Author: matas

People usually associate this word with the white wedding dress and innocence. However, today it is not as important and widespread as it used to be. To put it in a term, a girl is a virgin until the moment she has sex for the first time.

Losing virginity

The process of losing virginity is explained clearly from the physiological point of view. During the first sexual intercourse the hymen or a membrane is physically torn. A hymen is a part of vulva and it in a way closes the entrance to vagina. Therefore, after the first time penis goes into vagina and membrane is torn woman is considered not a virgin any more. However, the absence of hymen doesn’t necessary mean that women had sex already. It can happen that woman was born without it or the hymen disappeared itself during the lifetime. Women can also loose hymen in the process of exercising or using a tampon. It is also possible the women can have very thick membrane. In this case, she needs surgical cutting or total removal of hymen.

Second virginity

Some people wish to get back their virginity. Therefore, they choose to become virgins for the second time. They succeed achieving this by abstaining from sex . Some choose to do it for several month, others needs years while third category of these people choose to have sex only after marriage.

People decide to renew virginity for several reasons. Firstly, it can happen that you had your first sexual intercourse too early. Despite of this fact, person wants to have normal further sexual life and tries convincing itself and a new partner about being virgin. Secondly, many people consider virginity being a symbol of power – the physical and mental power to control your body. We can also look at the etymology of this word. The origin comes from old Greek word ‘Virgo’ that associates with the ancient goodness of power. Finally, it can happen that you lost your virginity because of the rape or any other kind of pressured sex. It is normal that you still want to have your real first time with the person you love.

Men virginity

From the medical point of view, we can indicate if the man had sex before. They have a skin, in a way similar to the women’s hymen, and they loose it during the first sexual intercourse. This piece of skin is called ‘frenulum’ and it is situated immediately below the tip on the underside of the penis. It is not a true indicator; however, absence of this piece of skin shows that man has a little or no experience in sex.

All the people having sexual intercourse consider the chance of pregnancy. Therefore, the majority of them are using contraceptive methods. However, not all birth control methods are equally effective or ineffective at all.

DOUCHING

Some women also use misleading method which is called douching. It is used right after sex when women expects to ‘clean’ vagina and vulva from sperm by vaginal douche. However, this method is completely ineffective as this process, on the contrast, puts sperm only deeper in vagina which is followed by a huge chance to become pregnant. In addition, the organism of every woman has an ability to clean itself. Therefore, there is no need for vaginal douche.

WITHDRAWAL

This method is used by immense amount of couples since they discovered that pregnancy is that result of man’s ejaculation into vagina. This is the natural way to avoid pregnancy as it doesn’t require any other additional costs or contraceptives. If any other birth control methods are not available at certain moment, man just has to take out his penis from vagina just before he ejaculates and ‘come’ somewhere away from vulva. However, man must be familiar to his body as much as possible to ejaculate in time. Moreover, there must very strong trust between partners of intercourse. Therefore, all these aspects influence this method to be considered as ineffective birth control. The rate of failure is as high as 19%. It is also very important to emphasize that during the intercourse before ejaculation certain ‘pre-ejaculation’ fluid comes out of sperm. Usually it is lubricating fluid; however, it happens that some sperm can also be present. Hence, man who is has not familiar to his body enough or has no experience or ejaculate prematurely should not practice the method of withdrawal.

OTHER INEFFECTIVE METHODS TO AVOID PREGNANCY:

• Pills and antibiotics. Both of the drugs used together can result in pregnancy. Some antibiotics and drugs can make birth control pills ineffective; therefore, it is important to ask the doctor before taking antibiotics.
• Stand up after intercourse. Some misguided women think that you should immediately stand after sexual intercourse in order to stop sperm going towards uterus. However, sperm start moving at the same moment it is inside.
• Man having hot bath before sex. It has no connection with avoiding pregnancy.
• Refraining orgasm of women or breastfeeding. Totally ineffective!

