Author: The Beauty Nation

Specific micro-organisms inhabit the mouth, just as they inhabit other body orifices (openings). They rarely cause problems within their natural ecology. If they are transmitted to other orifices, they can cause infection. One typical example is a harmless bacteria of the mouth that can come in contact with the penis. The germs enter the urinary tract and cause male UTI.

The membranes which line the mouth are naturally subjected to tiny lesions. It has been estimated that there is gum bleeding after brushing the teeth in at least one-third of any given population. Small ulcers can be present at the sides of the mouth. The tongue can be sore for a variety of reasons. All these factors can make the mouth an “unsafe” place for sex.

Diseases known to be transmitted by oro-genital infection are the herpes virus cold sore, yeast infections, AIDS, gonorrhea of the throat, and syphilis chancre of the lips. At least two cases of AIDS have been contracted this way. It would seem unlikely that a woman would wish to kiss a partner with a sore on the mouth, or that she would perform oral sex on a penis with a “drip”. Yet all infections have an incubation period. There is a time-lapse between contracting a disease and the appearance of symptoms. Incubation periods vary widely with different STDs; they can take years for AIDS. With a new partner, the incubation period must be taken into account.

In some cases, both partners are asymptomatic. There are no signs of disease to remind lovers that oral sex can be hazardous. Avoid direct mouth contact with semen. Where there is high risk sexual activity, one option is to completely avoid oro-genital sex. If this is unacceptable, wait until a new partner has been tested and is known to be infection-free.

Think of the reproductive system as two cycles. The first occurs in the ovary; an egg is matured and released at ovulation. The second is in the uterus. The lining, which is called the endometrium, builds up for pregnancy each month and breaks away if none occurs. Estrogen controls the egg cycle. Both progesterone and estrogen control the menstrual cycle. Each cycle depends upon the other for smooth and efficient function.

In the first half of the cycle, as the endometrium is building up, the lining is called proliferative. It is hard, thick, and spreading without any particular direction. From day 14, (the second half of cycle), progesterone turns that hardness into a soft, lush lining. It is now called secretory; it stops spreading and becomes specialized to secrete products that nourish a fetus.

If there is no pregnancy, the softened endometrium can break away easily, and is lost in the flow. It does this cleanly and smoothly; in youth, the flow is heavy at first and tapers off to spot at the end. This smooth pattern changes slightly at age 30 and can become irregular near menopause. The important point is that the uterus is completely emptied. Each month, it has a fresh start. If something is amiss in the ovary cycle, the uterus cycle is thrown out of balance. It is one of the main causes of irregular periods.

Douching is a procedure of vaginal irritation in which fluid in a bag is permitted to run through a tube, entering the vagina under slight pressure and ballooning it out slightly. As the fluid runs out or is expelled through muscular action, the vaginal contents are washed out. Douching to prevent pregnancy after intercourse is totally ineffective since it has been determined that sperm can be recovered from the uterus within seconds after being deposited in the vagina — and no woman can get the douche bag apparatus set up and going that fast.

So much for douching as a method of birth control. If sperm can be recovered from the uterus within seconds, so can the germs of sexual disease. What of douching as a cleansing and freshening routine? Does it really work? Douching is seldom essential for normal health because the vagina is self-cleansing through the process of normal discharge… To douche more than every 4 or 5 days is excessive, however, and it will destroy the normal physiology of the vagina.”

The risk is that douching upsets the carefully balanced ecology of the vagina. Just as saliva helps to fight mouth infections, so vagina fluids help to fight internal infections. If there is a constant tide of water washing them out, this valuable mechanism of self-cleansing could become less effective.

However, with repeated lovemaking, and/or repeated use of spermicides which feel sticky when they dissolve, the vagina can become uncomfortably damp. Some women only feel fresh when they have douched. Others douche if they believe the advertisements for commercial douche products, which imply that the natural sea odor of the vagina is somehow “unclean.”

Studies show that at least 60 percent of women douche occasionally. The following are suggestions that can help:

• Use lukewarm water, never hot.
• Keep the bag low, no more than two feet above the hips.
• Wait till the fluid is flowing before inserting the nozzle.
• Consider having a douche while sitting on the toilet.
• Insert the nozzle, and then hold the vulva lips tight.
• Never squeeze the bulb-type bag hard.
• Reduce douching to once a week at the maximum.
• If the vagina is clogged with semen, use condoms in between.
• Avoid douching if there is any chance of pregnancy.
• Avoid if blood spotting appears after douching.
• If pain and/or fever start, see the doctor the same day.
• Avoid heavy douching if there is infection; it can force the germs up into the uterus and tubes.
• Douching can encourage an infection; it strips away the protective coating and kills normal, infection-fighting bacteria.
• One quart water to one tablespoon of vinegar or bicarbonate of soda works as well and costs less than commercial products.
• A vinegar douche helps restore the vagina’s acidic PH.

