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For both men and women, it takes a complicated chain of events to move from arousal to a satisfying orgasm. The mind has to stay focused, nerves have to stay sensitive, and blood has to flow to all the right places. Unfortunately, many things can break the chain -- including, perhaps, the pills in your medicine cabinet. Medicines often work by altering blood flow and brain chemistry, so its no...

Among those people who are online, there is a rich narrative of Internet romance, from marriages forged between local college students to marriages betrayed through virtual relationships. Even in heartland territory like Oklahoma City, the stories are everywhere. Rick, a 26-year-old aspiring musician, is engaged to a woman he met through the Internet. Andrew, a 22-year-old waiter, found something...

Sex is an undeniably rewarding form of exercise. But if it's the only type of exercise that you get, you're probably not getting the most out of your workout. Regular exercise outside of the bedroom will do more than improve your health and mood. In many ways, it's bound to improve your sex life. Setting the mood A single good workout can prime the body for sex, says Jim Pfaus, PhD, a professo...

Like most everybody else, people with heart disease spend a lot of time thinking about sex. But if your heart's in trouble, those thoughts can turn dark. You may worry that sex can kill you. You may also wonder what happened to your desire. If heart trouble has cast a shadow over your sex life, talk to your doctor. With a little help and reassurance, many people with heart disease can lead full, s...

Grinning slyly, a coworker beckons you into his office. He says he has something for you to look at. You round his desk to take a look at the material he's indicated, then step back -- revolted, angry, and embarrassed. It's pornography. He's called you over to get your reaction to magazine photos of nude women in sexual poses. And he's standing there enjoying your distress. There's another scenari...

Few teenagers have the experience or resources it takes to start a family. But that doesn't keep them from doing so. According to the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, each year more than 750,000 teenage girls become pregnant. The rate of pregnancy among American teenagers dropped steadily in recent years, but it is higher than almost all other industrialized nations. Whi...

Like chlamydia, the sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea can infiltrate the joints of unwitting victims and cause arthritis. Typically this condition, called gonococcal arthritis, is more common in women than in men. The reason is that most men who get gonorrhea have prominent symptoms, including extreme pain during urination. Not surprisingly, they are likely to see a doctor immediately for tre...

Most people with chronic arthritis will readily admit they have trouble with certain tasks such as climbing long flights of stairs or opening tight jar lids. But there's another challenge that often goes unmentioned. The pain, stiffness, and fatigue caused by arthritis can interfere with a person's sex life or even bring it to a halt, says Annette Owens, MD, PhD, a sex counselor and cofounder of t...

Given the Herculean task modern couples face each day as they race between jobs, children, aging parents, and myriad social and civic activities, stress has become a fact of life, as much a part of our environment as the air we breathe. And our sex lives may be suffering as a result. What hurts sex lives? In a random phone survey by Yankelovich and Partners, 1,000 Americans between 18 and 65 w...

How early do children have sexual feelings? Almost from the very beginning, children are exploring their bodies. But before that idea makes you anxious, remember that at this point your child's curiosity is less about sex as you think of it and more about the general mysteries of body function. "What's this part for?" "Why does it look different from my cousin's?" "Why does it feel good when I t...

How do I handle the birds-and-bees speech responsibly? Give up on the idea of presenting the subject in one big talk -- you'll overwhelm your child with more bewildering and even distasteful information than she can process at once. Instead, think of it as a gentle conversation that will take place over several months or perhaps even years. Keep your explanations as simple and specific to the di...

What's the best way to initiate a conversation about sex with my child? First of all, give up on the idea that it's going to happen the way you plan it -- fruitful conversations with adolescents rarely take place when and how their parents want them to. If you're the one who brings up sex, don't be offended when your child looks horrified that you did so. At least now she knows you're willing to...

Most people with chronic arthritis will readily admit they have trouble with certain tasks such as climbing long flights of stairs or opening tight jar lids. But there's another challenge that often goes unmentioned. The pain, stiffness, and fatigue caused by arthritis can interfere with a person's sex life or even bring it to a halt, says Annette Owens, MD, PhD, a sex counselor and co-founder of...

If you suffer from any type of heart trouble, it's only natural to have concerns about whether sex is still safe for you. Here's the good news: According to the American Heart Association, most people with heart trouble can enjoy sex safely -- and that includes those with high blood pressure. Sex -- like any other form of exercise -- does get the heart pumping. And, in rare cases, the extra exe...

Our bodies are a stew of hormones and chemicals and enzymes and all sorts of exotic-sounding ingredients. For many women, this concoction bubbles along happily right through menopause. But for other women, it doesn't take a chemist to know that something is out of whack. We get hot flashes, mood swings, insomnia -- and suddenly sex isn't as alluring as it used to be. What's going on? The hormone ...

What's so great about condoms? The condom, a thin rubber sheath that fits over your erect penis, traps your semen during sex and keeps you from impregnating a female partner or infecting your partner with a sexually transmitted disease. It can also protect you from picking up one of these diseases yourself by shielding your penis from your partner's secretions. Although they may reduce the sens...

Sexual dysfunction. You've seen the ads on television, you've heard the jokes, and, if you're like most men, you've tried your best to block it from your mind. But if you have diabetes, this is one touchy subject you shouldn't ignore. A full 75 percent of diabetic men have some trouble achieving or maintaining an erection long enough to have intercourse. But diabetes doesn't have to be a deathbl...

The sex lives of men can seem like something akin to an Aesop's fable. As years go by and youth fades, we may stop aspiring to the mating style of rabbits and become more like red foxes, lonely animals that make do with one brief breeding season each year. The moral: Even if you're a happy rabbit now, don't take your sex life for granted. You could still turn into a fox. Lasting desire This ...

