National HIV Testing Day: What Do You Know About HIV/AIDS?

The beginning of the AIDS crisis put a dark cloud over the sexual revolution. Few people knew much about it other than it was the “gay disease.” Now we know it starts with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) and is spread through bodily fluids. HIV affects CD4 cells (T-Cells) that are specific to the immune system. HIV can destroy so many CD4 cells the body loses the ability to fight off infections. At this stage HIV leads to AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome). AIDS leads to a progressive failure of the body’s immune systems leaving it vulnerable to diseases and infections. Unlike other viruses, HIV never leaves your body and cannot be cured. So much has happened since the dark age of HIV ignorance to the age of enlightenment we have today. Let’s take a look at where we started, where we are today and what you can do to prevent it.

 

The 1970’s and 80’s

In the 70’s HIV makes its way to the United States. Doctors suspect various other illnesses until the early 1980’s. In 1982 this new disease is called AIDS. By 1984 they identify HIV (then known as HTLV-III or LAV) as the cause of AIDS. They would discover not only were gay men affected, it could be contracted through heterosexual sex, sharing contaminated needles and blood transfusions. The mid to late 1980’s saw discrimination of people with AIDS, famous people lost, projects like the AIDS quilt and the CDC’s first public service announcement. By the late 80’s AZT (azidothymidine) is being used to suppress the effects of HIV but its tendency to mutate makes it drug resistant. Trials are done on humans in a rush for a cure. Awareness and education about prevention starts to reduce the numbers of those affected. Early detection becomes an important factor, testing becomes a focus. By the end of the 80’s the US alone reaches 100,000 reported cases of AIDS.

LGBT Pride Month

As LGBT Pride month, June is full of celebrations and events. Around the world the LGBTQ community rallies together to form their own Pride parades with weekends full of advocacy, education, and remembrance in a festive setting. Some celebrate a week, some a weekend, some just a day. However your neck of the woods celebrates, it’s a great way for the LGBT communities and it’s allies to celebrate how far they’ve come since 1969 and how far they still have to go. Let’s look at how this all got started and what an amazing event it’s become over the past four decades.

Stonewall Inn

The impetus for Pride was started after the riots near the Stonewall Inn in 1969. The Stonewall Inn was a well-known gay bar in NYC’s Greenwich Village that was also a haven for the poor and extremely marginalized transgender and transvestite community as well as prostitutes and the homeless. For decades the gay community found few public places they could go to socialize or be even the slightest bit out about their sexuality. A few bars catered to the community but the police raided them often and sent anyone without proper identification or dressed in clothing of the opposite sex (men couldn’t look like women and women needed at least three pieces of feminine clothing) to jail. Wealthy patrons were often blackmailed to keep their orientation a secret. One early morning on June 28th, 1969, the police did a surprise raid at the Stonewall. This one was different as people started to gather outside and the patrons inside decided they had had enough and fought back. People out on the street joined in and soon a small-scale riot had started. During that week more protests occurred and while things started to calm down a need to take action had begun. The coming year would see big steps forward in the fight for gay rights.

Your Guide to Edging

What is better than one orgasm? A more powerful one! There are many names for this practice, sufing, peaking, edging, but no matter what you call it, they are all forms of orgasm control. This is where the goal is to stave off your orgasm to prolong your sexual experience and/or create a stronger orgasmic sensation. This technique can be practiced alone or with a partner and is something you can start today!

For the majority of males, ejaculation happens within a few minutes of penetration. While that is great for them, it often leaves their female partners unsatisfied. It takes a woman about 20 minutes of stimulation to reach orgasm. And after a male ejaculates, he experiences a refractory period in which he has to wait to continue sexual stimulation. With edging, the male can prolong his sexual encounter with his partner and hopefully see her orgasm before his own. 

Is Sex Considered Exercise?

We’ve heard about the health benefits of sex. How it can help you mentally and physically, it can also help keep you feeling younger. We’ve heard the same things about exercise. Would these two great tastes taste great together? Can sex be considered exercise? For those of you who have had an all out sweaty session of hot sex, you’re probably nodding your head right now. Sex can take lots of energy if you’re using different positions and giving it all you’ve got. Regular exercise has been known to improve your sex life too. But as for actually scientifically proven exercise, there are certain factors to consider before you sexy time can be thought of as exercise.

How Many Calories Does Sex Burn

A recent study published in the journal PLOS ONE took 21 couples in their early 20’s and measured their energy expenditure with armbands while they did moderate exercise on a treadmill. After they had done 30 minutes on the treadmill, they were then asked to wear the armbands while having sex once a week over the course of a month. The couples averaged about 25 minutes each sexy time session. The findings were very interesting. After moderate jogging on the treadmill men burned 276 calories (about 9 calories a minute) and women burned 213 calories (about 7 calories a minute). They also measure 8.5 METS for men and 8.4 METS for women. METS are metabolic equivalent of task; this translates as the energy cost of physical activities. If you consider the rate of METs being 1 for sitting quietly (I’m using 1.5 sitting while using the computer) and jogging 6mph or bicycling around 15mph is a 10, this 8/5 average METS for jogging lightly falls into place. During sex, however, men burned 100 calories (about 4 calories a minute) and women about 72 calories about 3 calories a minute).  That’s only 6 METS for men and 5.5 METs for women. Researchers were surprised to find the numbers high during sex but the couples in the study found the jogging required much more exertion than sex and seemed like much harder work. Does this qualify sex as equivalent in exercise to light jogging? Not so much.