How to Give Her Absolute Pleasure (5 page)

Hepatitis B mainly attacks young men and women in their teens and twenties, and once you contract it, you have a small chance of Openmirrors.com

becoming a carrier for life or even getting chronic liver problems or high in white blood cells: blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and mother’s cancer. This year in the United States, there will be between 140,000

breast milk. It is not an airborne virus and cannot be spread by casual and 320,000 new cases of hepatitis B documented. Not all doctors contact. Touching, food, coughs, mosquitoes, toilet seats, swimming and nurses are aware of this fast-growing problem in their in pools, and donating blood do not spread HIV. Transmission is not communities, so don’t hesitate to ask for your vaccination—

through saliva. In very rare cases, HIV has been known to be especially if you are someone who is changing partners frequently.

transmitted from a highly infected person through kissing or biting, Hepatitis B is easily passed from mother to unborn child. It is also resulting from poor oral hygiene from open bleeding gums or mouth transmissible to young children and infants, but can be largely sores. It is the high vascularization (i.e., a lot of blood supply close to prevented by vaccination of infants at birth.

the surface) of mucosal tissues of the anus, mouth, and vagina that makes these areas the most vulnerable to infection.

HIV/ AIDS

There are usually no symptoms accompanying HIV. People can The expected number of people in the United States who will get the virus and feel terrific for many years. A small percentage of contract HIV this year is 45,000, and the number of new infections is people will develop an acute mononucleosis-like illness during not yet declining. The chilling part of this statistic is that even though primary infection. Left untreated, the virus almost always leads to we know how to prevent HIV transmission and have aggressive new AIDS, and because it is the immune system that fails, the antiviral therapies to deal with it, we are not taking the most symptoms for AIDS can look like anything from a cold to cancer.

important step: preventing the spread of it.

Although there is no cure for AIDS, there are new drugs that Centers for Disease Control (CDC) figures documented in

dramatically slow down the effect that HIV has on the immune February 1999 show that in the United States the majority (51

system. It can take up to six months for one’s immune system to percent) of HIV-infected individuals are heterosexual. Does this get show antibodies, which means that you have tested positive for your attention, gentlemen? I hope so. I don’t mean to use scare exposure. Every sexually active man and woman should have two tactics here, but I do feel obligated to give you the real information.

HIV tests—one after risky behavior and another after waiting six In addition, the average age of those becoming infected has become months. The six-month waiting period will ensure a clean bill of younger, with a marked increase in the number of infected health before having unprotected sex with any new partner. Sadly, in adolescents.

this day and age, it isn’t always enough to accept a verbal declaration HIV and AIDS are not the same thing. Unfortunately, one is the of good health. Many, many people have been deceived by lovers precursor of the other. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome who claimed to be HIV negative and weren’t.

(AIDS) is a diagnosis resulting from infection with a virus known as In one reported case, a young mother didn’t realize she was the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). When someone tests infected with HIV until her daughter was born. When her physician positive for HIV, his or her system has been exposed to the virus and gave her the terrible news, she was shocked. Immediately, she and his/her body is presenting an immune response to it.

her husband were tested and both were found HIV positive. As you You cannot get AIDS without having the human

can imagine, each suspected the other of not having been truthful immunodeficiency virus. You can, however, be HIV positive without about a past experience. It turned out that before they were married, having an AIDS diagnosis. HIV attacks the immune system, leaving the husband had had a fling with an old girlfriend. Since the two the body unable to fight off common sicknesses or other diseases. It knew each other well, neither bothered to use safer sex (she was on is a sexually infectious disease spread through bodily fluids that are the pill). Unfortunately, the woman didn’t know she had been Openmirrors.com

infected and unwittingly passed it on to the man, creating a domino In certain populations there has been a marked growth in effect of infection.

infections. For example, the senior women population in South It is very important that you ask to see the results of your lover’s Florida has shown recent growth. Dr. Eric Daar points out that the HIV test and all tests for sexually transmitted diseases, especially in infectionfigures have grown because this population wasn’t really the case of (but not limited to) women you don’t know well aware of the health or risk issues regarding HIV, AIDS, and other (consider going together to get tested). It is also important that she STDs. Consequently, these women and men are getting infected see the results of yours. In fact, rather than make her ask to see because they are not using protection. Since the women aren’t yours, offer your results as a show of good faith, opening the door worried about pregnancy, they figure they have no need for that stuff for her to do the same. If your lover refuses to show you her test at their age. By assuming that their partners are all okay, they have results, it may be wise to refuse to have unprotected sex with her.

put themselves in danger of infection. As I noted above, there is also Remember, she is being secretive about something that affects your a marked increase in infections among adolescents. This group is health and quite possibly your life. No one should want to keep particularly vulnerable because sometimes they are not as open to her/his good health a secret.

listening or paying attention to safe sex information.

When obtaining an HIV test, be mindful of the difference Finally, I’d like to make several important points about between confidential and anonymous testing. They are not the same.

