The Five Steps of a Breast Self-Exam

Step 1: Begin by looking at your breasts in the mirror with your shoulders straight and your arms on your hips.

Here's what you should look for:

• Breasts that are their usual size, shape, and color
• Breasts that are evenly shaped without visible distortion or swelling

If you see any of the following changes, bring them to your doctor's attention:

• Dimpling, puckering, or bulging of the skin
• A nipple that has changed position or an inverted nipple (pushed inward instead of sticking out)
• Redness, soreness, rash, or swelling
  
  
  

  Step 2: Now, raise your arms and look for the same changes.

  Step 3: While you're at the mirror, look for any signs of fluid coming out of one or both nipples (this could be a watery, milky, or yellow fluid or blood).

  

  
  

  Step 4: Next, feel your breasts while lying down, using your right hand to feel your left breast and then your left hand to feel your right breast. Use a firm, smooth touch with the first few finger pads of your hand, keeping the fingers flat and together. Use a circular motion, about the size of a quarter.

  Cover the entire breast from top to bottom, side to side — from your collarbone to the top of your abdomen, and from your armpit to your cleavage.

  Follow a pattern to be sure that you cover the whole breast. You can begin at the nipple, moving in larger and larger circles until you reach the outer edge of the breast. You can also move your fingers up and down vertically, in rows, as if you were mowing a lawn. This up-and-down approach seems to work best for most women. Be sure to feel all the tissue from the front to the back of your breasts: for the skin and tissue just beneath, use light pressure; use medium pressure for tissue in the middle of your breasts; use firm pressure for the deep tissue in the back. When you've reached the deep tissue, you should be able to feel down to your ribcage.

  

  
  

  Step 5: Finally, feel your breasts while you are standing or sitting. Many women find that the easiest way to feel their breasts is when their skin is wet and slippery, so they like to do this step in the shower. Cover your entire breast, using the same hand movements described in step 4.

  

  
  

  Source: www.breastcancer.org

About Breast Cancer

I have wanted to write about breast cancer in Nigeria for some time. But there is hardly enough information about it online and even in the hospitals. It seems breast cancer is not getting the attention it requires. Breast cancer is notoriously virulent in black women; Nigeria has the world's largest number of black women. The article below is culled from the World Health Organization website. Quite lengthy but worth a read:

In developing countries, the majority of women diagnosed with breast cancer do not survive because their cancer is detected too late. Motunrayo Bello reports on the challenges of dealing with breast cancer in Nigeria.

Like many Nigerians, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu believed breast cancer was a “white woman’s disease”, something that could never happen to her. So when she felt a lump in her breast in 1997, she reacted as many of her countrywomen might have done: “I chose to keep it all to myself. I was hoping I could wish it all away.”

Several weeks later, however, she was inspired to seek treatment after seeing a documentary on Carol Baldwin, an American woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy more than 20 years ago, and who has since become a leading campaigner and fundraiser for breast cancer research.

“I realized that I had to confront it,” says Anyanwu-Akeredolu. “I had to talk to someone, and I said to myself, ‘if what I felt just a few weeks ago turns out to be cancer, I will recover as this woman did’.”

Anyanwu-Akeredolu tells with pride how she received her full treatment, including a mastectomy and radiation therapy, at the University College Hospital in Ibadan. “Several Nigerian survivors tell stories of how they travelled to developed countries for treatment. But not many people have the luxury of this choice. The Nigerian health system is all they have. We have the health professionals with the skill and willingness to deliver better health care but they are constrained by the lack of infrastructure and an enabling environment.”

The desire to share her story prompted her to found the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria, an organization that galvanizes action against breast cancer through public education, patient support, advocacy and research. “I was determined to speak out. Just as I needed to hear from someone who had recovered from breast cancer, I wanted to be that person other women could feel reassured by, the one to tell them that if I could recover here in Nigeria, so could they.”

