Sexual Behavior

Fetuses and newborns exposed to some common anti-inflammatory drugs may be at risk for lasting changes in brain structure that can affect adult sexual behavior, according to a new study involving rats. While researchers emphasize that the results might not apply in humans, some scientists say they raise the possibility that during a vulnerable window in pregnancy and infancy, these drugs could alter developing human brains, too. Known as COX-2 inhibitors, this class of anti-inflammatories includes aspirin, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and indomethacin.

One has to wonder why the media are making such a big deal of the sexual harassment charges against Republican presidential contender Herman Cain ("Allegations rock GOP's Cain," Nov. 1). Didn't the two-term presidency of Bill Clinton eliminate sexual impropriety as an issue in politics? And how about the John Edwards cover-up? Mr. Cain admits he was accused of sexual harassment when he was president of the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s, but says the charges were "totally baseless" and that "nothing happened" that was improper.

WASHINGTON -- Nearly one-third of all sexually experienced single women in the United States have changed their sexual behavior because they are worried about AIDS, federal health officials report."

Washington - -A Baltimore medical researcher has earned the dubious distinction of landing on a national hit list of questionable stimulus projects. But criticism of her work by a pair of Republican senators might have missed the mark. "Stimulus Checkup," a watchdog report prepared by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and released in conjunction with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, gives a misleading explanation of a research project involving the highly addictive drug methamphetamine. Coburn and McCain, the Senate's leading critics of wasteful pork-barrel spending, accuse the federal government of awarding University of Maryland researchers "nearly $30,000 to determine whether methamphetamine gives female rats an overpowering desire to have sex."

A new national study on male sexual behavior, the most thorough examination of American men's sexual practices published since the Kinsey report more than four decades ago, shows that about 2 percent of the men surveyed had engaged in homosexual sex and 1 percent considered themselves exclusively homosexual.The figures on homosexuality in the study released yesterday by the Alan Guttmacher Institute are significantly lower than the 10 percent figure that has been part of the country's conventional ,, wisdom since it was published in the Kinsey report.

The world-wide AIDS epidemic has taught us many things -- the importance of being ever alert to new viruses, the need for intense international cooperation in fighting diseases that respect no political boundaries -- and how little we know about the sexual and drug proclivities of both men and women.Despite several years of explicit advertising to educate people about unprotected sex, there is still a marked reticence among political and civic leaders to probe too deeply into what really goes on in the bedroom.

DR. ALFRED KINSEY was a zoologist studying gall wasps at Indiana University in the 1940s when some of his married students, finding him accessible, approached him with questions about sexual problems they were having. His amazement at their ignorance -- one couple believed that oral sex caused infertility -- caused him to start a "marriage" class at the university, which was soon filled to overflowing with students who pretended to be married or engaged so they could enroll. Finding that he still could not answer their questions about what was "normal," he took a survey of sexual practices among his students.

Allan W. McMillan, 91, a longtime columnist for the Amsterdam News and the first black syndicated columnist, died Sept. 7 of prostate cancer in New York City. A native of Valdosta, Ga., he played two seasons as a shortstop with the Nashville Elite Giants of the Negro National League before taking a bellhop job in Chicago in 1927. In 1933, he became a reporter for the Chicago Defender, beginning his career with an interview with Al Capone. He also appeared in the Baltimore Afro-American with a column called "Chicago By Day And Night."

Over the past decade, the percentage of high school students who say they are virgins has risen significantly, according to a report published Friday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Last year, the report found, high school virgins outnumbered those who had engaged in sexual intercourse, 54 percent to 46 percent. A decade earlier, the percentages were the opposite. The study, based on self-reported data from more than 10,000 high school students, also found other evidence of more conservative sexual behavior.

A Baltimore medical researcher has earned the dubious distinction of landing on a national hit list of questionable stimulus projects. But criticism of her work by a pair of Republican senators might have missed the mark. "Stimulus Checkup," a watchdog report prepared by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and released in conjunction with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, gives a misleading explanation of a research project involving the highly addictive drug methamphetamine. Coburn and McCain, the Senate's leading critics of wasteful pork-barrel spending, accuse the federal government of awarding University of Maryland researchers "nearly $30,000 to determine whether methamphetamine gives female rats an overpowering desire to have sex."

