Worst news ever

[Gary Whitta]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040225/hl_nm/health_oralsex_dc_1

[Oppressor]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040225/hl_nm/health_oralsex_dc_1

Oh but it gets better...

HPV passes right through condoms...

[nutsak]

Just don't tell ya girl - it's not your mouth after all. (it's a joke)

Oh and who thinks this will slow down promotion times now?

[Joe O'Malley]

"This is a major study in terms of size," he said.

Not sure I'd have used that quote in an article about oral sex and cancer...

[noun]

I think I'm going to apply for some government pork to churn out one of these "studies". I just have to combine one activity with one debilitating condition, make up some crap to correlate the two, and I'm golden.

[Ephraim]

Well, we've all got to die of something.

If, in the end, it's oral cancer as a result of all the cunnilingual pleasure I've doled out to my partners over the years that gets me, then so be it. ;)

Better than going out like my granddad, whose famous last words were:

"A truck!"

(shamelessly ripped off from Emo Phillips).

/Eph

[Joe O'Malley]

I think oral cancer is lot more easily treated than cervical cancer.

"See, honey? I'm only asking because I'm concerned for your health!"

[Lunch of Kong]

HPV passes right through condoms...

I don't think it's that HPV passes through condoms, but that HPV is transmitted by contact with areas that are not covered by a latex condom. So if you get some HPV-carrying lovejuice splashed on your balls, you might start to develop some extra texture for her pleasure.

[extarbags]

It doesn't really say that oral sex leads to cancer though. It seems to be saying (from what I can gather) that HPV is correlated to cancer, nothing more. So is HPV just another STD then? If it is, doesn't that mean that people who are careful about STD's by way of monogamy rather than condoms are not at risk of getting oral sex cancer?

[Sidd_Budd]

HPV is the same virus that causes genital warts. It is one of the most common STDs. In studies published in '97, there were over 100 strains of HPV identified. There are an estimated 40 million people in the US with some form of HPV (again, these are 97-98 data), compared to 45 million with herpes simplex 2 (HSV-2; the type most associated with genital herpes).

Various strains of HPV had already been shown to be correlated with cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, urethra, penis, and anus. This research just extends earlier work to include a plausible additional area, the mouth. Thankfully, many of the cancers are quite rare. Because most of these studies are correlational, it's not warranted to state that HPV leads to cancer. Cancer could just as easily lead to enhanced risk of HPV, or a 3rd variable (i.e., smoking, immunosuppression) could be linked to an increased risk of both cancer & HPV. It's been a few years since I taught Human Sexuality, so more experimental work may have been done; experimental research does allow cause and effect relations to be more clearly determined.

I'm pretty sure Roger is correct that HPV does not pass through latex and polyurethane condoms -- I know both HSV-2 and the AIDS virus do not penetrate these condoms. Natural membrane condoms are less safe at preventing virus transmission.

Monogamy, where you and your partner were both tested before becoming sexually active, is a very reliable way to prevent STD transmission. Effective use of condoms is also good, although many folks find oral sex using condoms or dental dams to be offputting. Simply relying on visual inspection of your genitals isn't always effective, as some STDs have no visible symptoms (especially in men), and many of the viral infections have asymptomatic periods with no outbreak. Since individuals are still infected with the virus during these periods, they can still transmit the virus to a partner. This is why folks occasionally develop genital herpes even in a monogamous relationship with a partner who has no history of genital outbreaks. How? The partner is asymptomatic, but is infected with oral herpes (HSV-1, or cold sores), like 100 million other US citizens, and passes the virus to his or her partner during oral sex. While much more common around the mouth, HSV-1 sometimes can have genital outbreaks.

[Oppressor]

HPV passes right through condoms...

I don't think it's that HPV passes through condoms, but that HPV is transmitted by contact with areas that are not covered by a latex condom. So if you get some HPV-carrying lovejuice splashed on your balls, you might start to develop some extra texture for her pleasure.

The worst parts of HPV for a guy are that:

1) Getting warts in one's urethra
2) Getting warts up one's ass

And to make matters more fun, HPV and HSV have a symmetric syngergistic relationship with HIV. HIV reduces one's immunity to both HPV and HSV while having warts or herpes sores makes one more vulnerable to HIV infection.

