The Better2Know Blog

30 year old Somen Debnath has had an extremely eventful nine years travelling around the world on his bicycle to spread awareness about AIDS, and will not complete his epic odyssey until 2020.

In Afghanistan, Debnath was a captive of the Taliban for 24 days, he narrowly avoided bomb blasts in Iraq and in several countries he was mugged. Originally from India, his trials and tribulations have not deterred him from trying to visit 191 countries by 2020 – clocking 200,000 kilometres – and he is currently in the Middle East nearing his 80th country.

Debnath was only 14 when he read an article about a HIV positive villager cast out to die near his hometown of Kolkata; when subsequent questioning of his school teachers could not provide him answers about the virus, he went to the West Bengal State AIDS Control Society and at 16 he was educating his teachers.

The cupcakes were sold at St Bartholomew’s Hospital Pathology Museum in London, for their three day Eat Your Heart Out 2012 Event. These vanilla and chocolate sponge cupcakes are decorated by ‘anatomically correct’ icing which shows the effects of STIs such as herpes and syphilis.

‘Douching’, which means to wash or soak in French, usually refers to cleaning out the vagina with a fluid such as water mixed with vinegar, iodine or baking soda. Whilst douching in the UK is less popular than in the USA, where an estimated 20 to 40% of American women douche regularly, there are still people out there who douche due to a misplaced belief that it removes the risk of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

It may not be the white wedding most people dream of, but Shoalhaven City Council in South East Australia was very happy to display their wedding dress made out of condoms.

Invented in the 1800s to cure women of “hysteria”, the history of the vibrator is a weird and wonderful one, and if you were to have suggested to the original inventors that they were creating a device that would give millions of women sexual pleasure, they would have thought you absurd.

In the nineteenth century, overwhelmed by the steady stream of women needing to be cured of “hysteria” by method of handjobs, doctors began inventing the vibrator to save time and spare their fatigued hands. “Hysteria” – from the Greek for uterus – covered a range of women’s ailments that doctors could not diagnose, but commonly the cause was sexual frustration. As the concept of women even having sexual pleasure or desires was not accepted in Europe and America until the 20th century, it is of little surprise women were sexually frustrated, prone to “symptoms” such as irritability, erotic fantasies and wetness between the legs.

The most effective treatment developed required doctors or midwives to use their fingers to “massage” the woman’s genitals, which would cause orgasms. The hysteria symptoms would suddenly be relieved. Doctors named these climaxes “paroxysms”, as clearly without sexual feelings a woman could not experience orgasm…

If you are doing the responsible thing and like to know what risks your lifestyle choices have on your sexual health, then you may be a little confused about what to do with your pubic hair.

Sexual health experts are backing a bid to vaccinate young gay men against HPV. As a recent editorial published in Sexually Transmitted Infections discussed, a number of UK sexual health experts have agreed that young gay men should receive the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccination, as they are more likely to develop HPV-related cancers such as anal cancer than heterosexual men.

All kinds of weird and wonderful methods of birth control have been used throughout the centuries. Whilst some were more effective than others, and the mercury drank by ancient Chinese women would have made unwanted pregnancy the least of their problems, the development of a reliable, effective birth control pill is a very recent one.

As Gonorrhoea becomes increasingly resistant to antibiotic treatment, physicians have created more antibiotic combinations to fight this sexually transmitted infection.

The STI and AIDS World Congress 2013, held in Vienna from the 14 to the 17 of July, brought warnings of greater sexually transmitted infection (STI) prevalence. Despite witnessing a decline up until the turn of the century, experts have warned that STIs are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics and may therefore become more frequent in the future. “Older” STIs especially, such as Syphilis and Gonorrhoea, have increased resistance to the antibiotics that have been used to treat them.

The World Health Organisation states an estimated 448 million new cases of curable STIs occur each year in the 19 to 49 age group, and so prevention of STIs has been urged by the health experts, and if you are engaging in any sexual activity that may be considered risky, for example with a new or casual partner, you should always wear protection such as condoms. However condoms do not protect against all STIs, (e.g. Genital Herpes), so getting tested with every new sexual partner is recommended.

If you do not know you have an STI then you will not realise you may be transmitting it to others. Better2Know offer a discrete and confidential service at private clinics across the UK, so you can protect yourself and those you love. Visit our website today to book online or call our friendly booking team.

If you have ever woken up after a one night stand and worried that you may have been exposed to an STI, you would not be alone. With new or casual partners especially, it is important to use protection. However, you should still consider getting tested for STIs regularly regardless of whether you used a condom or not.

Wearing a condom is a great way to protect yourself against infection, however, condoms are not completely effective against all STIs. Watch our short clip “The morning after…”

If you would like to watch some more of our light-hearted, informative videos on sexual health and what Better2Know sexual health testing services can do for you, look no further than our Youtube Channel.

The HPV vaccine – which protects against cervical cancer and genital warts – is available to all girls in the UK aged 12 to 13, however in England the percentage of those having the injections varies throughout the country.

A recent study published in the Lancet has suggested that smokers and single men are more likely to contract oral Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) than healthy men in relationships. It also claims that newly acquired oral HPV infections are rare in healthy men, and when contracted are likely to no longer suffer any symptoms within a year.

