Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / October 2008

Norplant was arguably the best contraceptive option available.  If
they could come up with Norplant for men, and lengthen the amount of
time it works, and get rid of any side effects, it could ultimately be
a total solution to unplanned childbirth.  The risk of getting
pregnant on Norplant was 1 in 2000, far safer than most
contraceptives.  When both people are on Norplant the risk of getting
pregnant would be 1 in 2000 x 2000 x 100 = 1 in  400,000,000.  And if
use was increased, the chance that at least one or the other partner
was on it would be great.  Norplant could last 15 years or more, and
be placed under the skin of all willing teenagers, thus eliminating
the possibility of unplanned pregnancies through their 20s.  It could
be made available in high schools.  It would be like a vaccine for
pregnancy.  There are currently 5 million pregnancies per year in the
U.S., and of these, 50% or 2.5 million are unplanned.  Of the
unplanned pregnancies, 1 million are terminated in abortion, and 1.5
million are carried to term.  There are thus 1.5 million unplanned
childbirths and 2.5 million planned childbirths every year.  Of the 4
million yearly childbirths, 37% are unplanned.  This likely has
degenerative and destructive effect on the socio-economic status of
our society.  Unplanned babies are more likely to be born to parents
who are poor or possibly unfit or unready to raise children.  This
causes great increases in crime which costs the country over 500
billion dollars per year.  There are already 2,000,000 people in jails
and prisons, 7,000,000 on probation or parole, and
30,000,000-50,000,000 convicted in America today out of a population
of 300,000,000.  That's over 10% of the population convicted.

If on Norplant, the recommendation would still be to use a condom,
unless monogamous with a partner (or group of partners) who has shown
a clean test for HIV.  An over-the-counter HIV test similar to a
pregnancy test would assist in this*.  Further, if sexually active and
non-monogamous, the recommendation would be to get tested at least
twice a year for Gonorrhea, Chlamydia and Syphilis, for these diseases
can be symptomless, and if left untreated, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia can
lead to Epididymitis in men and Pelvic Inflammatory Disease - PID, in
women, which if untreated can lead to infertility.  Further, there is
still a risk of Warts/HPV and Herpes until vaccines are perfected
against these skin viruses, and condoms do reduce the risk against
these skin viruses.

Not all condoms are bad.  Some even increase the pleasures of sex.  If
you don't like one condom, try another.  There are a great variety to
choose from in stores and online.

10 most common STDs:

Herpes - Skin / Virus
Warts/HPV - Skin / Virus
HIV - Blood / Virus
Molluscum Contagiosum - Skin / Virus

Gonorrhea - Bacteria
Chlamydia/NGU - Bacteria
Trichomoniasis - Bacteria
Crabs - Skin / Parasite
Scabies - Skin / Parasite
Syphilis - Bacteria

*Monogamy can be for an hour or ten years.  It would depend on the
time lapse of the test.  An HIV test that can detect immediate
infection would of course be ideal.  HIV tests today can not detect
infection from 1-6 months previous.  There are over 1 million people
in the U.S. with HIV.  60,000 a yr, or 5,000 people get HIV every
month.  A test that detected infection from a month ago would lower
the number or possible infected people from 1 million to 5,000.  A
test that detected infection from 6 months ago would lower the number
of possible infected people from 1 million to 30,000.  A condom
reduces the risk of transmission by 90%.

While the risk of infection may seem small to the individual - we
don't want the prevalence of HIV to increase - so everybody should use
condoms until they have a test.

It seems you can either scare people out of sex completely, or leave
them feeling so safe that they engage in risky behavior.  Everyone
needs good sex to be happy and healthy.  I would suggest that sex is
safe if safe sex practices are followed.  This means using two forms
of birth control; the condom and the pull-out method until certain the
female is on the pill (or a diaphragm), then a condom and the pill (or
a diaphragm) until both partners have clean tests for HIV, then the
pill (or a diaphragm) and the pull-out method or the pill and a
diaphragm are options, but even married couples need to use two forms
of birth control if they don't want unplanned pregnancies.

ASK the other person if they have ever had Genital Warts, Herpes, HIV,
or any other disease.
Inspect their genitals for Warts and Herpes.
Do not have sex if you have sores, cuts or lesions in your mouth or on
your genitals, because it may increase the likelihood of contracting
HIV or Herpes.

In general, if you keep cum out of any orifices you will be safer from
HIV and pregnancy.
If both people were on Norplant this wouldn't apply to pregnancy.  You
would be able to cum in the female.  But with just the female on the
pill, 1 in 300 couples per year get pregnant.  Thus a diaphragm, the
pull-out method, or a condom should be combined with the pill to
nearly totally prevent the possibility of pregnancy.
If you must cum in one another, just do so less frequently.  Like
maybe 10 times a year while on the pill instead of 100.  For some
people this creates more sexual bonding.  Probably used near the start
of a sexual relationship.

A recent study suggests that oral sex may be riskier than previously
thought.
The risk of oral cancer may be greater than the risk of HIV,
especially (given that most cases of HIV are not in heterosexuals) for
heterosexuals.  The vaccine Gardasil potentially protects against all
HPV related oral cancer.  Of the 34,000 new cases of oral cancer each
year, 1 in 4, or 8,500 may be due to HPV16.  The question is, how many
people get HPV16 orally every year, and thus what percentage of cases
turn into oral cancer.  What is the risk?  Yet 8,500 or approximately
4,000 men and 4,000 women is still a large number.  In most people the
body kills most forms of HPV within 2-5 years.

Cancer is probably as serious an illness for most people as HIV, thus
the risk of oral cancer may be greater for heterosexuals than the risk
of HIV, of which only 2,800-7,800 heterosexual males, and 9,000
heterosexual females, and of those 952-1,714 heterosexual white male,
and 1,800 heterosexual white female contract each year.  HIV is
contracted more commonly by minorities, homosexuals and intravenous
drugs users.  Clean needles should be available to these people.  Gay
men should especially wear condoms and avoid semen in the a.s which
bleeds easier, making sex more dangerous for both partners.  ("7,800"
and "1,714" number includes "other" unspecified methods of
transmission).  Statistics come from http://www.whitehouse.gov/onap/facts.html

New England Journal of Medicine - John Hopkins Oral Cancer HPV Study:
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/356/19/1944

http://www.oral-cancer.info/?cat=7

http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/ocfnews/news.asp - says 1 in 4
cases of oral cancer were found due to HPV, this would correspond to
the 8,500 number.

50% of those with oral cancer die within five years.

While Gardasil has only been approved for young women up to age 26,
and only recently or soon for women up to only age 45, anyone can get
it if they can find a doctor to prescribe it for off-label use.  I
have contact information for clinics in Los Angeles, San Francisco,
and Phoenix who will give the vaccine to men as well as women.  Email
me if you want details.  Or try your personal doctor after assessing
the risks and benefits of the vaccine for yourself.  All vaccines
carry some risk.  Usually the increased risk is vastly offset by the
decreased risk of the disease protected against.  Vaccines should be
made risk free if possible however.

Gardasil also protects against 90% of genital warts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardasil

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norplant
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implanon