http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Syphilis is on the rise worldwide and there is an urgent need for reliable and rapid screening, particularly for people who live in areas where access to healthcare is limited. An international research team, led by scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) in Montreal, has demonstrated that rapid and point-of-care tests (POC) for syphilis are as accurate as conventional laboratory tests. The findings, which were published in PLoS ONE, call for a major change in approach to syphilis testing and recommend replacing first line laboratory tests with POC tests globally, especially in resource-limited settings. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-rapid-point-of-care-syphilis-future-diagnosis.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 27 Feb 2013 17:18:56 EST news281207930 Research published today in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health has found that many secondary school students regret having sex after drinking too much alcohol. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-teens-sex.html Addiction Wed, 13 Feb 2013 10:30:02 EST news279968069 How far would you go to get the attention of the one you love? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-men-biggest-takers.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 11 Feb 2013 09:10:01 EST news279794832 (Medical Xpress)—Michigan health officials are using HIV surveillance technologies to assist in enforcing a "health threat" law that makes it illegal for HIV-positive people to have sex without disclosing their status. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-effort-hiv-health-threat-law.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 31 Jan 2013 07:50:02 EST news278840058 Five personality traits widely thought to be universal across cultures might not be, according to a study of an isolated Bolivian society. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-universal-personality-traits-dont-necessarily.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:09:41 EST news276433762 As youth infected at birth with HIV reach adolescence and young adulthood, a new study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases underscores the need to promote healthy behaviors as some of these young people become sexually active. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-interventions-healthy-behaviors-perinatally-hiv-infected.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 08 Nov 2012 02:49:59 EST news271565387 A study published in Vaccine reveals that contrary to recent discussions, the HPV vaccination does not increase sexual activity in adolescent girls. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-hpv-vaccination-sex.html Health Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:20:52 EST news269086844 California's pediatricians-in-training are not adequately educated about the methods to prevent recurrent sexually transmitted infections in teenagers. That's the conclusion of a study from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital examining pediatric residents' knowledge of laws governing treatment of their patients' sexual partners. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-gap-treatment-sexually-transmitted-diseases.html Pediatrics Mon, 17 Sep 2012 00:20:05 EST news267018077 (Medical Xpress) -- For young adults today who were weaned on iPods and the Internet, the practice of "sexting," or sending sexually explicit photos or messages through phones, may be just another normal, healthy component of modern dating. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-sexting-dating-internet.html Health Tue, 24 Jul 2012 16:40:01 EST news262365878 People at high risk of HIV infection can reduce their risk of acquiring the disease by taking antiretroviral drugs, according to Cochrane researchers. In an update of a systematic review first published in 2009, the researchers found that uninfected people in relationships with HIV-infected partners, men who have sex with men and those in other high risk groups are at a lower risk of becoming infected with the virus if they regularly take drugs that are normally prescribed to treat people with HIV. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-drugs-hiv-infection.html HIV & AIDS Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:00:02 EST news261160988 In the battle against HIV/AIDS conditions on the frontlines are constantly in flux as treatment, research and policy evolve. The landmark HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 study, which established that antiretroviral treatment in people who are HIV positive decreases the likelihood of transmitting HIV to their sexual partners, was no exception. One year after publication the study serves as a case study of ethical challenges faced at every stage of the research trial process in the new paper "Establishing HIV treatment as prevention in the HIV Prevention Trials Network 052 randomized trial: an ethical odyssey," published in the June 2012 issue of Clinical Trials. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-lessons-ethical-odyssey-hiv-trial.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 14 Jun 2012 12:02:03 EST news258894113 Sexual orientation is best represented as a continuum that has two new categories -- "mostly heterosexual" and "mostly gay/lesbian" -- in addition to heterosexual, bisexual or gay/lesbian, according to a new Cornell study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-sexual-groups.html Other Wed, 09 May 2012 03:40:43 EST news255753631 Women who have experienced multiple forms of violence, from witnessing neighborhood crimes to being abused themselves, are more likely to engage in risky sexual behavior, according to a new report in the Psychology of Violence. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-women-history-violent-risky-sex.