Two HIV positive men who underwent bone marrow transplants have stopped taking antiretroviral medication, and HIV is undetectable in their bloodstream. Whilst doctors agree that it is premature to claim a cure for HIV, it is hoped that this will drive progress towards completely eradicating the virus.

If you are unable to attend a clinic and need to get tested for STIs, Better2Know also has a home sample collection service. We can test you for: HIV, Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, Herpes, Syphilis, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HPV and other STIs.

Some of these tests require a urine sample, others a blood sample, both of which can be collected at home using our kits. Visit our website, order the test you want online, receive it first class straight to your door, and send your samples off to our CPA accredited laboratories which deliver you the fastest results available. All your HIV and STI test results are 100% confidential. Watch our series of videos to find out how simple it is to use one of our home testing kits, starting with our video on urine sample collection kits:

If you would like to watch some more of our light-hearted, informative videos on sexual health and what Better2Know sexual health testing services can do for you then look no further than our Youtube Channel.

A survey conducted by Lovehoney has concluded that August is the month British people are most sexually active.

It is thought that the hot weather is behind the increase, with people wearing less clothes and sunshine making people feel happier and sexier. This is backed up by the summer months of July and June ranking second and third whilst the winter months see a nosedive in sexual activity. February, despite Valentine’s Day, is the month of least sex. Only December, the month of mistletoe and festive frivolities, bucks the trend in winter.

A super computer called “Blue Waters” has been successfully programmed – by a research team for the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine – to reveal “seams” in the HIV protein casing known as the capsid. This capsid holds the DNA of the protein, and is strong enough to survive without a host cell but also malleable to the extent it can break when the virus infects a cell to allow for reprogramming of the host.

Sometimes the opening hours of GUM clinics simply do not fit around your hectic lifestyle. If you book an appointment with Better2Know you can have far greater choice of time and location; a sample collection kit can even be sent to your home if you cannot attend a clinic. Watch our short clip, entitled “Late at work…”

If you would like to watch some more of our light-hearted, informative videos on sexual health and what Better2Know sexual health testing services can do for you then look no further than our Youtube Channel.

As the number of teenage girls with Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) dropped by half in recent years in America, the HPV vaccine is being hailed a clear success. The vaccination campaign for girl was only introduced in America in 2006, and provides protection against a virus which is the most common Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) in the US and is the leading cause of cervical cancer.

Today – the 30th of July – is the birthday of French scientist Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, whose part in identifying HIV earned her a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008. HIV has affected over 35 million people since the 1980s. Had Barre-Sinoussi and her colleague Luc Montagnier not discovered the virus so quickly, the fate of millions may have been very different.

Summer is in progress, and if you are going on holiday our previous blog, ‘Summer romance and safer sex’ offers advice on how to keep yourself protected from STIs. Recent statistics published in the Telegraph illustrate how contracting sexually transmitted infections (STIs) whilst on holiday is a very real danger.

A new Hepatitis C awareness campaign, called The Big Red C, is focusing its efforts on “baby boomer” and “generation X” drug users of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Its slogan – “Ever injected? Get tested. Hep C – it can be cured” – hopes to encourage the estimated 18,000 Scots unaware that they have Hepatitis C to get tested.

In Ahmedabad, India, around 200 HIV positive couples have started families, their children free of HIV infection due to medical intervention. These incredible couples show that having an STI such as HIV does not need to hinder your live.

Since Michael Douglas’ interview about the link between HPV and throat cancer, campaigners have been given a much needed publicity boost for their cause. Amongst them is Jamie Rae, of the Throat Cancer Foundation, who himself contracted HPV and as a result was diagnosed with throat cancer three years later. He is urging MSPs to back proposals to give boys – as well as girls – the vaccination, saying: “We face a global epidemic.”

There were half a million Britons diagnosed with a Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) last year – 5% more than 2011. 46% of the infections were Chlamydia, and Gonorrhoea cases rose by 21%. The figures, published by Public Health England (PHE), have been viewed by many health officials as the consequence of unsafe sex.

Despite being aware of all the Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) out there, many people don’t believe it will happen to them. Sure, some people get them, but I won’t be one of them, right? Now, unless you’re celibate, you may at some point get an STI. Indeed, one in two people will contract an STI before the age of 25.

When both partners are HIV positive, it’s easy to think that there is no longer a need for condom use. However, not only are condoms still important for preventing other STIs spreading, evidence has shown that there are several different strains of HIV. Both partners may not be diagnosed with the same strain, therefore protection remains as important as ever to prevent cross-infection.

Summer is finally here! The promise of sun, sand and sizzling sex hangs in the air, but if you’re not careful it might not be just a tan you bring back from your holidays.

The Tamil Na du State AIDS Control Society (Tansacs) has started implementing a new drug regime for Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS in Coimbatore in India, reports the Hindu. The drug regime intends to stop transmission of HIV from anti-natal women to the foetus, and runs from the second trimester of labour to the Exclusive Brest Feeding period (normally the first six months after the birth).

Sweden has been named as Europe’s ‘sex disease capital’, with a far higher number of Swedes seeking out treatment for Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) than their European counterparts. But they should wear this badge with pride.