Bridging the mismatch between what women need and what contraceptives clinics recommend.

It is imperative that when choosing a contraceptive method, decision-making at the clinic between the doctor and the women involved has to be shared. Contraceptives from steroids to creams, jellies and even devices are readily available and within reach today. By the way, there are more than twenty (20) different methods of contraception available to women that vary substantially in the method of use, effectiveness, side effects and other features.

What a woman desires in a contraceptive method differs from what health-care providers recommend. While health-care providers like your doctors at the clinic emphasis effectiveness of the method over everything else, women think first of the safety of the contraceptive method and the possible side-effects before everything.

This mismatch has caused stress and a struggle between women and their health-care providers. Women struggle daily to chose a method that best fits their needs and preferences; health-care providers fight to make sure women who need contraception gets satisfied.

Researchers from The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice believe that what is needed is an improvement in the conversation between women and health-care providers. They need better tools to help come to a decision and such decisions should be shared when contraceptive methods should be advised.

Further reading: Women and Health Care Providers Differ On What Matters Most About Contraception.

Sexual Inequality starts early from the Mother’s womb.

Why are girls winning boys in the battle for survival? Some scientist have found that this ability starts early, right even from the mother’s womb. They found that the ability of girls to survive preterm birth (or premature birth), stillbirth and neonatal death, along with other complications associated with birth, is higher than for boys. So, boys lose out in the battle to survive the womb and conception. The reason has been found to lie in the genes that are found in the human placenta.

On investigation of genes at the placenta, the scientists from the University of Adelaide, found that a distinct sex bias exists in the regulation of genes in the human placenta. The genes found in female babies are stronger and more expressed when it comes to placental development, pregnancy maintenance and maternal immune tolerance. Those for males or boy fetuses are expressed less.

This explains a known scientific finding that girls can survive more than boys; this because they are more likely to adopt risk-averse strategies towards development and survival.

On the other hand, this finding can be beneficial to improve the ability of boys to survive preterm births, stillbirths and neonatal deaths, which rate for boys is higher than that of girls. Also, the result will be important to help guide future sex-specific medicinal treatment or therapeutics for pregnant women and babies in the neonatal nursery.

Further reading: Why are girl babies winning in the battle for survival?.

Birth control pill for men through testosterone stopped.

A somewhat promising method of contraception, using a birth control pill, has failed for men. The pill is a medicine that is taken orally to control conception and pregnancy. They consist of synthetic hormones, especially hormones that determine sexual activity.

A pill for men that was supposed to involve testosterone though has to be stopped. Testosterone is a steroid sex hormone that is responsible for growth and development of masculine sexual characteristics. It directly influences the maturation of male sexual organs, development of sperm within the testes, sexual drive, erectile function of the penis amongst others.

The pill is administered orally and was thought promising because it was able to restrain the sexual drive in males when taken at a particular dose. Unfortunately, it was discovered that despite that, males administered with it still continue to produce and/or release sperm. Production and release of sperm goes against all that the pill was meant to be – to stop the production of sperm, not just the sexual drive.

Because of that, the administration of the testosterone-based pill will be stopped.

Further reading: Why some experimental forms of 'The Pill for Males' will never rise to the occasion .

Headaches during sex could be more than reported.

It was the Greek physician, Hippocrates, who first reported an association between headaches and sex. It has been found that one (1) percent of adults report having headaches during sex which could be mild to severe, but doctors believe that the percentage should be higher.

Many persons are too embarrassed to report such a headache, especially hide it from their sexual partner. Knowledge of such a condition could not only be frustrating to both the suffering and the sexual partner, but it could be a cause of stress and rancor.

The doctors have reported that the headaches can occur before sex, during orgasm and can last for hours after, and after sex.

To help suffering individuals reduce this headaches and the pain associated with it, the doctors recommend exercising, avoidance of excess alcohol intake and keeping a healthy weight. Sufferers should also seek counseling.

Further reading: Sex headaches: More common than you'd think.