Imagine the situation: you come home from work after a terribly long day during which your female boss was scolding you all day long, your secretary got insulted and burst into tears when you asked her to bring you a cup of morning coffee, and finally your wife/better half/lover locked herself in your bedroom in front of TV with a giant jar of chocolate-peanut butter ice-cream. Have you tried asking “What’s wrong?” Did it get worse? I bet it did.

PMS medicine

This is what the male friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and life partners of more than 45 million women worldwide are going through at least once a month: they have to deal with all possible women’s mood changes caused by anxiety, depression, cramps, heaviness and headache. They feel irritable, start crying without reason, find themselves confused, lost, clumsy, absent-minded, withdrawn, and paranoid and even have suicidal thoughts. They don’t feel beautiful and if one tries to compliment them, everything turns to another drama on the monthly basis.

Don’t be surprised when the conversation with the verbal and physical expression of sympathy, care and love will turn into the outpouring of the swearwords, names and reasonless charges. Does something like ‘I need a hug, GET LOST!, I miss you, I WANNA BE ALONE!, kiss me, I HATE YOU!’ uttered at the same time sound familiar to you? I wouldn’t be surprised if the only thing you would want to ask in the situation like this would be ‘Honey please make sense!’

PMS symptoms

Unfortunately, we don’t know the exact reasons of PMS are unknown. It is also unknown why some of us can go into extremes, some have fairly mild symptoms, and others do not feel anything at all. However, doctors believe that PMS, depression and physical discomfort has something to do with neurochemical changes in women’s brain.

Recent studies proved that female hormone estrogen makes its contribution to PMS as well. It has a feature of increasing brain activity and action of the heart. It also explains why some women tend to gain wait before their period starts, which definitely is one more reason for a woman to feel irritated and out of control.

You Can Avoid It, if You’re… Lucky

The more you try to make the situation better, the less successful you are. It’s one more of those general truths. You may try to approach a woman with a PMS symptoms by making jokes and using such euphemistic words as Aunt Flo, Monthly Visitor, Special Friend etc.; you may pretend that you understand and support her, you may constantly tell her how beautiful, lovely and fabulous she is, but none of that would work. The only thing that might help is consulting the calendar and getting yourself emotionally ready for the upcoming outburst of PMS symptoms. You might be lucky and get it right! And in case you didn’t, it would at least be a good reminder of when to go to the store and get some chocolate, ice-cream and chocolate chip cookie dough. Take a deep breath man and go, just go!

Infertility is defined as inability to naturally conceive a baby or carry it out. A couple is concerned to be infertile when it cannot conceive a baby or carry the pregnancy to term after a year of practicing normal sexual intercourse.

Healthy couples in the middle of their 20’s have an estimated chance of 25% to become pregnant in every month.

Infertility causes

6.1 million of adults are infertile in the United States. One third of cases is due to female infertility, another one third accounts for male infertility, 15% of infertile cases is due to the factors of both partners and the rest is considered to be unexplained cases.

Infertility is classified as primary and secondary infertility.

Primary infertility is when a couple cannot conceive a baby and they have had no babies before. For example, Robertsonian translocation in the chromosomes causes recurrent abortions or complete infertility.

Secondary infertility is defined when a couple have already had a baby but is not able to conceive another one or carry the pregnancy to term. This may occur due to many medical conditions, illnesses, traumas etc. In addition, a couple may not be able to have a baby due to age or because they are in a big stress of becoming another baby. If either of the partners in a couple has been changed, infertility is not considered to be secondary.

Female infertility

Female factors include various hormonal disorders, such as diabetes, thyroid disorders, adrenal disease. Also, female infertility may be caused by serious diseases of the liver and kidneys. Even psychological factors play an important role. There are several central factors, associated with different hypothalamic-pituitary disorders, such as hypopituitarism and hypothalamic dysfunction. Many gynecological diseases and syndromes may impair reproductive function. These include ovarian disorders, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, luteal dysfunction, ovarian neoplasm and many others. Tubal occlusion, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory disease and pelvic adhesions are the most frequent reasons of female infertility.

