Twelve things one should avoid doing when it comes to sex

Washington: While much has been written about how to boost action in the bedroom, there are things one should never do when it comes to sex.

In her new book, titled 'Sex with Your Ex & 69 Other Things You Should Never Do Again... Plus a Few That You Should', author Dr. Yvonne K. Fulbright has mentioned things that one should strictly refrain to keep a healthy sex life, reports Fox News. And, according to her, the don'ts of sex are:

1. Never have a 'type' of orgasm - have your orgasm

Instead of trying to have a breast, clitoral, G-spot or blended orgasm, forget the labels and have yours. Don't worry about having a specific type, but focus on pampering your whole body, attending to any of its hot spots. This beckons your orgasm by not being so goal-oriented.

2. Never talk about past sexual relationships

Don't invite distress into your current romance by reminiscing about the good times or bad times you've had with other jerks, hotties, players or loves. Focus on the present and making it the most memorable.

3. Never let sex get routine

While it's wise to get in a routine to make sure sex happens, don't let the sex itself get routine. This only invites monotony and the mundane. To keep things hot, be sure to keep things new and fresh.

4. Never just lie there

A big complaint you'll hear from men and women alike is that their lover didn't do much of anything during sex. Men have grumbled that she doesn't move during lovemaking. Most people like an active lover - one responsive to the action, which shows that they're into the moment.

5. Never move in together (or get married) a second time

Things didn't work out the first time for good reason. Maybe you love each other, but if you're incompatible or fight too much, it's better to cut your losses and move on to a situation that does work.

6. Never drink cheap beer and stay overnight

Don't set yourself up to be someone's gassy guest. Get the walk of shame over with sooner rather than later, lest you stink up someone's bedroom and bathroom. This is not the kind of lasting impression most seducers are after.

7. Never drink more than 1-2 glasses of alcohol

While spirits can do a lot for one's spirits, sexual self-confidence, and libido, keep your booze to a minimum. More than a couple of glasses can cause erectile difficulties in men and vaginal dryness in women. Being buzzed or drunk can also lead to high-risk sexual behaviours.

8. Never compare yourself to Victoria's Secret or Abercrombie models.

It's no good to think that these real-life moving mannequins are the standard by which you should judge your face or form. You've got your own unique look and that can be super sexy, depending on how you wear it. That starts with a smile and indicating to others that you feel quite good about yourself.

9. Never totally trust magazine sex tips

Don't mindlessly copy magazine sex tips. Think about the suggestion first. Is it hot or completely ridiculous? Will it work for your sexual relationship? Or does it have the potential to sabotage your sex life?

10. Never douche before sex

Despite popular belief, douching is not a safe or healthy way to clean the vagina. Doing so upsets the vagina's delicate chemical balance, increasing your chance of developing pelvic inflammatory disease or other health problems. Let the vagina naturally cleanse itself and worry about other much sexier activities pre-sex.

11. Never attempt tricky Kama Sutra positions if you are not flexible.

Stick with pursuing sexual positions that are comfortable for you.

12. Never listen to somebody slamming your sexy self.

Is a guy suggesting that you get breast implants? Is some gal making fun of your penis size? In either case, ignore the criticism, or in the very least, fire back.

Testosterone replacement improves men's liver function

Washington: A new study suggests that testosterone replacement for men with low levels of the hormone greatly improves their fatty liver disease as well as their risk factors for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
"Physicians often are reluctant to prescribe testosterone for conditions not related to sexual function. However, our study shows that testosterone has a much wider therapeutic role than just for improving sexual desire and erectile function," said the study's co-author, Dr. Farid Saad, of Berlin-headquartered Bayer Schering Pharma.
During a presentation at The Endocrine Society's 91st Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., it was revealed that the study included 122 testosterone-deficient men, aged 36 to 69 years.
The researchers found that restoring testosterone to normal levels led to major and progressive improvements in many features of the metabolic syndrome over the 2 years of treatment.
They said that, particularly, the men's weight, waist line and body mass index continued to decline over the full study period.
According to them, the other metabolic risk factors also significantly improved during the first year of testosterone treatment.
Of the 47 men who met the criteria for a diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome at the beginning of the study, 36 no longer had the diagnosis after 2 years of treatment, the authors reported.
Furthermore, liver function significantly improved during the first 12 to 18 months of therapy and stabilized for the remainder of the study period.
The researchers said that the treatment also greatly decreased blood levels of C-reactive protein, a measure of inflammation that is linked to increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
"We conclude that testosterone therapy in men with testosterone deficiency can largely improve or even remedy the metabolic syndrome, which will most likely decrease their risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease," Saad said. [From Internet]

'Pullout method' nearly as effective as using condoms: Study

Washington: A new study has indicated that the old 'pullout method', pulling out just before ejaculation, works nearly as well as condoms in preventing pregnancies.
The study, titled "Better than nothing or savvy risk reduction practice? The importance of withdrawal," appears in the June edition of the journal Contraception, reports CBS News.
The authors find:
"If the male partner withdraws before ejaculation every time a couple has vaginal intercourse, about 4 percent of couples will become pregnant over the course of a year.
"However, more realistic estimates of typical use indicate that about 18 percent of couples will become pregnant in a year using withdrawal.
"These rates are only slightly less effective than male condoms, which have perfect- and typical-use failure rates of 2 percent and 17 percent, respectively."

