What are some of the Health Risks involved in a Same Sex Lifestyle?

What are the biological differences between the anal intercourse and vaginal intercourse?

- Michelle A. Cretella, MD, American College of Pediatricians and Philip M. Sutton, PhD, LMFT, LP Editor, Journal of Human Sexuality

From a medical standpoint anal intercourse, in contrast to vaginal intercourse, poses serious risk to its participants. The rectum differs from the vagina with respect to suitability for penetration by a penis, limb or inanimate object (Agnew, 1985; Diggs, 2002; Koop, 1990). The vagina is designed to expand, is supported by a network of muscles and produces natural lubricants. It is composed of a mucus membrane with a multi-stratified squamous epithelium that allows it to endure friction without damage. The anus, in contrast, is designed to allow passage of fecal material out of the body. It is composed of small muscles and significantly more delicate tissues. Consequently, anal intercourse often results in anorectal trauma, hemorrhoids and anal fissures. With repeated trauma, friction and stretching, the anal sphincter loses its tone. Chronic leakage of fecal material has been known to develop from penile/anal intercourse alone; for those engaging in fisting this is a more common problem (Agnew, 1985; Diggs, 2002; Wolfe, 2000). In addition, fisting places the recipient at risk for a variety of anorectal traumas.

What effect can Semen have in the Anus?

- Michelle A. Cretella, MD, American College of Pediatricians and Philip M. Sutton, PhD, LMFT, LP Editor, Journal of Human Sexuality

Semen has immune-suppressant activity that increases the chance of sperm fertilizing a woman’s egg during vaginal intercourse.  If released in the rectum, however, semen makes this already vulnerable tissue more prone to both infection and the development of cancer – rectal carcinoma in MSM results from infection with a highly carcinogenic strain of HPV (Diggs, 2002).

What are other riks, including Sexually Transmitted Diseases, are there?

April 5, 2006 - The Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health & Society has just published "Private Lives: A report on the health and wellbeing of GLBTI Australians."

The study is said to be the largest of its kind to date, which included surveying 5,500 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals on their lifestyles and mental health.

" ... Of those sampled, 63% were male; 35% were female; 100 were transgendered and 18 were intersexed individuals. Among males, 83% identified as gay; 9% identified as bisexual; 3% did not use an identity label and 2% identified as queer. Of the women surveyed, 49% identified as lesbians; 14% as gay women; 12% as bisexual; 7% did not use a label; 7% identified as dyke; and 6% as queer.

More than 70% of those surveyed had no religious preference; 8% were Catholic; 6% Protestant; and 3% were Buddhists.

Depression, Abusive Partnerships, Drug Use And STDs
The report found that 33% of the respondents reported having been in an abusive relationship with a same-sex partner. This included verbal or physical abuse. The abusive relationships were higher for women than for men, but was highest for transgendered males.

... Drug use was higher than among the general population. Marijuana, esctasy, speed and crystal were the drugs most often used.

Forty percent of the males reported having pubic lice; one in five reported gonorrhea and more than one in ten men reported other STDs. Eight percent of the males were HIV positive. Females also contracted genital warts, chlamydia, herpes, candidiasis, urinary tract infections, vaginitis, PID and triochomonas.

The report also found high rates of depression and suicidal ideation. Of those surveyed, 15.7% "indicated suicidal ideation (thoughts) in the two weeks prior to completing the survey. Depressive disorder was high: 48.6% for men and 44.4% of women scored at least one of the two criteria for a major depressive episode (MDE).

Sexual Behaviors
Two thirds of the men surveyed said they had engaged in casual sex in the past six months. Of those, 39.9% did not use a condom.

Six percent of the men had paid for sex in the past 12 months and 5% had received payment for sex.

Lesbians report a range of sexual practices: 57.6% reported receiving oral sex; 59.6% reported giving oral sex; and other explicit sex practices are listed.