The ovaries have a lifetime supply of egg follicles from birth. These ripen into eggs, which can be fertilized to produce pregnancy. By age 30, the eggs have been present for some time. In problems of fertility, the quality of the egg is critical. Therefore, the woman’s age becomes a very important factor.

Age co-factors also include less frequent ovulation and less regular periods by the late 30s and 40s. The older the woman, the greater the risk of exposure to tubal obstruction. If pregnancy occurs, there is a higher risk of spontaneous abortion. It can be seen that a woman’s reproductive life has a limited time span.

Keep in mind that fertility data are averages only. No woman can consider that she is too old to conceive until her menopause is complete.

The risk of birth defects rises with increasing years. Down’s Syndrome, a chromosome disorder, which affects the mental and physical abilities of the baby, is the most common female age-related defect. It occurs:

• 1 out of 365 births at age 35
• 1 out of 109 births at age 40
• 1 out of 32 births at age 45
• 1 out of 12 births at age 49

The risk of men age 40 plus passing on birth defects was estimated at 3 per 1,000. Recent findings seem to suggest that it could be higher. Researchers now understand that sperm in men of all ages are more likely to cause birth defects than was previously thought.

The Timing Factor

Timing for the optimum chance of fertilization is critical. Once the egg is in the oviduct, it only remains viable for the next 12 to 24 hours. It must be fertilized during this time. Sperm only remain viable for a maximum of 48 hours. It is essential to know the precise date of ovulation to maximize the optimum chance of fertilization.

Ovulation predictor tests are commercial kits that can be obtained from a local pharmacy. They are inexpensive, simple to use, and accurate. They measure the surge of LH hormones that trigger ovulation. By frequent testing of urine samples and charting the results, the actual time of ovulation can be worked out.

Transvaginal ultrasound is the new high-tech method to detect the time of ovulation. The probe is placed in the vagina and shows the ovaries with their developing follicles on a monitoring screen. Ultrasound to detect ovulation is costly. Older women may choose this method if the sands of time are running against them. By comparison, charting the vagina temperature, the cervical mucus, and so on, come a poor third. Ovulation is a major factor in female fertility. Know the time of ovulation.

Estrogen Production

It is important that control is kept over sexual development. If the ovaries produce too much or too little estrogen, it would have a disastrous effect on feminization. So FSH (and LH) are produced under negative feedback controls. Estrogen production goes rather like this:

• Estrogen rises to its correct level in the bloodstream…
• This fact is fed back to the hypothalamus…
• Which stops stimulating the pituitary to make FSH…
• Which stops the ovaries from producing more estrogen…
• When the level of estrogen in the blood drops…
• This fact is fed back to the hypothalamus…
• Which re-stimulates the pituitary to produce FSH…
• Which re-stimulates the ovaries to make estrogen…
• Which causes the estrogen blood level to rise again…
• And so on, round and round, from puberty until menopause.

If only it were that simple! A baseline of estrogen and progesterone is produced monthly. FSH stimulates the rising estrogen. This peaks by day 12, and stimulates the pituitary to release a huge and sudden surge of LH, which causes ovulation; an egg is sprung from the ovary. At the same time as LH goes up, on day 14, FSH and testosterone levels go up. All the sex hormones surge at mid-cycle.

The slight rise in testosterone gives a boost to the libido. Studies suggest that women are more likely to initiate lovemaking at mid-cycle (when most fertile) than at other times. Some women report that they feel sexy during a period. Even those with cramps can experience an increase in desire once the pain slackens off.

Estrogen and progesterone have little effect on the sex drive. Instead, they affect all female-specific tissue, keeping it moist and plumped up. They stimulate the breasts to swell, cervical mucus to increase, the uterus lining to thicken, and so on. This is why therapy for many female problems is to increase or reduce female (or male) hormone production. Hormone drug therapy can be directed at controlling gonadotrophin output, and/or estrogen and progesterone production.

The lining walls of the vagina are thick, being made up of 20 to 40 layers of cells. These overlap like the tiles on a roof. They are similar to skin cells (epithelial), but with no hair follicles, sweat, or sebaceous glands. So there are no pores, no external orifices, through which germs can enter. The vagina has a robust, tough, resilient, protective lining.

