Well guys, I have some rather bad news for those that suffer form persistent erectile dysfunction, meaning they regularly have problems achieving an erection or keeping an erection long enough to have satisfying sex.  As if ED isn’t a big enough problem in itself, causing mental anguish and frustration for the men it affects, doctors are now warning men who have it that it may be an indication of a more serious health problem, usually having to do with the heart or circulation, which indeed is very serious and needs to be looked at immediately.

They say that lots of men who suffer from ED and have for a while may be too embarrassed to go see a doctor about the problem, but in fact if they don’t, they may be putting their lives in jeopardy.  This goes especially for men who are diabetic, who often experience problems with erectile dysfunction, since they are especially high risk for other complications that are only symbolized by ED.

Not only can ED predict with some accuracy your likelihood of having heart problems but it also may predict likelihood of stroke.  It makes sense if you do think about it, since erections are essentially reliant on the fact that a man’s circulation is good enough to get the blood flowing to the penis to get and keep it hard enough to have sexual intercourse for a reasonably sustained period of time.  ED is an indicator that all is not as well as it should be on the circulation front, and a battery of tests can conclude this for men who are concerned their ED signals larger issues. 

Men often, especially in certain cultures where it is considered embarrassing to go to the doctor for such a condition, or in demographics that don’t have health insurance, ignore the problem of ED because they either are in denial or they think that it’s too expensive to treat, or that it is, in a way, a “self contained” problem that is not indicative of other problems.  In fact it is a very good indicator though of bigger issues to come, and men cannot afford to ignore it if it has happened to them on a consistent basis. 

There are also of course preventive steps that can be taken such as modified nutrition, exercise, and certain medications that can improve the underlying issues behind ED that can improve quality and span of life as well as help prevent the heart and circulation problems that may lead men to having a heart attack or a stroke. 

There may be new technology for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization, where a woman can be artificially inseminated to get pregnant when there are difficulties for whatever reason in achieving pregnancy)  that may reduce the odds of a woman being impregnated with multiple embryos, as is often the case now in a lot of IVF endeavors, with women having mutliple babies from it.   In fact, most women understand this fact and have to be ok with it to be able to go through the process. 

IVF is sort of a “test tube baby” sort of process.  What happens is that eggs are taken from a woman, and the sperm is taken from the man, and  those are cultivated in a petrie dish (or however else they do this, there may be some other mechanism used for all I know).  Currently, the doctor takes the most viable of the bunch and implants them into a woman’s uterus, and the hope is that one of some of them take off and start to develop into little bundles of joy. 

The newer process, and researchers are hoping a soon to be very viable and cost effective process, is that the doctors would take the most viable cells via DNA tests to determine which are the strongest and most able to develop into these blastocysts, which are the precursor to a full blown fetus, and therefore cut down on the need to cultivate multiples of babies since this is essentially what leads to multiple births - the needs to implant multiples for maximum likelihood that one or some will take and the women will be pregnant. 

Newer DNA testing and application techniques are going to make for some very exciting advances in modern day science. Already, there are several DNA tests on the horizon or at least in research and development, that may help determine serious illness before it occurs by determining likelihood of development via DNA structure and background. 

These genetic weaknesses may be able to be exploited to help find cures and tests to prevent degenerative diseases such as cancers and other things that can be prevented if caught early or put into preventive mode before they are even a problem. 

The health condition that is known as persistent sexual arousal is not one that applies to only women or only men, but both.  In fact, a recent piece I read on the condition centered around a woman who constantly felt a “tingly sensation” in her nether regions, which made her feel as though she were constantly sexually aroused.  Sounds good, right? 

Except that feeling that way 24/7 is not something that anyone really wants, regardless of how sexualized we think our society has become, that’s still not an ideal way to go through life, and in fact it can cause deeper psychological issues as well as issues with your sexual partners, who may think that they can never satisfy you - because technically they never can, although it’s not their fault. 

