the cancer as well.  This is the genetic connection, but the problem is, they could not identify the exact genetic marker for the increased likelihood of prostate cancer in men that were just getting around to that ever so important age where prostate cancer can start to be a real threat.

There are now seven different genetic anomalies, or variations, though that have now been identified in the quest for finding genetic markers for determining the likelihood of getting prostate cancer.  The genes they’ve identified though, are not a vital part of our DNA, and they cannot figure out why they’ve been found as part of these men’s DNA, because they are not protein producing DNA, so they are hence called “junk DNA”.

The mystery is to find out why they are found in these men’s DNA, and from there they may be able to unlock some more mysteries of prostate health and why some men are more prone to this type of cancer than others.  It is a good thing that there are some excellent supplements for prostate health on the market today, and there are some known actions that we can take to ensure that our prostate health is in peak functioning condition well into our later years…

Pheromone Review : New on MEM

New on MEM, we have an overview of pheromones, their importance to the human mind and that art of sexual attraction between a man and a woman, and how you can actually “wear” pheromones and garner more attention from the ladies – no we’re not kidding.  Pheromones have been wittled down to a science where they can relatively easily be assimilated into a cologne-type spray and worn to the benefit of any guy.  Guys report that they do notice increased attention from the opposite sex.  Could it be a placebo?  Perhaps, but the evidence is pretty compelling to the contrary that pheromones, when worn, do attract women.  Read our pheromone review : pheromone review.  It’s fun stuff..

Britain Much More Lax on Sexual Content on TV

I know that the US is known for somewhat strict restrictions nowadays on what can’t and cannot air on national television, well, ok, nowhere near as strict as say Japan and China censorship, but we are getting stricter it seems, as time goes on.  I didn’t really understand how much more leeway British censors give to their television shows until I saw the hilarious British version of the now popular in the US show, The Office.  Ricky Gervais, the creator, writer, and I believe also the director of the show, is brilliant.

Not only is their swearing (I even heard the F bomb a couple times), but there are also sexual inuendos on the show, as well as sexual talk, and even a dildo showed up on one of the episodes!  Try to get that by the censors over here and you’d be laughed at! 

It made me realize how prude we’ve gotten as a society when sexual content is considered “dirty” vulgar, and taboo, when sex is just a natural, and yes, many times funny, thing to not only talk about but to make fun and make light of in sitcom situational comedies such as the British version of The Office. 

The US version of the office is pretty funny, but it doesn’t get the same kind of deep, gutteral laughs as the British version, for the simple fact that sex and adult humor is just plain funny!  I’m hoping our censorship relaxes a little bit, but that is not likely, as we are seeming to go into a direction where the government and the religious right has more of a say in censorship than the people who actually watch tv or listen to music a lot.

Red Meat Affects Sperm Quality?

Well, not apparently if you’re a red meat-eater currently, but if your mom tore away at the colon-unhealthy stuff, then red meat may actually cause a decrease in sperm quality on the boys they give birth to that they were pregnant with while consuming the red meat in abundance. 

Don’t ask me how they’ve arrived at such a long-shot hypothesis, but this is what they are saying may be linked to a lower sperm count and lower sperm quality in men when they are older.  While this theory may seem a tad far fetched, it really may not be after all. 

We’ve talked about how the hormones and chemicals in meats, cheeses and even veggies have been linked to everything from cancer to inability to get pregnant, so why wouldn’t red meat be the culprit behind men with low sperm counts?

Red meat retains the hormones and chemicals that are put into them, and when the woman’s body absorbs this, it goes right to the infants body, and may mess with the mechanisms in the baby’s system that dictate the sperm count and sperm quality when they get older.  It might even affect their hormone levels as they age, for all we know. 

The difference is in the neighborhood of 25% lower sperm count to boot, which means this is no mere coincidence, and researchers say that the link between red meat and sperm count in older years was very strong and could not be ignored.   

I for one think this train of thought and study is pretty fascinating, and it’s amazing what modern science can trace back now.