Felicia Knaul, director of the Harvard Global Equity Initiative, Secretariat of the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries, also believes women with cancer need more role models, or ‘champions’ as she calls them. “Having seen a champion who continues to live with the disease is very important for women with cancer,” she says. “Survival rates are improving. With earlier detection and treatment, evidence from around the world demonstrates tremendous hope for survival and for many years of healthy life.”

Just as Anyanwu-Akeredolu did, Knaul decided to help others deal with the disease after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 41 in a clinic in Cuernavaca, Mexico and then receiving almost all of her treatment locally. Soon after her diagnosis, she founded Cáncer de Mama: Tómatelo a Pecho, a programme that promotes research, advocacy, awareness and early detection in Latin America. 

Anyanwu-Akeredolu and Knaul’s support groups are important for promoting awareness of breast cancer in low- and middle-income countries, where illiteracy, religious beliefs and health, gender and social inequities often prevent women from having access to services and information, particularly on the importance of seeking treatment early if cancer is detected. Further, Knaul says, the advocacy power of breast cancer can be harnessed to promote broader efforts to empower women and to promote women’s health in general.

Knaul said stigma and discrimination also severely hamper women’s decisions and ability to seek medical advice if they find a breast lump. Women often struggle to “come out” publicly about their breast cancer for fear of being abandoned by their partners or of losing their jobs.

According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women, with an estimated 1.38 million cases diagnosed worldwide in 2008. It is also the most frequently reported cause of death from cancer in women in both developed and developing countries. Breast cancer survival rates vary greatly worldwide, ranging from 80% or more in North America, Sweden and Japan to around 60% in middle-income countries and less than 40% in low-income countries. The low survival rates in less-developed countries are mainly due to late diagnosis of the majority of cases.

Breast cancer prevention is not simply about educating and empowering women; equipping health workers with the appropriate skills and attitudes is also crucial. “In developing countries, many women arrive with late-stage tumours that could have been detected at the primary-care level. But we have not trained primary-care nurses and physicians to recognize the symptoms that could be related to cancer, to undertake clinical breast examination or to review family history of breast cancer. They have been trained to believe that these aren’t the major killers of poor people, so they shouldn’t be looking out for them, and they aren’t.”

Early detection does not necessarily depend on expensive diagnostic equipment. In countries that don’t have widely available mammography technology for mass screening, routine clinical examination performed by well-trained community health workers, nurses and physicians can help diagnose more cases earlier. The International Agency for Research on Cancer is currently undertaking a trial involving 120 000 women to evaluate the role of an intervention 'package' that includes awareness and clinical breast examination in reducing breast cancer mortality, in collaboration with the Regional Cancer Centre in Trivandrum, India. 

Detection is just the first step. The next step is to make sure the patient receives the results of appropriate tests and is guided to treatment. “Many women won’t come forward because they don’t want to go through the surgery and the stigma if they think they are going to die anyway,” says Knaul.

“When certain technologies are not available, it is important to give patients other options, such as recommending mastectomy instead of a lumpectomy if radiation therapy is not available and surgery is feasible. Ethically we have to offer the best possibility of survival for each woman given the environment and reality that she is living.”

Knaul believes that much more can be done at the primary level and that hospitals may not always be the best places to treat cancer patients in developing countries, particularly when long-term chemotherapy schedules may require women to travel far from home and their families. “Bringing the treatment closer to the patient, such as offering chemotherapy in local clinics, could be a better option. Here’s an opportunity to identify, in a scientific, evidence-based manner, more appropriate technologies for delivering much of this care.”

Olufemi Taiwo, the director of disease control at the Ministry of Health in Lagos State, said the state government was committed to reducing cancer incidence rates, especially the incidence of breast cancer, the most common malignancy affecting women of child-bearing age in Nigeria.

Since 2006, the ministry has run an awareness programme to educate women on breast self-examination that has involved building strong partnerships with religious and community leaders. “We are now getting into the schools, markets, churches and mosques, holding more health talks, distributing letters and information leaflets. There is still so much ground to cover,” she says.