The woman’s story that was detailed where I read about it said that she went to multiple doctors about her constant state of female sexual arousal, and was basically told that it was something mental and then she would be referred to talk to a therapist of some sort.  However, she was finally able to find a doctor that put a physical name to her condition, and explained to her that what she had was in fact a constant physiological state of sexual arousal that was causing the strong sensations in her sexual regions.

I’m not really sure what they can do medically for persistent sexual arousal, but I know for men they do have some sort of medications that help with someone who has constant erections, since in men it’s not only an alarming physical condition that can be emotionally damaging, but it’s also visible on a man and can be highly embarrassing, as most men know!  Like I said, being in a perpetual state of arousal may sound good - maybe for one day, but I could guarantee that after that day was up (no pun intended), you’d be ready to get back to your normal, flacid self! 

There was a very interesting study in the subtlety of human behavior and our basic, prehistoric instincts that haven’t changed much over thousands of years, even with the evolution of both men and women to adopt to today’s modern world, having to do with the detection of subtle differences in a woman’s voice when she is ovulating, which we all know, is when a woman is most likely to conceive, or when she is most fertile. 

This is just another one of nature’s ways to propagate a species, by making it nearly impossible to avoid the instinct to mate and produce offspring by making the opposite of sex more alluring during peak times of fertility, and to make the male of the species want to “spread his seed”, so to speak, and unwittingly more attuned to these increasingly subtle changes in a woman’s voice, body, smell and appearance during olvulation to make her more attractive in a visual, olfactory and oral sense. 

Much like the pheromones men use to attract women, this is part of the woman’s instinctual ways of attracting men when they are most ready to mate and have offspring, whether they know it or not. 

The scientists who began the small study wanted to find out if men had evolved to the point where they could still pick up on the subtle difference in a woman’s voice during this time, because they say that women have evolved to better conceal the times when they are ovulating, so men had evolved to be more keenly attuned to these times by developing a higher awareness to the subtle nuances. 

Men could still detect a difference, and they identified women’s voices who were ovulating as being “sexier”, although to the naked ear, the woman’s voices sounded pretty much the same as they did any other time.  Supposedly the hormonal changes that occur during the ovulation period of the menstrual cycle in women has an effect on the voicebox, however subtle that men can pick up on.  It’s just nature’s way of making us virtually powerless against the will not to spawn! 

Monogamy has pretty much that same dictionary meaning anywhere you look such as “marriage to only one person at a time”, or “having only one sexual partner during a period of time”.  However, when you ask people individually what monogamy means to them, and how a violation of an agreeably monogomous relationship would be assessed, you get a bit of a different range of answers when it comes to what individuals consider monogamy, and what they also consider to be a violation of the inferred binding trust that monogamy entails. 

For example, to me personally, monogamy means that when you are someone’s sexual partner, and you have agreed you have entered into a monogomous relationship, then any sexual or intimate contact with another person is stricly off limits.  This means touching, fondling, kissing, dirty talk, and certainly oral sex and sexual intercourse. 

However, if you were to ask other couples, especially those that may be more open minded about what a monogomous relationship is and is not allowed to do for both partners, you may get a wide range of answers.  I was just reading an article about how some couples have laid down differennt rules for themselves and decided what lines they were allowed and were not allowed to cross when it came to having contact with anyone outside of their two person union.

Some people might be like me and say that any kissing, touching, and sexual contact is completely unacceptable.  Others might say that oral sex is acceptable while intercourse is strictly forbidden, or that both are acceptable as long as the person doesn’t feel emotionally attached to the person. 

Other crazy stipulations may be that they are allowed to kiss and flirt, but no other contact is allowed, and further contact with the person is not allowed after that one time contact, or that if one partner is away and out of state or the country, sex or other sexual contact is permitted, but when within state or country boundaries, it is not allowed.  I personally think this defeats the purpose of monogomy, and would hope my partner would agree with me, however, she may feel differently.