HIV/AIDS:

When you have an anonymous test, you are identified by a number or letter only, not by your name, your Social Security number, or any
Point #1
: There are several clades (or types) of the HIV virus: A, other identifying information. After the blood sample is taken, you B, C, D, E, F, M, and O. And within each clade there are different confirm that the numbers/letters on the vial and the numbers/letters strains. So even if a man or a woman is already positive, he or she on your identification slip are the same. A week later you go back to can still become infected by another form of virus and is even more the clinic where the test was taken and get the results. Typically, no susceptible, given the already weakened state of the immune system.

results are given over the phone. A confidential test means that the
Point #2
: The most common clade in North America and Europe results are confidential and limited only by the integrity of those who is B, and for Southeast Asia it is E. Central Africa is a melting pot of have access to the information. In other words, you are using your different clades.

name and placing your trust in the doctor, nurse, or clinic where you
Point #3
: Some strains appear to be more virulent than others.

get tested. Two years ago an employee at a southern clinic copied the Depending on the virulence of the strain one is exposed to, you could names of all those who had tested positive for HIV and sold the list have an almost immediate AIDS diagnosis.

for fifty dollars a page at a local bar. Clearly, this was a completely
Point #4
: “HIV positive” means you have been exposed to the unethical act by an amoral person, and it is not commonplace. You virus that causes AIDS. Your body shows a positive immune can never be 100 percent sure with confidential testing, however, and response to HIV.

may be better off with anonymous testing.

Point #5
: In 1993 the CDC created a definition benchmark for an There is a new method of testing for HIV, called Orasure, an oral AIDS diagnosis. This enabled physicians to diagnose AIDS in a specimen collection device that requires no blood collection and is uniform manner and also better qualify people for health insurance 99 percent accurate. Like a blood test it too tests for the presence of coverage and drug programs.

HIV antibodies. Dr. Penelope Hitchcock says that Orasure is a great product and that the NIH are now working with the manufacturer.

Point #6
: It is suggested that you wait six months after risky Providing you with knowledge about them is not meant to scare you, behavior before getting tested. This is because it can take up to six but rather to empower you. No one should have to be frightened into months for antibodies to show up in a test, although most people (95

taking control of his sexual health. Rather, with this information, I percent) test positive within three months of exposure, using the hope being safe and careful becomes a matter of self-respect.

antibodies testing methods.

Without protection, there just isn’t an excuse good enough to
Point #7
: A test called a PCR (Polymerise Chain Reaction) tests participate in a sexual relationship with someone whose health for the actual virus in your blood. Estimate that someone who is you’re not 100 percent sure about. You don’t drive without car going to seroconvert (go from HIV— to HIV+) can start to have the insurance. You don’t go through life without health or home virus in his or her system within five to seven days of exposure; on insurance. The same applies to sexual safety. It’s absolutely your average it takes two weeks for seroconversion. This is an expensive responsibility to be honest about your health status and communicate test. It is not an accepted screening test but is occasionally used by this to your partner, no matter how casual or close your relationship.

groups at very high risk, such as pornography actors.

It’s also your responsibility to make sure you are not unwittingly
Point #8
: Four years ago there was hope that with the powerful passing a disease on to a lover.

antiviral medications that had HIV+ people walking around with little to no detectable viral load, they would be able to stop therapy at
Choosing a Condom

some point. That no longer appears to be the case, as there seem to There are many different condoms to choose from, but not all of be reservoirs of HIV in the body. Still, there is a small amount of them are made with quality. The chart below can give you the wide hope that even more treatments might clear the virus completely in range of styles, sizes, textures, and other features of condoms.

some people in the future. Right now, these treatments are just However, before purchasing, you may want to consider the following experimental. The better we get at detecting the virus in the information.

laboratory, the better we are at successfully treating those who are infected.

¾ Condoms break. Any condom can break during intercourse,
Point #9
: Just because someone has no detectable viral load does for many different reasons. Breakage is almost invariably the not mean he or she cannot infect someone else.

result of improper handling, such as using teeth to open the
Point #10
: In 1998 the CDC estimated that 80 percent of people foil or keeping condoms in wallets or car glove boxes, where who are HIV+ do not know they are infected because they have heat will eventually break down the latex in the condom, never been tested.

making it easier to burst. Any lubricant with an oil or

Point #11
: An opportunistic infection is one that would not be a petroleum base (e.g., Vaseline) will also break down and threat to a healthy, normal immune system but takes the

destroy latex condoms. Also, the compressed rectangular

“opportunity” to attack a compromised immune system. For packaging of some condom brands reduces the longevity of example, a person who is undergoing cancer treatment such as the condoms themselves.

chemotherapy is at risk for an opportunistic infection. Every ¾ During a study conducted by Dr. Bruce Voeller, founder of infection, however, isn’t an opportunistic one.

the Mariposa Foundation, men who were chronic condom

“busters” were discovered to have been using everyday hand While I’ve discussed the most common of the sexually

lotion as a lubricant. A lubricant must be water-based, and transmitted diseases, there are more than fifty known STDs to date.

most hand lotions contain some form of oil. Oil is a latex condom’s mortal enemy because it immediately begins to

SECRET FROM LOU’S ARCHIVES

erode the latex. Therefore, it is imperative that the

Because the herpes and human papilloma viruses can affect skin ingredients of a lotion be checked carefully before using not covered by a condom, the efficiency of condoms is not as with a latex condom. Better still, use a water-based lubricant good as it might be for HIV or chlamydia, which are generally intended for this purpose, such as Astroglide, Sensura, or contracted from body fluids. However, you can add to your Liquid Silk. (There is more complete information on

protection if you avoid contact when lesions are active and use lubrication in Chapter Five.)

condoms religiously at other times.

¾ The most often heard excuse from men who have had

dollop of lubricant into the end of the condom before putting unprotected sex is that they don’t like condoms because they it on.

diminish the pleasure factor. That isn’t the question here: It’s ¾ As the only manufactured spermicidal in the United States, a matter of safety. However, after you both have been tested nonoxynol9 was introduced into the United States in 1920

and waited the six-month period to make sure you’re both as a cleaning solution in hospitals. This very irritating healthy, during which you have had no risk factors or sex substance is found in any diaphragm gel, contraceptive