Anyanwu-Akeredolu says the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria has developed a wellness programme named Breakfast Aerobics to promote a healthy lifestyle through exercise, a balanced diet and information about breast self-examination.

According to Taiwo, many women did not seek medical advice because they believed the treatment would be too costly. “We see women accepting the disease, living with it until the case worsens. But we have made efforts to reduce this burden by designating six general hospitals around the state where lumpectomy is done free of charge.” At the University College Hospital, Ibadan, free screening and treatment advice is offered to poorer women. Since 2010, needy out-patients visiting this hospital for treatment have had free accommodation at the Hope Lodge run by the Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria. “This is a giant step towards reducing the burden that rests heavily on the shoulders of family members,” says Anyanwu-Akeredolu.

Taiwo said the ministry was collaborating with health experts to develop a comprehensive cancer control policy for the state and try to improve its weak cancer data collection. She said Nigeria’s recently launched universal coverage insurance would cover cancer treatment, but the details “were still being worked out”.

Anyanwu-Akeredolu believes a more coordinated approach is needed to tackle Nigeria’s high cancer morbidity and mortality. “We now have many nongovernmental organizations working in isolation and causing duplication across the sector. I strongly believe we could achieve so much more if we were all to come together to fill the gaps and contribute comprehensively with government in formulating effective policies.”

Awareness programmes are showing signs of success, with more women being screened and treated for breast cancer. “We are now regularly inundated at cancer hospitals across the state with referrals from screening programmes in the communities,” says a doctor in the oncology unit at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.

What is needed now are funds and commitment to improving treatment for women once they are diagnosed, she says. The lack of access to diagnostic and radiography equipment, particularly for rural women, is a serious problem. “The mammography machine here in the oncology unit doesn’t even work at present, nor are we able to do radiotherapy for now so we have to refer patients to other hospitals,” she says. “With a population of almost 160 million people, a few functioning mammogram machines are just not enough!”

7 Things Women Hate In Bed

Let me start by apologising for the long break. I won't make any excuses, but it was due to unforeseen circumstances. Now back to business: very recently we talked about mistakes women make in bed. So maybe it's time to turn the tables. What are the things men do in bed that make their partners cringe? Leggo!

1- Asking for permission

If you've been with a woman for long enough to know her body language and emotions, nothing quite ruins the mood like a formal request to proceed. You don't need a legal team to draw up a waiver: A good lover knows how to let her know he's in the mood and turn her on without resorting to robotic requests. Something as simple as an intense look or a certain touch is a much better way of going about it. That being said, consent is paramount for a trusting and passionate encounter.

2- Predictability

If you've been together for a while, this can definitely be a problem. Part of the reason why things were so hot between you and her when you first got together was because you didn't know what to expect. If you want to maintain a similar level of excitement months or even years down the road, you have to keep it fresh.

Don't be afraid to try new things that you'll both enjoy; never let it get to a point where she can anticipate your every move. For instance, if you usually spend five minutes on foreplay, spend 15 minutes next time and tease her mercilessly. She won't know what hit her. And soon, neither will you.

3- Mechanical sex

Most women will agree that sex without passion is quite dull; no woman wants to be treated like a blow-up doll. I'm not saying that every sexual encounter has to be mind-blowing, it's just that you should never ignore the fact that, no matter how cool she is, she's still a woman who would like nothing more than to be treated as such. So be the lover of her dreams and make love to her at least once in a while. If you never go the extra mile, she just might find someone who does...

4- Not going the extra mile

Although many women — as well as men — feel that they must be content with whatever sexual act they engage in with their partners, the truth is that they will eventually tire of a bare-bones routine. So, if you want to prevent her from tiring of you, you must put in a little extra effort every once in a while.

You guessed it: That means romance. The fact that most women don't even expect this at this point in the devolution of dating is to your great advantage because if you are romantic every once in a while, she'll wonder what distant planet you hail from and be all over you.