Chances are, if you’re matched well with a person to begin with, then these types of difference aren’t an issue.  If they are, it’s something you should probably get out on the table early on in the relationship of what your ideas of a relationship are and what your definition of monogomy is, to avoid disappointment and/or heartbreak. 

Many women, and men for that matter, are under the false impression that what we see on the big silver screens in theaters when we see a hot sex scene between two actors, is how our sex life should be or look.  That is not the case, not by far, and unfortunately these scenes may be harming the outlook of Americans on their own sex lives when they compare it to the perfect looking, frequent and often long-lived sexual encounters in Hollywood. 

Yet they forget that these very same actors and actresses often date in real life, and guess what, it doesn’t work out.  And yeah, that’s because sex in real life, with all the messy variables that occur in real life, especially between a hard working couple who probably has a million and one other things going on in their life besides trying to address eachother’s each and every sexual and intimacy desire. 

Many sex therapists say that when people watch this kind of stuff, they are comparing themselves to an ideal that simply doesn’t exist in the real world, and they are essentially preparing themselves for a big disappointment when their sex lives and their partners do not act the way they see in the movies, or address each and every one of their fantasies and needs as we often times see in these movies. 

Female sexual enhancement depends on a man addressing her sexual needs, sure, but it also depends on a lot of things that happen outside the bedroom in a relationship.  Women are much more likely to harbor feelings of resentment and carry those over into the bedroom, unlike many men, who tend to be able to forget about past wrongs and fights that have occurred when it comes to havine sexual intercourse or any other sort of sexual intimacy. 

I found it interesting that a recent article linked sex on the mind and big spending, especially on gambling or chance-y spending that may result in a huge gain or a huge loss.  Apparently, the men that make these big decisions are thinking about sex when they make these decisions, and that could be costing them a fortune! 

What is it?  Pent up sexual agression?  A need to gamble to show one’s sexual prowess?  Hmm, let’s see what they say about this strange connection.  We do know that sexual feelings have a lot do with almost everything we do and every decision we make in life, especially if we subscribe to the freudian theories of psychological reasoning, but to what extend to men make risky financial decisions with sex on the back of their mind? 

To find out what men might have on their mind when they make risky financial moves, scientists have been showing men erotic images and seeing how images of a sexual nature correlate to their decisions being made that affect their finances.  The interesting thing is that, the same part of the brain that activates when shown pictures of a sexually arousing nature, is the same area of the brain that lights up when men make risky financial moves.

The bottom line is that both money and women trigger a certain area of the brain, and they are very interrelated in the male psyche.  Not surprising though, is it?  The same thrill that men may get from having money of making risky decisions that could potentially increase their status or also result in a cash windfall, is the same thrill they get from intimacy and the chase with female sexual partners. 

Does this mean you should go spending money on risky investments or buying large pieces of property that cost a lot of money to simply get a natural libido help?  No!  Quite contrary, men need to learn how to harness and control this, because it could be the reason that some men have such problems with things like gambling addiction and spending money irresponsibly.  It does explain a lot though, because men are the sex most likely to have problems with risky spending, and also why they tend to be the sex with the most gambling addiction. 

In the ever evolving world of prostate cancer research and new therapies for the disease being studied, as well as new preventive maintenance and testing and news on how to prevent the cancer from occurring in the first place, there comes news of a possible shot that protects against prostate cancer in men, at least male mice so far. 

Mice are often used in animal trials for potential human cures and therapies because their bodies run very similarly to the human body and immune system, and they have certain genetic similarities which make them some of the best test subjects when testing for how something may work in the human body.  Weird, because they couldn’t look more different than humans in size and in other aspects, but that is the strangeness that is genetics! 

It’s important to note that it has been tested on mice that are genetically predisposed to getting prostate cancer, just as human men who can also be genetically more predisposed to getting cancer.  By early indications the results certainly do seem exciting, at the very least, as scientists are saying that it’s looking like so far they are giving these mice lifelong protection against getting prostate cancer by giving them one shot.  They are looking at it as sort of a “vaccination” against it.