Some conditions, related to the uterus, cervix and vagina may also affect fertility. These are vaginismus, vaginal obstruction, cervical stenosis, antisperm antibodies found in the cervix, insufficient cervical mucus, so the sperm cannot travel further and survive.

Certain genetic or inborn disorders also result in female infertility. These include uterine malformations, Asherman’s syndrome, intersexed conditions, turner syndrome.

 

Male infertility

Males may also be infertile due to hormonal disorders, which affect the development of their reproductive system and the sperm. Such disorders include diabetes, thyroid, hyperprolactinemia, hypopituitarism, hypogonadism. Fertility may be affected by psychological factors, alcohol, drugs and smoking. Some genetic causes impair the fertility function, such as Klinefelter syndrome. There are also many specific testicular reasons which result in infertility. These are cryptorchidism, hydrocele, varicocele, seminoma, neoplasm of the seminal cells. Mumps, a simple childhood disease, may affect the reproductive function. Different posttesticular factors, such as obstruction of the vas deferens, infection, impotence, retrograde ejaculation, when the sperm does not come out from the urethra but redirects to the urinary bladder, affect reproductive function of a man. And finally, the quality of the sperm, which is defined by its motility and number of sperm present in the ejaculate, is also very important for a man to fertilize a woman. A man may produce too few sperm or it can be of poor motility.

Combined factors

The couple may be infertile if both of the partners are infertile or only one of the partners have reproductive deficiency or, in a woman’s case, she is not able to carry the pregnancy to term. Also, there are cases when individually both partners are fertile but being together, they need assistance in having a baby.

Infertility treatment

There are various treatment options, which are used depending on the disorder. Fertility medicines, such as clomifene citrate, are used to stimulate ovulation. Obstructed Fallopian tubes can be treated with surgery, called tuboplasty. In vitro fertilization is especially popular these days. In in vitro fertilization donor egs or sperm may be used when a couple’s reproductive cells are unusable or impaired. Intracytoplasm sperm injection, zygote intrafallopian transfer and gamete intrefallopian transfer are three modifications of in vitro fertilization.

Recommended e-books:

1. Become pregnant
2. Conception secrets – how to get pregnant fast
3. Uncover answers to infertility
4. Pregnancy success

Women are unique in their nature. Their body changes and women stop to be reproductively available after they have lived half of their lives. These changes are normal, natural and affect not only the physical but also psychological part of women. Some people compare menopause to the metamorphosis of a butterfly — women also have to take time during this period and stay with themselves alone, like a future butterfly in a cocoon.

What is menopause?

Menopause literally means the last menstruation. Menstruation usually stops because the levels of estrogen and progesterone are so low that they are not able to stimulate endometrium and it becomes very thin and, hence, does not bleed. Usually menopause comes to women when they are in their early/mid 40s to late 50s/early 60s. Menopause occurs when the ovaries stop to produce hormones because they have too few egg cells.

The period before menopause is called a climacteric period during which hormones are changing, fluctuating but are still able to stimulate endometrium and cause menstrual bleeding.

The period from the occurrence of menopausal symptoms to postmenopause is called perimenopause.

The period after the last menstrual flow is postmenopause and is generally described as a 12-month period with no menstruations when ovaries are intact and straight after the surgery when the ovaries have been taken out.

Menopause symptoms

Women going through perimenopause and menopause experience unpleasant symptoms that may interfere with their normal life. These symptoms are hot flashes, night sweats, heart palpitations and migraine headaches. Breast swelling and tenderness may occur resulting in discomfort. Your periods will become irregular and vaginal dryness will occur. You may feel unhappy about your changed libido, you may have to adjust lower or greater sex drive. Other symptoms include skin changes, bone loss, changed thinking and sleeplessness.

Menopause treatment

Menopause is a normal change in a female life. It is not an illness and has no specific treatment and it does not have to be cured. However, medical staff has some methods that may treat the bothering menopause symptoms.

Hot flashes may be treated with soy protein since it contains phytoestrogens, the natural plant estrogens that may replace the deficiency of human estrogens. Lifestyle modifications are also known to be effective in overcoming hot flashes. A woman should exercise regularly and avoid food substances, such as alcohol, caffeine, and spicy food, that stimulate the occurrence of hot flashes.