For instance, leave her love notes describing what you'd like her to do to you, what you'd like to do to her, and what she should slip into (or out of) while she anxiously awaits your return. Cook a romantic dinner for two, play some mood music and seduce her. Write her a poem and make her melt. Make it about pleasing her next time and not only will she not be bored, she may just do anything to please you in return.

5- Same location

If your woman has memorized the cracks in your bedroom ceiling, you're in trouble. But don't worry, a simple change of location can fix this situation. Take it to the shower, the kitchen table, your car, a secluded beach — the possibilities are endless. Use your imagination and try not to get caught.

6- Too vocal or not vocal enough

Excessive grunting or repeating certain words can be just as tiresome as making no noise at all. So, try to find a comfortable medium that lets her know you're enjoying yourself without letting the whole neighborhood know as well. The right choice of words can also be a turn-on for many women.

Telling her that what she's doing feels amazing, that she looks hot, what you'd like to do to her, or have her do to you will go a long way in preventing the boredom from setting in.

7- Never experimenting

If you've been with a woman for a while, and want to keep each other turned on, you had better try some new positions, spill your fantasies, engage in role playing, and anything else that will serve to spice things up, or you risk breaking up out of sheer bedroom boredom.

Pour yourselves a glass of wine or two, talk about what turns you on, and you may just end up fulfilling these fantasies sooner than you think.

Now that is a lot of information up there. The key is don't stress yourself up about it. Chances are your woman doesn't have unreasonable expectations. Detect the problem areas and work on resolving them one step at a time. Good luck!

The Demon of Sexual Assault

This topic has been weighing heavily on my mind, but only now have I had the time to write about it.

Most often when people hear the words "sexual assault" they think of rape. One might automatically picture a stranger jumping out of the bushes to rape a woman walking home from work late at night. 

While it is true that rape by a stranger is a form of sexual assault, it is vital to include the wide range of unwanted sexual contacts that many people experience in our definition of these words. Sexual assault can include child sexual abuse, rape, attempted rape, incest, exhibitionism, voyeurism, obscene phone calls, fondling, and sexual harassment. There is a range of nonconsensual sexual acts that create a continuum in which each form of sexual assault is linked to the others by their root causes, as well as by the effects they have on individuals and communities. While sexual assault can take many forms, it is important to remember that the loss of power and control that a victim of sexual assault experiences is a common thread. 

Child sexual abuse can be defined as any situation in which an adult or another child threatens, forces or manipulates a child into sexual activity. Many times the offender doesn't need to use physical force with the victim. Instead, they take advantage of their own position of trust and authority. Child sexual abuse can include exposing a child to pornography, fondling the sexual parts of a child's body, making a child engage in sexual activity with others, and sexually penetrating a child, orally, anally or vaginally with the penis, hand or any object. Incest is intercourse or touching of sexual parts between an adult family member and a child or between siblings. Incest is very common and little-talked-about in our environment. It can occur between nuclear(eg father and daughter) or extended(uncle and niece) family members.

Rape is any sexual intercourse with a person without his or her consent. It is an act of violence that uses sex as a weapon. There are many different types of rape that are important to distinguish as well. Stranger rape happens when the victim does not know his or her offender. Many people believe that this type of rape only happens to women who dress a certain way, walk alone at night, or hang out in the wrong places. The reality of stranger rape is that it happens during the day and at night, to people from all different walks of life, and in lots of different places. 

Acquaintance rape describes a rape in which the victim and the perpetrator are known to each other. The perpetrator might be a partner, coworker, best friend or neighbor. Did you know that this is the most common type of rape? 84 percent of rapes happen among people who know one another. Most of the time a person is raped by someone they know, trust, or love. 

Date rape is a specific kind of acquaintance rape, referring to a rape that occurs between two people who are dating partners. Often times the victim is emotionally manipulated or coerced into having sex with his or her partner. Marital rape, one of the least talked about forms of sexual assault, is rape between spouses. Because of personal and societal barriers to reporting marital rape, its prevalence is probably higher than we are aware. 

Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature. Sexual harassment often manifests itself in subtle ways, such as sexually suggestive comments, unwanted touching, risqué jokes, or blatant demand for sexual contact. In most cases, these actions take place within work or educational settings where both the offender and the victim are required to be in close contact. 

There are many types of sexual assault. It is important to understand the differences between them, as well as how they are linked together. Unfortunately, because of the silence that surrounds sexual assault, there have been many myths created over time to help explain why it happens and who it happens to. We often hear things like "only women can be raped", "a husband can't rape his wife", "she asked for it by wearing that short/tight dress", and "that child must be lying - his father is a good man." We know that these things are not true. Both women and men can be sexually assaulted. Rape can occur within a marriage. A victim never asks to be raped and is never to blame for behavior of the perpetrator. People who sexually assault are often people who go to church, have good jobs, and are well liked by their community. 

Common Effects of Sexual Assault 

Victims of sexual assault often experience a number of common effects. These may include: 

• Flashbacks 
• Nightmares 
• Difficulty falling or staying asleep 
• Anger and rage 
• Difficulty concentrating 
• Hypervigilence 
• Anxiety and panic 
• Self-blame, guilt, and shame 
• Emotional numbing 
• Physical symptoms and health problems 

What to Do if Someone You Know is Sexually Assaulted  

• Believe them. A person has very little to gain by making up a story about sexual assault. 
• Listen to them. A victim of sexual assault needs someone who will listen to what they have to say without blame or judgment. 
• Do not tell them what to do. A person who has been sexually assaulted has had every ounce of power and control stripped from them. They only way they are going to gain that power back is by making decisions for themselves. 
• Give them information, provide them options, but don't tell them what to do. A good place to start is a sexual assault Center. In Nigeria we have the Partnership for Justice www.pjnigeria.org which has handled many cases of sexual assault. There are many other organisations who are waiting to help victims of sexual abuse as much as they will let them.  There is also new legislation that can lock away sexual offenders for a long time.
  If you are a victim of sexual abuse, you are not alone and YOU CAN GET HELP. Speak up and make a difference.
  
  

What Is Sexual Addiction?

Sexual addiction is best described as a progressive intimacy disorder characterized by compulsive sexual thoughts and acts. Like all addictions, its negative impact on the addict and on family members increases as the disorder progresses. Over time, the addict usually has to intensify the addictive behavior to achieve the same results.

For some sex addicts, behavior does not progress beyond compulsive masturbation or the extensive use of pornography or phone or computer sex services. For others, addiction can involve illegal activities such as exhibitionism, voyeurism, obscene phone calls(yes, that too), child molestation or rape.

Sex addicts do not necessarily become sex offenders. Moreover, not all sex offenders are sex addicts. Roughly 55 percent of convicted sex offenders can be considered sex addicts. 

About 71 percent of child molesters are sex addicts. For many, their problems are so severe that imprisonment is the only way to ensure society’s safety against them. 

Society has accepted that sex offenders act not for sexual gratification, but rather out of a disturbed need for power, dominance, control or revenge, or a perverted expression of anger. More recently, however, an awareness of brain changes and brain reward associated with sexual behavior has led us to understand that there are also powerful sexual drives that motivate sex offenses. 

Sexual addiction has been more recently defined as engaging in persistent and escalating patterns of sexual behavior acted out despite increasing negative consequences to self and others. In other words, a sex addict will continue to engage in certain sexual behaviors despite facing potential health risks, financial problems, shattered relationships or even arrest. 

Increasing sexual provocation in our society has spawned an increase in the number of individuals engaging in a variety of unusual or illicit sexual practices, such as phone sex, high class prostitution(runs) and computer pornography. 