Like all skin tissue, the bottom layer grows and pushes up the middle layer, which pushes up the top layer, which eventually dies and is sloughed off (shed). The female hormone estrogen stimulates this constant cell growth and replacement. Before puberty, the lining of the vagina is immature: pale, delicate, and very thin. (Sexual intercourse with a little girl damages the walls; it is physical as well as sexual abuse.) Sometime after menopause, the lining can start to thin out again.

The vagina walls help support the bladder and rectum and hold them in place. If they are stretched by repeated childbirth, or damaged in other ways, they lose some of their natural tension and strength. When this happens, there can be prolapse, a small portion of the bladder, rectum, or uterus dips down into the vagina. This problem can occur later in life.

The vagina has its own carefully balanced ecology. It produces a constant supply of moisture from blood fluids in the walls. During the reproductive years, this fluid is acid-based. It contains mucus, sloughed-off dead cells, helpful bacteria, yeast, and other microbes. The acidity, the tough lining, and the bacteria all protect against infection. They are essential for vaginal health.

Fat cells absorb and release the female hormone estrogen. In women who are overweight, estrogen is not only produced by the ovaries, but also from the extra fat cells in other parts of the body. This release of extra estrogen from extra fat cells upsets the fine balance of the feedback system between the pituitary hormones and estrogen. If the problem can be detected on the bathroom scales, reduce weight to within the normal range for age.

Overweight in men. Heat damages sperm production. In men who are overweight, an excess of flesh at the buttocks, inner thighs, and lower abdomen not only keeps the groin hot, it raises the temperature in the testicles. This reduces their ability to produce vigorous sperm. The testicles should be a few degrees below body heat; hence their cooler position outside the body. Wear loose cotton shorts, and reduce weight to within the normal range for age.

Underweight in women. Being underweight can also upset the feedback system between the hormones. A certain level of fat cells is necessary for hormone production. If bodyweight drops too low, ovulation can be suppressed. Some women athletes and long-distance runners have scanty or absent periods. Avoid crash diets. Avoid any slimming or exercise program which promises a sudden weight loss or one which drops the body weight below the minimum normal range. Increase carbohydrate consumption. Aim for an even body weight within the normal range for age.

High risk sexual behaviour includes:

• Sex is paid for.
• The constant change of heterosexual partners.
• Heterosexual anal sex is unprotected.
• Sex with an intravenous drug user.
• “Tough” sex causes lesions, bruises, bleeding.
• Male sex (anal homosexual intercourse).

AIDS is transmitted by the HIV virus in blood, semen, and vagina fluids. It can be passed in skin sores and genital lesions too tiny to be seen with the unaided eye. It is also passed from mother to child in breast milk. Infected blood and semen contain the highest concentration of the virus. Vagina fluids have a lesser concentration. HIV may be present in sweat, saliva, and tears, but the concentrations are usually too weak for there to be any risk.

STDs, however, pass in very low concentrations. One germ can be enough. Studies suggest that syphilis and herpes are significant risk factors in the transmission of HIV. The sores of either disease can be on the mouth or inside the rectum, as well as on the genitals. In women, HIV is linked with a history of genital warts. It seems likely that STDs, which disrupt epithelial (lining) tissue, are important factors in the transmission of HIV. An appropriate way to avoid infection is to avoid direct contact with a partner’s semen, blood, or sores anywhere on the skin. Condoms provide some protection.

The signal to start puberty comes from the hypothalamus in the brain. It comes when the hypothalamus reaches a certain degree of maturity. In girls, this level of maturity is weight-related. On average, a plumper girl will start puberty earlier than her slimmer but same-age sister.

The signal acts on the pituitary gland, also in the brain. Once it receives this signal, the pituitary releases the sex hormones FSH and LH. These control sexual development. FSH is a follicle-stimulating hormone, and LH is a luteinizing hormone. Because the ovaries and testes are gonads (producers of seed), the hormones which stimulate them, FSH and LH, are called gonadotrophins.

The pituitary releases gonadotrophins into the bloodstream. FSH stimulates the ovaries to produce estrogen. FSH and LH work together to stimulate the release of the egg. LH “springs” the egg at ovulation, and stimulates the empty follicle to produce progesterone. If there are disorders of the hypothalamus or the pituitary, this complex chain to trigger sexual development cannot begin. The girl cannot become feminized. Her body grows taller but remains that of a large overgrown child.

It takes at least a year for the levels of FSH and LH to build up. Then, it is all systems go; puberty begins in earnest. Breasts blossom, hips widen, the genitals enlarge, and so on. Periods begin. Feminization usually occurs between ages 10 and 13.