The viral load test may be a better indicator of disease progression than the T-helper-cell count, and it may indicate disease progression more quickly. This test can also be used to determine whether or not medication changes have been effective. For instance, with the initiation of a new medication, one would hope to see a [...]

A safe and effective protective vaccine against hepatitis B has been available for over fifteen years. This vaccine is manufactured from proteins from the surface of the hepatitis B virus. (An older vaccine that is seldom used today is pooled from donated blood. It is treated to prevent transmission of known bloodborne infections, including HIV, [...]

The specific tests for chancroid involve taking material directly from ulcers and culturing it using a special medium for the bacteria. Blood tests designed to detect the body’s immune response (antibodies) to the infection may also help with the diagnosis. The cultures are not always positive when a person has the disease, so a negative [...]

After the physical examination has been completed and blood has been taken for testing, your health care provider will explain what he or she has seen on examination and what diagnoses have been made, and then will discuss treatment, if any is needed. (You may need to wait until the results of the tests are [...]

Most women have a clear, odorless discharge from the vagina that is perfectly normal. The amount of discharge varies from woman to woman, and it varies for most women over the course of the monthly cycle. The discharge is the normal fluid or lubrication produced by the vagina and the cervix. It can be especially [...]

Voluntary sterilization is the most popular method of birth control in America. More than 1 million women and men choose to have the procedures every year. Sterilization is surgical birth control—it is intended to be permanent, and it is not easily reversed. Vasectomy is the surgical operation for men. It blocks the vas deferens. Tubal [...]

Paraphilias That Rely on Consent

Most paraphilias, like fetishism, are not dangerous and rely on the involvement of consenting partners. Here are some other common paraphilias that rely on consent:

Pictophilia. Sexual arousal becomes dependent on viewing pornographic pictures, movies, or videos, with or without a partner.

Transvestophilia. Sexual arousal becomes dependent on wearing clothing, especially underwear, associated [...]

Although the dependence of sexual behavior on gonadal hormones has been demonstrated in numerous experiments involving gonadectomy and hormonal replacement, there are very few research data available on the emergence of sexual behavior during spontaneous pubertal development. The most comprehensive studies on lower mammals have been reported by S?dersten and others who assessed sexual behavior [...]

Infants also can be divided into two categories based on the extent to which they seek close personal contacts—noncuddlers and cuddlers. Noncuddlers reach this developmental stage somewhat later than do cuddlers. Noncuddlers show displeasure at being restricted and contained from the early weeks, initially through restlessness. At nine or ten months, when they can crawl [...]

Rhesus monkeys, if pregnant with a daughter fetus and if injected with testosterone during a critical period, give birth to a baby with female internal reproductive organs (two ovaries, uterus, and fallopian tubes) and male external reproductive organs (a well-developed empty scrotum and a clitorine penis). These masculinized female (hermaphroditic) monkeys have been extensively studied [...]