The same compulsive behavior that characterizes other addictions also is typical of sex addiction. But these other addictions, including drug, alcohol and gambling dependency, involve substances or activities with no necessary relationship to our survival. For example, we can live normal and happy lives without ever gambling, taking illicit drugs or drinking alcohol. Even the most genetically vulnerable person will function well without ever being exposed to, or provoked by, these addictive activities. 

Sexual activity is different. Like eating, having sex is necessary for human survival. Although some people are celibate — some not by choice, while others choose celibacy for cultural or religious reasons — healthy humans have a strong desire for sex. In fact, lack of interest or low interest in sex can indicate a medical problem or psychiatric illness.

The 10 Most Common STDs

It’s interesting that sexually transmitted diseases are so prevalent—particularly when you consider that you have to get pretty up close and personal to contract one. An STD is characterized by any disease that is spread by one partner to another via sexual contact, and that can be orally, vaginally, anally, or via hand to genital contact. Regardless, they are spread when one partner passes the disease-causing organism on to the other. Obviously, preventing STD transmission is first and foremost by practicing safe sex. However, if you think you might have contracted one of the most common STDs, recognizing the disease is imperative for swift treatment and further spreading.

Here are ten common STDs and the primary symptoms associated with each infection

1. Gonorrhea

Gonorrhea is the most prevalent STD in Nigeria. In fact, in 1963, the WHO found Lagos to have the highest gonorrhea rate in the world. Recent surveys estimate the prevalence to be about 28.1%. Other studies show a clear connection between gonorrhea and make and female infertility. This long-term STD that is spread bacterially, affecting a female’s cervix, a male’s urethra, or the throat in both sexes, which means that it’s transmitted by vaginal, oral, and anal sex. The symptoms of gonorrhea are pretty subtle; the most noticeable being burning when urinating or a yellowish penile discharge in men.

2. Hepatitis

Sexually transmitted hepatitis is hepatitis B (or HBV), which is a very common and deadly disease, even though there is a vaccine. If left untreated, a Hep B infection will scar and damage the liver, causing cirrhosis and liver cancer. Unfortunately, over half of those affected show no symptoms, but those who do suffer muscle pain and fatigue, yellowing of the eyes (or jaundice), nausea, and later on a distended stomach. There are several routes of transmission, but in many parts of Nigeria unprotected sexual intercourse and having multiple partners has been implicated.

3. Syphilis

Syphilis is a particularly sneaky STD that caused by a type bacterial infection of the genital tract, known as Treponema Pallidum. Syphilis is transmitted when direct contact is made between the small, painless sores on the mouth, rectum, vagina, or around the genitals in areas not protected by latex condoms. It can also be transmitted via infected mother to her baby during pregnancy. When there are no sores, the disease is still present. Syphilis symptoms are rare, however, the most telling are sores or lesions on and around the genitals, as well as hair loss, sore throat, fever; headache; and a white patchy skin rash.

4. Chlamydia

Like Gonorrhea, Chlamydia affects a man’s penile urethra and a woman’s cervix. However, oftentimes those who’ve contracted Chlamydia don’t show symptoms for months or even years, which explains why it’s the most common and rampant STD. If you do show symptoms, you’ll feel pain during intercourse and have a discolored, thick discharge from the vagina or penis. Transmitted via sexual penetration with an affected partner, using latex condoms can prevent transmission of this curable STD.

5. Crabs

If you feel a creepy-crawly, itchy sensation in your genitals, you may have crabs (or public lice). They show themselves as visible eggs or lice in the coarse hair of the genital region (even if you shave it off), and they can spread to the armpits and eyebrows if left untreated. Typically transmitted via sexual contact, crabs can also be passed via contact with infested linens or clothing.

6. Human Papilloma Virus

Human Papilloma Virus (or HPV) is currently the most wide spread STD. It affects roughly three-quarters of the sexually active population and a staggering one-quarter of sexually active women, which is why there is a vaccine to protect young women from certain types of HPV that are linked to genital warts and cervical cancer. HPV is transmitted through genital contact—via vaginal and anal sex, and also oral sex and genital-to-genital contact. Most times HPV doesn’t show any symptoms until it’s far advanced, but genital warts are common.

