While there are plenty of women over 50 years old who date and are sexually active, a new study finds that these women may lack important information about sexual health because education campaigns are typically targeted towards younger generations.

Dr. Cynthia Morton and colleagues at the University of Florida surveyed women aged 50 and older about their knowledge concerning sexual health and their concerns about safe sex practices.

The women involved in the study participated in focus group discussions that discussed topics such as the challenges in finding male partners, negotiating condom use and seeking credible information sources to help them make the best decisions about sexual health.

The results of the study indicated that older women are aware of the risks for sexually transmitted diseases yet are uncomfortable asking their regular physicians questions regarding sexual health.

Additionally, though the women knew about the importance of using condoms to prevent sexually transmitted diseases, some avoided negotiating condom use with partners in an effort to avoid conflict or rejection.

“The findings generated from our research offer a rich foundation for better understanding the motivations and concerns that influence senior-aged women’s attitudes about dating at their present stage of life,” said Morton.

According to the researchers, future efforts are necessary to help older women feel more confident in talking to their physicians about sexual health. The researchers also recommended social media campaigns aimed to educate older women about sexual health risks and safe sex practices.

The study was published in the Journal of Consumer Affairs.

College students talk about hooking up, a lot – much more than it actually happens, as it turns out.
Naturally, this leads to some mistaken perceptions among the students about the frequency of these types of encounters.

The study, which took place at the University of Nebraska, defined hooking up as “casual intimate encounters outside of dating or exclusive relationships” and looked at the extent to which all the talk about hooking up influenced risky sexual behavior.

According to the results, 84 percent of students had talked with their college friends in the previous four months about hookups. However, when asked how many hookups they had during the school year, the students reported far fewer for him or herself than what they assumed a “typical student” had experienced.

The talk about hooking up proved to be more influential than the actual experience of the students. Among other results, the researchers found that talking regularly about hook ups led students to think more approvingly about the practice, and often, riskier sexual behavior.

The study also found that the more communication there was about such non-relationship sex, particularly among close college friends, the greater chance those students would participate in sexual hook ups.

By the numbers:

-54 percent of students reported having participated in a sexual hookup during the school year.

-63 percent of males reported engaging in a sexual hookup compared to 45 percent of females

-37 percent of students reported two or more hookups during the school year.

-90 percent of the students assumed that a “typical” student had been involved in two or more hookups.

The study was published in the journal Health Communication.

An international research team has discovered a strain of gonorrhea that is resistant to all currently available antibiotics.  Scientists worry the new strain may transform a common and easily treatable infection into a global threat to public health.

The discovery was made by Dr. Magnus Unemo, Dr. Makoto Ohnishi, and colleagues at the Swedish Reference Laboratory for Pathogenic Neisseria.

They identified a previously unknown variant of the bacterium that causes gohnorrhea, Neisseria gonorrhoeae.  In analyzing the new strain, dubbed H041, the researchers found that it was extremely resistant to all present antiobiotics used for treating gonorrhea.

“This is both an alarming and a predictable discovery,” said Dr. Unemo. “Since antibiotics became the standard treatment for gonorrhea in the 1940s, this bacterium has shown a remarkable capacity to develop resistance mechanisms to all drugs introduced to control it.”

“While it is still too early to assess if this new strain has become widespread, the history of newly emergent resistance in the bacterium suggests that it may spread rapidly unless new drugs and effective treatment programs are developed,” he added.

Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases worldwide.  In the United States alone, about 700,000 people are infected annually, according the the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The STD is asymptomatic in 50 percent of infected women and five percent of infected men, but when symptoms do express themselves, they typically include a burning sensation during urination and genital discharge.  If left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to serious and irreversible damage in both men and women, including chronic pelvic pain, ectopic pregnancy, infertility and mortal lesions.

Babies born to infected mothers are also at risk of serious blood and joint infections, as well as blindness.

The research was presented at the 19th conference of the International Society for Sexually Transmitted Disease Research (ISSTDR) in Canada.

A new study may explain why caffeine consumption can hurt a woman’s chances of getting pregnant.

The results of a study conducted in mice show that caffeine can reduce muscle activity in the fallopian tubes, which are responsible for carrying eggs from the ovaries to the womb.

It is generally assumed that tiny hair-like structures, called cilia, line the tubes.  Muscle contractions in the tubes move the cilia which assists them in pushing the eggs forward.

However, it appears that caffeine impedes the muscle contractions so that eggs can’t move down the tubes.

Researchers hope this finding may assist with both fertility treatments and other issues that may arise in a women’s sexual health.

“As well as potentially helping women who are finding it difficult to get pregnant, a better understanding of the way Fallopian tubes work will help doctors treat pelvic inflammation and sexually-transmitted disease more successfully,” said Professor Ward.

“It could also increase our understanding of what causes ectopic pregnancy,” he added.

An ectopic pregnancy is an painful and potentially life-threatening situation in which embryos get stuck and start developing inside a woman’s Fallopian tube.  It can result in infertility.

The study was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology.

According to a new study, treating HIV infections right away could lower patients’ chances of spreading the AIDS virus to sexual partners, US News and World Report reported.

This, in turn, could prevent millions of infections around the world.

The major international study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.  Its findings could encourage doctors and health care policymakers to administer medication sooner.

In a study of nearly 2000 couples with one infected partner, those who began taking oral antiretroviral drugs immediately upon diagnosis were 96 percent less likely to transmit the AIDS-causing virus to their uninfected partner than those who started therapy later.

The study began in 2005 and was expected to run 10 years through 2015, but the results were so clear that researchers stopped four years ahead of schedule.

Because HIV drugs are expensive—$12,000 or more a year—and can cause side effects like nausea and liver damage, patients often don’t start treatment until they’re far sicker.

“This breakthrough is a serious game changer and will drive the prevention revolution forward,” said Michel Sidibé, the executive director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, in a press release. “It makes HIV treatment a new priority prevention option.”

Click here to read more from US News and World Report.

Government agencies are warning consumers to be wary of over-the-counter drugs that claim to treat, prevent, or cure sexually transmitted diseases, WebMD reported.

The FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a joint effort to remove “dangerous” products that make such claims, specifically, Medavir, Herpaflor, Viruxo, C-Cure, and Never An Outbreak.

According to the FDA, they are trying to prevent consumers from being misled.

These products, mostly marketed as dietary supplements, claim to treat a range of STDs, including herpes, genital warts and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The FDA has sent letters to the companies that are making the drugs, informing them that they are violating federal law because their products have not been evaluated for safety and effectiveness.

“These products are dangerous because they are targeted to patients with serious conditions, where treatment options proven to be safe and effective are available,” the FDA’s Deborah Autor, JD, said in a news release. “Consumers who buy these products may not seek the medical attention they need and could spread infections to sexual partners.”

The Federal Trade Commission says it is also illegal to make unsubstantiated treatment claims.

“These companies are on notice that advertising health benefits that are not supported by rigorous scientific evidence violates the FTC Act,” said David Vladeck, director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection. “They also should know that health scams that endanger public health will not be tolerated.”

The federal announcement warns consumers that there are currently no OTC drugs or dietary supplements available to prevent or treat STDs. Many FDA-approved medications are available, but all of them require prescriptions.

Click here to read more from WebMD.