A Baltimore medical researcher has earned the dubious distinction of landing on a national hit list of questionable stimulus projects. But criticism of her work by a pair of Republican senators might have missed the mark. "Stimulus Checkup," a watchdog report prepared by Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and released in conjunction with Sen. John McCain of Arizona, gives a misleading explanation of a research project involving the highly addictive drug methamphetamine. Coburn and McCain, the Senate's leading critics of wasteful pork-barrel spending, accuse the federal government of awarding University of Maryland researchers "nearly $30,000 to determine whether methamphetamine gives female rats an overpowering desire to have sex."

If you think people have sex for pleasure and for procreation, you're right. They also have sex to get rid of a headache, to celebrate a special occasion, to get a promotion and to feel closer to God. New research published in the August issue of Archives of Sexual Behavior has come up with a list of 237 reasons that motivate people to have sex. Cindy Meston, a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and the lead author of the...

Mature adults in countries where men and women hold equal status had more satisfying sex lives than those in male-dominated societies, according to a study billed as the first of its kind to document and compare sexual behavior and satisfaction among middle-aged and older people worldwide. Surveying 27,500 men and women between the ages of 40 and 80 who live in 29 countries, researchers at the University of Chicago found that people reported the greatest sexual satisfaction in Western countries including Austria, Canada and the United States.

WASHINGTON -- A quarter of college students have been touched or grabbed against their will, or someone has intentionally brushed up against them in a sexual way on campus, according to a national survey released here yesterday. The survey by the American Association of University Women, "Drawing the Line: Sexual Harassment on Campus," found that: One in six students had received suggestive pictures, Web pages or messages. 7 percent had had their clothes pulled down. 5 percent were asked for sexual favors in exchange for a better grade, class notes, a recommendation or other perks.

When author Sabrina Weill was going over a national survey on teens and sex for her new book, one figure in particular jumped out at her. When asked whether sex should be romantic, nearly one-fifth of 1,059 12- to 17-year-olds answered: "Don't know." Coupled with the recent news from a large government study that teenagers who have not yet had intercourse are having oral sex, the information tells Weill that today's young people have no idea what intimacy is. And that it's up to their often-squeamish parents to tell them.

MUCH ALARM has been raised in recent years about the threat posed by sex offenders released by the criminal justice system. Some recent high-profile and horrifying incidents involving child molesters have fueled these fears. Communities are right to be concerned - and to protect their residents. States have acted appropriately by adopting notification systems that make sure police and other authorities are made aware when these ex-offenders move into their neighborhood. But there's also a danger that people can overreact to, or simply misunderstand, this threat - taking steps that are, at best, ineffective and quite possibly counterproductive.

ONE preaches abstinence, the other safe sex and the use of condoms. Each professes to have the right solution; each accuses the other of being the real enemy -- indeed, the cause of all the problems that ail us in the first place. Their battle cries were heard most recently in the confirmation process of Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders.But what nonsense to pose this as an either-or question! The right solution is, of course, abstinence. And condoms. And education. And clear messages about sexual values.

MORE THAN a million teen-agers get pregnant every year. Sexually transmitted diseases are commonplace.And the majority of Americans between 20 and 29 who have AIDS now were almost certainly infected in adolescence.Educating children about sexuality and its implications is, quite literally, vital to their future.Most parents support sex education. But the gap between what they want and what schools deliver is wide, mainly because there's no agreement on what the curriculum should contain.The Sex Information and Education Council of the United States has now published guidelines that could lead to a consensus.

THE BUSH administration appears to be throwing good money after bad in funding for abstinence-only programs nationwide. Studies of the effectiveness of abstinence-only education show that the courses do not appear to decrease teen pregnancy or the risk of sexually transmitted diseases. Yet the government has increased funding for these programs by more than 50 percent since 2001, spending about $170 million over that time. Eleven of 13 federally funded abstinence-only programs conducted in communities and schools in 25 states provide adolescents with false and misleading information about reproductive health, a report says.

On a January day in 1948, a hefty book filled with turgid scientific prose, and scores of tables and charts, landed amid an unsuspecting American public. The tome reported, matter-of-factly and without judgment, that American men were up to all manner of sexual exploits behind closed doors, and that the minds of huge numbers of them were churning with taboo desires. The book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, by biologist Alfred Kinsey of Indiana University, was an utter revelation for a populace living in a time when masturbation was frowned upon, oral sex (even between husband and wife)