Weight gain may be avoided if a woman controls her diet and exercises more. In order to prevent the development of osteoporosis, females should maintain normal calcium intake and perform regular exercise.

A well-known treatment method is hormone replacement therapy, which includes a combination therapy of estrogen and progesterone or estrogen itself. This type of treatment is considered to be helpful for building up the bone mass, decreasing cholesterol level, and decreases the number of fractures.

Bear in mind that some women may find it hard to accept the changes of their body and mind. Therefore, family support is vital. In addition, a woman should try to understand the changes and accept them as a normal progression of their lives.

Recommended e-books:

1. How to conquer menopause
2. Menopause relief secrets

Many people, who are not able to have children naturally, choose alternative methods of conception , and in vitro fertilization is one of them.

What is it?

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a certain technique during which a human egg is fertilized outside the body under laboratory conditions. This method is a worldwide spread technique to help infertile couples conceive a baby when other means of conception have failed.

History of IVF

In vitro fertilization procedure was first created by British scientists, an embryologist Dr. Edwards and a gynecologist Dr. Steptoe. It was performed successfully for the firs time in 1978.

About 1% of all babies are born through IVF procedure. Nearly 120,000 babies are born after IVF in the United States alone. The possibility to have a continuous pregnancy after IVF procedure has improved; it ranges from 17% to 25%, although earlier it was practically zero.

Process of IVF

In vitro fertilization procedure has several stages. A woman has to undergo two week long intensive preparation in order to receive several healthy eggs for the procedure. A woman will have to take hormonal preparations during this period. The doctor will know the exact time for taking the eggs from the ovaries by performing blood tests and ultrasound scan of the ovaries. The proper time to take the eggs is just before the ovulation, when the eggs are nearly ready to be fertilized.

Another step is to take the eggs for in vitro fertilization. This is a simple procedure, during which a needle through a vaginal wall is injected under local anesthesia and oocites (eggs) are gathered. Some women may experience discomfort during the procedure. This feeling is usually described as a minor discomfort similar to that of a Pap smear. A woman is able to go back to her normal routine straight after the procedure.

The fluid from the ovaries is kept under physiological conditions in the lab until the eggs are ready to be fertilized. Then the oocites are placed together with the sperm and hence fertilized. Normally, the eggs develop into pre-embryos that are ready to be implanted into the uterus for further development.

These pre-embryos are placed through the vagina into the uterus about two days after their retrieval by a special catheter. A woman should stay quietly in bed for about an hour. She is then able to go back home and return to her normal daily routine.

The patient will have to come back to the clinic in two weeks after the pre-embryo transfer for the pregnancy test. Usually the doctor prescribes progesterone for this period, since this hormone helps the uterine lining to be thick and suitable for implantation.

Indications

A healthy egg, sperm able to fertilize an egg and the uterus that is healthy to manage a pregnancy is needed for in vitro fertilization. Usually, IVF is chosen when all other options of fertilization have failed.

In vitro fertilization complications

In vitro fertilization has certain risks and complications, one of the most frequent being multiple births. This results from the routine to place more than one pre-embryo during the transfer period. Although strict regulations have been made in order to minimize the number of pre-embryos transferred, these restrictions are not being followed everywhere. Multiple births cause a greater risk for pregnancy loss, obstetrical complications, prematurity and neonatal morbidity, as well as premature labor.

Another complication is a so called ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, occurring due to hormonal therapy prior to retrieval of the eggs.

An increased risk of births defects after IVF have not been proved by significant study data.

In vitro fertilizatin cost

One cycle of IVF procedure usually costs from $10,000 to $15,000. Usually, a couple needs more than one cycle of in vitro fertilization procedure until continuous and successful pregnancy is achieved.

Recommended e-books:

1. Become pregnant
2. Conception secrets – how to get pregnant fast
3. Uncover answers to infertility
4. Pregnancy success