The Full Text of the Study can be read here: http://ssdv.acon.org.au/providerinfo/private_lives_report_0.pdf.pdf

Source Link: http://narth.com/docs/australian.html

How do you control the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases?

The following advice was given after the Australian Medical Association discovered a "Syphilis Epidemic Among Inner Sydney Gay Men - August 2005"

They introduced the article saying: "Syphilis has reached epidemic proportions among homosexual men in inner Sydney, leading to calls for frequent screening to curb the transmission of both syphilis and HIV, according to research published in the current issue of the Medical Journal of Australia."

" ... Both the Australian chapter of Sexual Health Medicine and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States have recently recommended that homosexually active men should be tested for syphilis at least annually.

The authors say surveillance data from Victoria indicate that a similar outbreak of syphilis in men is beginning in Melbourne and that it is probably only a matter of time before urban gay communities throughout Australia are affected.

In Victoria, notifications have increased more than five fold in the past decade. In a letter in the same issue of the Journal, Rebecca Guy, epidemiologist at the Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health Research, supports the findings of Jin et al's report, adding that it's important to have local data to ensure interventions are targeted appropriately and cost effectively.

Guy outlines Victorian initiatives, including an alert to general practitioners to encourage men who have sex with men to have syphilis testing, and individual counselling and syphilis testing of men who have sex with men at a popular sex-on-premises venue over a 4-week period.

Other responses could include enhancing outreach at Internet chat rooms, intensive counselling of HIV-positive men who have sex with men, and peer-led community-based strategies for countering unsafe sex and substance-use behaviours.

In the same issue of the Journal, Professor Christopher Fairley, Director of the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre agrees, saying that while syphilis is on the rise, it is not unstoppable. Fighting the current epidemic requires intensive education of clinicians and men who have sex with men, as well as targeted screening."

Source Link: http://ama.com.au/node/2086

What are some of the negative psychological consequences of a homesexual lifestyle?

- Michelle A. Cretella, MD, American College of Pediatricians and Philip M. Sutton, PhD, LMFT, LP Editor, Journal of Human Sexuality

The negative consequences of homosexual behaviors are not limited to the physical harms noted above. Compared to their heterosexual peers, homosexual high school students and young adults (fourteen to twenty-one years old) in New Zealand, which has a culture highly tolerant of homosexuality, had significantly higher rates of major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, conduct disorder, nicotine dependence, other substance abuse and/or dependence, multiple disorders, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts (Fergusson, Horwood, & Beautrais, 1999).

In general, compared to heterosexually behaving adolescents and adults, having same-sex sexual partners is associated with substantially greater risk for mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychological distress, substance use disorders, for suicidal thoughts and suicidal plans, suicide attempts, unstable relationships and lower levels of quality of life (Andersson, Noack, Seierstad, & Weedon-Fekjaer, 2006; Balsam, Beauchaine, Rothblum, & Solomon, 2008; Cochran, Keenan, Schober, & Mays, 2000; Cochran, Sullivan, & Mays, 2003; Cochran, Ackerman, Mays, & Ross, 2004; de Graaf, Sandfort, & ten Have, 2006; Drabble & Trocki, 2005; Gilman, Cochran, Mays, Hughes, Ostrow, & Kessler, 2001; Herrell, Goldberg, True, Ramakrishnan, Lyons, Eisen, & Tsuang, 1999; Jorm, Korten, Rodgers, Jacomb, & Christensen, 2002; King, Semlyen, Tai, Killaspy, Osborn, Popelyuk, & Nazareth, 2008; Mathy, Cochran, Olsen, & Mays, 2009; Russell & Joyner, 2001; Sandfort, de Graff, Bijl, & Schnabel, 2001; Sandfort, de Graaf, & Bijl, 2003; Sandfort, T. G. M., Bakker, Schelievis, & Vanwesenbeeck, 2006.) The findings are consistent both for countries like Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden where homosexuality is more socially accepted, and for the U.S. where it is less accepted.