The animals that were predisposed to getting prostate cancer had already had precancerous lesions when the shots were administered, and at quite a young age.  As horrible as it sounds, I’m thinking they were genetically engineered by science to have prostate cancer at an early age.  It’s hard to talk about that, and seems very cruel, but many believe that harming animals in order to save human lives is worth it.

The prostate cancer vaccine uses genetics to suppress the PSCA, which is an antigen that is overly expressed in men with prostate cancer.  The vaccine stimulates an immune response to the PSCA, and that is how it works in preventing full blown prostate cancer.  This does sound very promising.  Let’s hope that all the red tape doesn’t slow the progress of this making it’s way to market.  For the sake of all men and their prostate health and continued longevity. 

The thought of getting a prostate health screening, I know, seems like just about one of the last things anyone wants to do with their time in these crazy busy times, but as with a lot of other screenings and health checkups, some doctors will tell you it’s vital to your continued health and wellness.  It really depends on what you’re comfortable with though, and especially depends if you know you may have a family history of prostate cancer and therefore a genetic predisposition toward the disease.

Although the medical field is closer to have genetic tests that do not involve any poking, prodding, or rectal exams, which most men can’t stand and is hence the reason many men forego this unpleasant test, some men still do not think they will be talked into getting their prostate screenings because they do not believe the tests are accurate.

The men who feel this way are probably not the majority of men here in the US, but in fact the screenings for prostate cancer still have a ways to go in how accurate they are, and men are afraid that if the diagnosis incorrectly shows they have abnormal prostate cell growth (cancer, at different stages), that they will be subject to fairly serious treatments that can have any number of unpleasant side effects in and of themselves.

Also, some men actually think that it’s not something they want to be burdened with and would actually rather not know and leave it to chance, or perhaps a higher power.  I’ve often wondered this myself, whether I’d want to really know, especially if I had a later stage cancer.  I for one believe that sometimes our minds have a lot to do with our health, and wonder if ignorance would be bliss in the case of cancer as well.  I know this sounds reckless, but this is honestly how I’ve thought of it. 

I’ve wondered, if I did know, would I then succumb to the state of mind that I could potentially die, and assume a demeanor of hopelessness and being “sick”.  It’s tough to say, but you definitely should carefully weigh the pros and cons and follow what makes you comfortable, and pay attention to the signs your body gives you. 

Well, it seems that all this news about the vaccine to fight the common female cancer which is supposed to be caused by a very common virus in women, the HPV virus, has also sort of lead to a new experimental vaccine for men that may help protect them against prostate cancer, which is cancer of the prostate gland, which only men possess, and which seems to cause many problems as men age. 

Problems like difficulty urinating, and also enlarged prostate are just a few, and it is thought that these types of inflammations lead to eventual cancer of the prostate gland in many men as they get older.  While there are things men can do to help keep their prostate healthy, like eating a certain diet that is rich in antioxidants and other beneficial nutrients, and getting proper amounts of exercise, there are other ways that the medical community is looking to further help aid in the prevention of this fairly common disease of mostly older men.

What the early trials are looking like in male mice who are genetically predisposed to getting prostate cancer, is that the vaccine may target the PCSA which is a stem cell antigen that is overly expressed in men with prostate cancer.  The early results are looking positive as it is helping the mice that took the vaccine and are genetically more predisposed to get the cancer, fend it off and not get it in the first place.

What the vaccine, if it ever comes into use and is proven safe for humans, would do, is to actually expose the male’s immune system to the antigens so that they are more likely to be ready for the abnormal cell growth if it ever occurs, and the body’s own immune system would be better primed to take care of these antigens when they do naturally occur down the road. 

Just works like every other vaccine, only this time it’s about actually preventing cancer from happening, much like the HPV vaccine or cervical cancer vaccine.  Who knows, this vaccine, if proven safe and effective, may be a staple in men’s health from the time it is approved on, if all goes well.