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 08 May 2012 12:50:16 EST news255700199 Young males who have been sexually abused are five times more likely to cause teen pregnancy compared to those with no abuse history, according to University of British Columbia research. Sexually abused boys are also three times more likely to have multiple sexual partners and twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-sexually-abused-boys-unsafe-sex.html Health Wed, 04 Apr 2012 12:35:37 EST news252761724 Women who have been infected by two different strains of HIV from two different sexual partners – a condition known as HIV superinfection – have more potent antibody responses that block the replication of the virus compared to women who've only been infected once. These findings, by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, are published online March 29 in PLoS Pathogens. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-hiv-superinfection-boosts-immune-response.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 29 Mar 2012 17:28:39 EST news252260908 Boys who are victims of sexual abuse are far more likely to engage in unsafe sexual behavior as teenagers, finds a new review in the current Journal of Adolescent Health. Sexually abused boys were twice as likely to engage in unprotected sex, three times as likely to have multiple sexual partners and five times as likely to cause pregnancy compared to boys with no sexual abuse history. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-sexually-abused-boys-engage-unsafe.html Health Tue, 06 Mar 2012 09:10:01 EST news250245701 A study combining three trials of antiviral therapy to treat genital herpes (herpes simplex virus type 2/HSV-2) has shown that the virus can reactivate in 'breakthrough episodes' even when doses of antiviral therapy are high. Thus new therapies are needed to successfully prevent onward transmission of this common infection that affects some one in five of the general population. These are the conclusions of an Article published Online First by the Lancet, written by Dr Christine Johnston, University of Washington Virology Research Clinic, Seattle, WA, USA, and colleagues. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-genital-herpes-reactivate-high-dose.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:30:01 EST news244915701 In a recent study conducted by scientists at the University at Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions involving 154 heavy-drinking college students whose sexual behavior put them at risk for HIV infection and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), there were two expected findings and one surprise. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-ways-college-risky-sex.html Addiction Fri, 21 Oct 2011 09:00:01 EST news238406392 Grim economic times could cause men to seek more sexual partners, giving them more chances to reproduce, according to research by Omri Gillath, a social psychology professor at the University of Kansas. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-permanently-dismal-economy-prompt-men.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 13 Oct 2011 12:19:43 EST news237727173 Almost one third of students at a university in Uganda say that they have been subject to sexual coercion, an experience which was often linked to risky sexual behaviour. This is shown in a study from Lund University in Sweden. The study's findings could lead to a new approach in the work to combat HIV in Uganda. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-sexual-coercion-common-students-uganda.html Health Thu, 08 Sep 2011 10:34:04 EST news234696833 UK regulators have approved Europe's first clinical trial of a monoclonal antibody produced from genetically modified plants. This landmark decision sets the stage for the testing, in humans, of an anti-HIV product made from genetically modified tobacco plants. It will open the door for trials of additional plant-derived medicines treating a range of diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-clinical-medicines-genetically.html Other Thu, 21 Jul 2011 10:29:35 EST news230462955 Determining whether a promising HIV prevention gel is safe for women to use while they are pregnant or breastfeeding is the aim of a new clinical trial being conducted by the National Institutes of Health-funded Microbicide Trials Network (MTN). Researchers are hopeful that the study -- the first clinical trial of the vaginal microbicide tenofovir gel in breastfeeding women and only the second in pregnant women -- will bring them a step closer to developing a safe and effective HIV prevention product women can use throughout their lives. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-anti-hiv-gel-pregnant-breastfeeding-women.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:38:53 EST news227806719 Men and women infected with HIV reduced the risk of transmitting the virus to their sexual partners by taking oral antiretroviral medicines when their immune systems were relatively healthy, according to findings from a large-scale clinical study sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-hiv-infected-people-antiretrovirals-significantly-transmission.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 12 May 2011 11:43:02 EST news224419358 More intensive or family-based HIV prevention interventions may be needed to encourage juvenile offenders to use condoms and stop engaging in risky sexual behavior, say researchers from the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center (BHCRC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-hiv-interventions-juvenile.html HIV & AIDS Thu, 14 Apr 2011 11:32:52 EST news221999564 Teaching young women how to prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs) increases condom use and might reduce their number of sexual partners, but little research exists on whether educational programs reduce rates of STIs such as human papillomavirus, according to an updated research review from England. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-safer-sex-ed-women-condom-partners.html Health Wed, 13 Apr 2011 11:10:01 EST news221910622