Binge drinking harms teens' brains

Washington: In a study on adolescent binge drinkers, scientists have found that even rare consumption of large doses of alcohol during youth may compromise the coherence of the brain's white matter fibre.
Such incoherence has been known in adult alcoholics, but researchers were unaware as to when during the course of drinking white matter abnormalities become apparent.
"Because the brain is still developing during adolescence, there has been concern that it may be more vulnerable to the effects of neurotoxins, such as high doses of alcohol," said Susan F. Tapert, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.
The study's corresponding author has claimed that animal studies have suggested this to be true.
Duncan Clark, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said that "'white matter'" refers to brain areas that appear light in colour due to being primarily lipids."
He added: "White matter is composed of bundles of myelinated axons connecting grey matter areas of the brain, and has been shown to continue to develop throughout adolescence. These systematic changes in white matter organization reflect not only maturation of interconnections but continued maturation of the brain as a whole."
"White matter, and its integrity, are essential to the efficient relay of information within the brain. Indicators of white matter integrity are linked to performance on a range of cognitive tests, including measures of reading, copying complex figures, and speeded coding of information. Abnormalities in white matter health could relate to compromised ability to consider multiple sources of information when making decisions, and to emotional functioning," said Tapert.
For the study, the researchers enrolled 28 teens and used diffusion tensor imaging - an MRI technique sensitive to the random movement of water in cells of a target tissue - to examine fractional anisotropy, a measure of directional coherence of white matter tracts, in them.
It was found that out of the 28 adoloscents, 14 (12 males, 2 females) had and 14 (12 males, 2 females) did not have histories of binge drinking.
No participants had a history of an alcohol use disorder-drinkers were matched to non-drinkers on age, gender and education.
"This study showed that adolescents with histories of binge drinking episodes have lower coherence of white matter fibers, suggesting poorer white matter health, in a variety of brain regions. Frankly, I was surprised we found this, because the drinkers did not meet criteria for alcohol abuse or dependence," said Tapert.
Clark said: "These findings add to a growing literature indicating that adolescent alcohol involvement is associated with specific brain characteristics. One of the advantages of this study was that the adolescents with binge drinking did not have major mental disorders. Adolescents with alcohol-use disorders often have other problems. This suggests that the observed brain characteristics may be associated with alcohol involvement specifically rather than other complications."
"These findings indicate that adolescents who engage in binge drinking show low levels of brain organization," he said. "This characteristic could be a risk factor for accelerated alcohol use or an effect of alcohol. We need to know more about how alcohol influences adolescent brain development, [given] that alcohol may disrupt brain development."
The results of the study will be published in the July issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View

Diet high in fruits, veggies may protect against cancer

London: A diet rich in fruit and vegetables may protect against cancer and heart disease, claim researchers.
Fruit and vegetables contain high levels of salicylates, which are also the active anti-inflammatory ingredient of aspirin.
According to a review of the possible association of cancer prevention with this substance found in aspirin, published in the medical journal The Lancet, many herbs and spices are also especially rich in salicylates, reports The Independent.
Professor Peter Elwood, of the University of Cardiff's school of medicine, who led the review, said: "I think this is a very exciting area that should be researched in considerable depth.
"Most medical authorities have said for 20 years that it is the antioxidants in fruit and vegetables that account for their protective effects. It leads us to wonder if the beneficial effects of fruit and vegetables are because of the salicylates they contain," he said.
Salicylates were first identified in strawberries at the beginning of the 20th century, and they have been found to occur naturally in a wide range of plants.

Daily Drinking Poses Biggest Threat to Liver

London: Daily drinking, rather than binge drinking, poses the biggest threat to the liver, according to a new study.
University of Southampton researchers attributed increases in liver-related deaths to daily or near daily heavy drinking, not episodic or binge drinking, a pattern discernable at an early age.
In the study of alcohol dependency of 234 people with liver disease - 106 had alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) and 80 of them had evidence of cirrhosis or progressive fibrosis - the team found that 71 percent of ALD patients drank on a daily basis.
Conversely, patients with other forms of liver disease tended to drink sparingly with only 10 people (eight percent) drinking moderately on four or more days each week.
The study also explored lifetime drinking histories of 105 people and found that ALD patients started drinking at a significantly younger age (15 years) than other subjects and had significantly more drinking days and units than non-ALD patients from the age of 20 onwards, said a Southampton release.
Senior lecturer and consultant hepatologist Nick Sheron at Southamption, who led the study, said, "If we are to turn the tide of liver deaths. . . which means tackling cheap booze and unregulated marketing - we need to find a way to identify those people who are most likely to develop alcohol-related illnesses at a much earlier stage."
These findings were published in Addiction.

Surgeons announce world's first successful transvaginal nephrectomy using intra-umbilical Tri-port

Washington: Doctors at Instituto Medico La Floresta in Caracas, Venezuela, have successfully performed the world's first live human transvaginal nephrectomy using the Tri-port multi-channel port supplied by Advanced Surgical Concepts Ltd.
Dr. Rene Sotelo, the leader of the team of surgeons who carried out the operation, has revealed that the majority of the intra-operative endoscopic visualization and tissue mobilization for the natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery (NOTES) nephrectomy was performed transvaginally, with observation and occasional assistance from an intra-umbilical Tri-port.
According to him, no extra-umbilical incisions were needed.
The patient on whom the operation was performed was a 65 year-old woman with a 6 cm left kidney tumour, and a prior history of hysterectomy.
Sotelo revealed that it took 220 minutes for the surgery to complete, and that patient thereafter had to stay in the hospital for two days.
He said that the patient did not experience any complications, and was discharged with no visible abdominal scar.
Sotelo says: "The procedure went well and has great potential for the future."