7. Bacterial Vaginosis

Bacterial Vaginosis, or BV, is not always considered an STD even though it typically afflicts those of child-bearing age with multiple or new sex partners. BV occurs when healthy bacteria in the vagina overgrow and become imbalanced, causing burning and itching around the vagina and a thick, grey discharge with a strong fishy odor. Antibiotics will quickly clear up bouts of BV, but it can reoccur, leaving the victim prone to pelvic inflammatory disease, other STDs, and premature births (if pregnant).

8. Herpes

Painful sores or lesions on your mouth or genitals may indicate herpes, a viral STD that comes in two forms HSV1 (herpes of the mouth) and HSV2 (herpes of the genitals). Herpes is transmitted skin-to-skin—for instance, from genital to genital, mouth to genital, or mouth to mouth contact with an infected individual, even when they don’t have visible sores. Even though herpes symptoms be treated with antibiotics, the virus never goes away and reoccurs typically 2 to 4 times per year.

9. Trichomoniasis

Trichomoniasis, or “trich”, often masks itself as a yeast infection or bacterial vaginosis (BV) in women with similar symptoms—including a thick, grey discharge, offensive vaginal odor, pain or burning intercourse, and itchiness. A parasitic trichomonas vaginalis infection affects the urethra and the vagina in women. It can be transmitted back and forth between sex partners (man to woman and woman to woman) via vaginal intercourse and contact. However, most men typically don’t have any symptoms.

10. HIV

HIV is transmitted via the exchange of body fluids—such as semen, vaginal secretions, blood, or breast milk. Within a month or 2 of contracting HIV, about 40 to 90-percent of those afflicted suffer from flu-like symptoms including fever, fatigue, achy muscles, swollen lymph glands, sore throat, headache, skin rash, dry cough, nausea, rapid weight loss, night sweats, frequent yeast infections (for women), cold sores, and eventually, pneumonia. Luckily, many individuals who are diagnosed early can live a long, productive life with HIV thanks to a combination of highly active anti-retroviral drug therapy, which prevents to progression to AIDS.

Here we see that many of these conditions have few to no symptoms. So get tested and treated and live a long and productive life.

Sex Mistakes Women Make Part 2

Earlier today we talked about some mistakes women make in the bedroom. Here are some more:

Sex Mistake #6: Surprising him with something wild. If you want to take a walk on the wild side, talk first. Massages, first time felatios and ear-tonguing(if there's a word like that) make great surprises. Blindfolds, handcuffs and kobokos do not. I'm sure you get the idea.

Sex Mistake #7: Saying someone else’s name.Good luck getting out of this one. You’ll be offering a lot of unreciprocated oral sex and cooking plenty p/yam and Ogbono soup to dig yourself out of that hole.
Of course, that may depend whose name you screamed out – RMD's or your ex’s – especially if your current partner wonders if you’re really over the ex.

Sex Mistake #8: Not disclosing you have an STD.Now this is serious, and both sexes are very guilty of it. They are scared of rejection so they keep mum, figuring they don’t have to volunteer the information if their partners don’t inquire.
Remember: Condoms aren’t 100% effective at blocking STDs; for example, herpes can be transmitted even when a condom is used.
If you’re the one receiving this information, be compassionate and do not react with disdain. This is not to say that you should proceed with sex. 

Step back and assess your health risk and comfort level, then decide if you want to take it further.

Sex Mistake #9: Analyzing his equipment malfunction.
This happens to every guy, but it’s still an awkward moment for both. Unless it happens very regularly don’t make a big deal about. Avoid talking about why men go flat and can't satisfy their women and all that because it will only make the situation worse. Instead engage in other activities that don't require an erection. 

In summary, don't sweat the small stuff, communicate and have fun.