What is scabies? This is probably the itchiest disease you can get. Even its name comes from a Latin word meaning "to scratch," and you're likely to be doing lots of that. Scabies is a condition caused by microscopic parasitic mites (or bugs) that burrow under your skin and produce a red rash, along with severe itching. The disease is often transmitted through sexual contact, but you can get ...

In the 2005 mock documentary "I Am a Sex Addict," the protagonist sits dolefully in an anonymous 12-step meeting for people "addicted" to sex. He's ended up there after being unable to control a compulsion to seek out prostitutes when his intimate relationships faltered. "The more I indulged the addiction, the stronger it became," he says, confessing to the group that his sexual compulsions destr...

What is pelvic inflammatory disease? Pelvic inflammatory disease, or PID, is a serious infection of a woman's reproductive system. Every year it's contracted by about a million women in the United States. The disease is most likely to harm your Fallopian tubes, which may be badly scarred; this problem may lead to a life-threatening tubal pregnancy if you conceive. Left untreated, PID can cause ste...

What causes vaginal dryness? Chronic vaginal dryness, which results from less-than-normal lubrication in your vagina, is usually caused by changes in your estrogen level. Your production of estrogen may drop while you're breastfeeding, for example; some women experience vaginal dryness all the time they're lactating, but the problem disappears once breastfeeding stops. And just before menopause, y...

What is vulvodynia? Vulvodynia is a puzzling syndrome in which women feel chronic pain in the vulva, which consists of the external genitals (including the clitoris, the pubic mound, and the labia). Women with the condition describe the pain as a burning, itching, rawness, or stinging, particularly during urination. This vulvar discomfort ranges from annoying to unbearable, and can be continuous o...

Why does my penis have a bend in it when it's erect? Many men have a slight curve in their penis, so if you've always been this way, it's probably normal for you. But if it's a change you recently noticed, see your doctor. You may have Peyronie's disease, a condition in which thick scar tissue forms in the penis so that it contracts on one side and bends up, down, or to the side when hard. This pr...

How fast is too fast? You don't need a stopwatch to decide whether you have a problem with premature ejaculation. If you're reaching orgasm before you really want to, that's premature enough. That said, a definition from the International Society For Sexual Medicine notes that men who suffer from premature ejaculation "always or almost always" reach orgasm within about one minute of starting sex. ...

Nothing is more irritating to author Connie Goldman than the stereotypes out there about older people and sex -- especially the one about seniors not having sex. "People see an older couple that has just gotten married or who are holding hands, and they say, 'Oh, how cute,' " says Goldman, a former public radio producer. "It's belittling." At age 76, Goldman spends a great deal of her time trying ...

What would the world be like if everyone stopped having sex? Ratings for late-night talk shows would soar, and stock in Pampers would plummet. We'd have more time to think about other things, like a plan for peace in the Middle East or plot lines for the next great American novel. And we'd be miserable. The human brain is hard-wired to seek out and enjoy sex, a fact that helps explain the 6 billio...

In the movie Far From Heaven, four young housewives discuss their sex lives over lunchtime daiquiris. The boldest of the group coaxes the others to reveal how often their husbands want to make love. "Mike insists on once a week," one woman finally blurts out. "You get off easy!" the others laugh. "Ron is more like two or three times a week!" another woman sighs. "A girlfriend of mine," confides...

What is chancroid? Chancroid (pronounced shan-kroid) is a sexually transmitted disease caused by a bacterium called Hemophilus ducreyi. Though it's most prevalent in developing and Third World countries, it's found all over the globe. Doctors sometimes call it "soft chancre," which refers to the characteristic sores or lesions that appear on the genitals. The infection is less common in circumcise...

What is chlamydia? It's a sexually transmitted disease that has recently (and sneakily) assumed the status of an epidemic. Chlamydia is easily cured, but it's both hard to detect and dangerous because it usually causes no symptoms until it has established a serious, even life-threatening, infection. Today it's the most frequently reported sexually transmitted disease in the United States, where it...

What is gonorrhea? Many people view gonorrhea as an old-fashioned venereal disease, one that's been almost wiped out by modern antibiotics. But in reality gonorrhea (known informally as the clap, the drip, or GC) is still one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the United States. Transmitted by a bacterium shaped like a coffee bean, it's highly contagious and can enter the body thr...

For all of the progress made against HIV/AIDS over the years, the push for still better treatments is far from over. Until a cure is discovered, doctors and researchers will continue to look for new and more effective ways to control the disease and save lives. While HIV medications can attack the virus and keep the disease in check for several years or more, the side effects can be severe, the me...

What is it? Genital herpes is a common sexually-transmitted infection that can cause painful genital sores on both men and women. It's caused by a virus called herpes simplex virus type 2, or HSV-2. An estimated one in five American adults and teens has genital herpes. It's somewhat more common in women than in men. Once you're infected, the virus stays with you, and there's a good chance that th...

There are only two ways to completely protect yourself from a sexually transmitted disease. You can abstain from sex altogether or have sex only with a partner you know to be uninfected. Condoms and other barrier protection can greatly reduce the risk of most sexually transmitted diseases, but even these are not 100 percent effective. It goes without saying that few people choose the first option...

What is trichomoniasis? It's a sexually transmitted disease that causes vaginitis (vaginal inflammation) and infects a man's urethra. Each year, more than seven million Americans get it. The culprit is the tiny organism Trichomonas vaginalis, which produces symptoms such as vaginal itching and redness as well as a bad-smelling discharge in women. (The discharge is typically "frothy" and yellow, gr...