Health and Men

Safe Sex Part 2: The State Of Our Sexual Health

by Scott on October 10th, 2007

Men’s Health brings us these fact about the state of our sexual health. Some really great information. I donlt care how much You THINK you know about sex, read this article for statistics and STD information.

STD Nation

They say men think about sex every seven seconds, and women about as often as they have to fend off the men. The frequency on both sides of that equation may be exaggerated, but it’s a pretty safe bet that only rarely are thoughts of sex accompanied by thoughts about becoming infected with a sexually transmitted disease.

You may figure that, in the grand tradition of state lotteries and lightning bolts, it couldn’t happen to you. It very well may not—the cornerstone of a healthy sexual life is awareness, and here you are educating yourself on STDs at this very moment. But the need to be smart and stay safe becomes crystal clear as one learns more of the astounding statistics about our nation’s sexual health.

Here are a few fast facts courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

• The U.S. has the highest STD rates of any country in the industrialized world.

• By age 25, half of all sexually active young people get an STD.

• Because Hispanics and African Americans have disproportionately high poverty rates, they’re less likely to have the necessary health insurance and access to medical care that can prevent and treat STDs.

• Of all women infertile due to pelvic inflammatory disease, only half have ever been diagnosed and treated.

• Common STDs include HPV, hepatitis B, gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and trichomoniasis—all increase the risk of acquiring HIV.

• Only 14 percent of men and 8 percent of women think they are at risk of becoming infected. Yet more than half of all people will be infected with an STD at some point in their lifetime.

So, if you look yourself in the mirror and think, An STD? Not me!, you may want to amend that thought to Not me … so far. Purely in terms of statistics, anyone who’s sexually active must at least consider the possibility of an infected past, present or future partner. To do anything less is to take your good health and good luck for granted.

Now, some important facts and figures about the current state of STDs in the U.S. You may never have heard of trichomoniasis, or never considered that chlamydia could be a threat in high school hallways, but these are a few of the pixels in our sexual health picture today.

To read the rest Click Here STD Nation

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POSTED IN: Sexual Health