And the uber trump is that 70% or more of the population is already infected with HSV 1 and can give someone genital herpes through oral sex. Isn't this lovely?

All I can say is where's my damned Cherry 2000 already? I can live without the flying cars, but this is ridiculous...

[ydejin]

HPV is the same virus that causes genital warts. It is one of the most common STDs.

...

Sidd, thanks for a very informative post, nicely written.

Welcome to Qt3.

[extarbags]

And the uber trump is that 70% or more of the population is already infected with HSV 1 and can give someone genital herpes through oral sex. Isn't this lovely?


HSV 1 is oral herpes though... if you've ever had a cold sore, you have HSV 1, I believe. Further, I believe that it's possible but pretty rare for the virus to transmutate into HSV 2, genital herpes. But perhaps Sidd will have a correction to this.

[Oppressor]

And the uber trump is that 70% or more of the population is already infected with HSV 1 and can give someone genital herpes through oral sex. Isn't this lovely?


HSV 1 is oral herpes though... if you've ever had a cold sore, you have HSV 1, I believe. Further, I believe that it's possible but pretty rare for the virus to transmutate into HSV 2, genital herpes. But perhaps Sidd will have a correction to this.

They're two different strains. However, the cheaper HSV tests cannot accurately distinguish between type 1 and type 2. One thing to note: canker sores look a lot like cold sores, but they aren't the same thing, so it's possible to get misdiagnosed if no culture or test is performed.

[Sidd_Budd]

Thanks for the welcome; I've asked for some information on some minor computer glitches in the Tech Forum , but mostly lurk. I teach psychology part-time at a local university while finishing my Ph.D., so my texts are the source of my knowledge. As I said, it's been a few years since I taught sexuality, and I have a cognitive-family theory bias, so this hard-core biological stuff is rusty. Any medical researchers would know more. But what are the chances of a M.D.-Ph.D. type also being into computer games? Be even stranger if he or she was a wargamer...

Anyway, I found this site, http://www.herpes.com/hsv1-2.html, which does a good job explaining the specifics of HSV-1 and HSV-2. Wald, the researcher noted on the page, is well known in the field. HSV-1 is often called "oral herpes", but technically it is a strain that favors outbreaks around the mouth, just as HSV-2 favors genital outbreaks. It is possible to have a genital outbreak of HSV-1 (often transmitted during oral sex), but according to the information on the site, subsequent genital outbreaks are fairly rare. It appears virtually unheard of for someone to have a visible outbreak of HSV-2 in the mouth area.

The most interesting thing I learned on that site was that prior infection with oral HSV-1 lowers one's risk of acquiring genital HSV-1. Because it is common practice in the U.S. to kiss children frequently, many of us acquired HSV-1 as kids. In Japan and some areas of Great Britian (presumably areas where physical contact is more restrained), genital outbreaks of HSV-1 are as common as genital HSV-2, because folks in that culture don't have prior infections to help inoculate them.

Love & kisses,
-Chris

[Oppressor]

But what are the chances of a M.D.-Ph.D. type also being into computer games? Be even stranger if he or she was a wargamer...


I resemble that remark... And yes, I'm a stranger...

[Troy S Goodfellow]

But what are the chances of a M.D.-Ph.D. type also being into computer games? Be even stranger if he or she was a wargamer...


I resemble that remark... And yes, I'm a stranger...

Me and my wife, too. PhDs who love to game. I'm the wargamer in the family.

There are more of us than you think.

Troy

[Oppressor]

But what are the chances of a M.D.-Ph.D. type also being into computer games? Be even stranger if he or she was a wargamer...


I resemble that remark... And yes, I'm a stranger...

Me and my wife, too. PhDs who love to game. I'm the wargamer in the family.

There are more of us than you think.

Troy

Ah yes, I remember how I used to meet people when I was in college and grad school and how I was right out there in the big old real world. Then I got married. Then I got divorced. But in the meantime, everyone else got married and now it feels like I'm walking around a big old empty shopping mall w/r to rebuilding a social life. Oh well, small steps...