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One in five women experience pain during intercourse. The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the bible of American psychiatrists, lists it under genito-pelvic pain or penetration disorder. However, this type of pain is not purely psychological.
Provoked vestibulodynia is a condition experienced by approximately 8% of women in North America. It is characterized by severe pain at the vaginal opening during sexual intercourse or when inserting tampons. To reduce the burning sensation, many women apply lidocaine, an anesthetic cream.
A new study of 108 couples found cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) for couples to be more effective than lidocaine. The study was conducted by Sophie Bergeron, professor in the Psychology Department in the Faculty of Arts and Science at Université de Montréal, director of the UdeM Sexual Health Laboratory and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Intimate Relationships and Sexual Wellbeing, and Nat
Differences in how blood pressure affects the risk of dementia in men and women may provide clues to help slow the rapid growth of the disease, according to new research published today.
The yeast
Candida albicans can cause itchy, painful urinary tract and vaginal yeast infections. For women in low-resource settings who lack access to healthcare facilities, these infections create substantial social and economic burdens. Now, researchers reporting in
ACS Omega have developed color-changing threads that turn bright pink in the presence of
C. albicans. When embedded in tampons or sanitary napkins, they could allow women to quickly and discreetly self-diagnose vulvovaginal yeast infections, the researchers say.
According to the Mayo Clinic, about 75% of women will experience a yeast infection, or vulvovaginal candidiasis, at least once in their lifetime. Although women in high-resource areas can easily be diagnosed with a vaginal swab at their doctor s office and then treated with an antifungal medication, many women throughout the world lack access to basic healthcare facilities. Moreover, in some resource-limited areas, societal taboos cause women to feel shame
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IMAGE: Bryce M. Paschal, PhD, of the University of Virginia School of Medicine s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, has unveiled a new mechanism for how the androgen hormone regulates communication. view more
Credit: Angela Paschal
Researchers at UVA Cancer Center have unveiled important new insights into how hormones known as androgens act on our cells - and the discovery could boost efforts to develop better treatments for prostate, ovarian and breast cancers.
The findings shed light on how androgens interact with their receptors inside cells to affect gene activity. This process is important in both healthy cells and certain cancers. Hormone therapy for prostate cancer, for example, aims to reduce the amount of androgen in the body, or to stop it from fueling the cancer cells. However, the approach does not work for some men, and for others it eventually fails. So scientists are eager to better understand how our cells - and cancer - interac
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By Karina Ninni | Agência FAPESP – A study of 92 adolescents conducted in Brazil suggests girls are more likely than boys to develop metabolic alterations associated with obesity, such as high blood pressure and excessive blood levels of cholesterol and triglycerides (dyslipidemia).
The study was conducted with FAPESP’s support by scientists affiliated with the University of São Paulo’s Biomedical Sciences Institute (ICB-USP) and the Medical School of Santa Casa de Misericórdia de São Paulo (FCM-SCMSP). The findings are reported in an
article in the journal
Frontiers in Nutrition.
According to the authors, the obese girls displayed a pattern of lipid profile alterations not seen in girls without obesity and a higher propensity to develop cardiovascular disease in adulthood. “We found that girls have a much greater tendency to undergo the alterations typical of obesity, such as elevated blood pressure and dyslipidemia. In our study, they had augmented lev