Apparently Michael Douglas's basic sexual instinct and his fatal attraction to a certain oral act gave him throat cancer. In all seriousness, though, the actor revealed in a candid interview in the Guardian, that "this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus."
The 68-year-old husband of Catherine Zeta Jones admitted that the sexually transmitted disease brought about the walnut-sized tumour at the base of his tongue. He was later diagnosed with stage-four cancer in the summer of 2010.
Though stage-four cancer is often terminal, Douglas fought a hard battle, enduring weeks of chemotherapy and radiation, which caused him to lose 45 lbs on a liquids-only diet. "That's a rough ride. That can really take it out of you," he said. "Plus the amount of chemo I was getting, it zaps all the good stuff too. It made me very weak."
He was given the all-clear by doctors two years ago. And though many assumed the cancer was brought on by Douglas's booze and tobacco habits, it was his other addiction that allegedly made him susceptible to oral cancer.
Recent studies suggest that many patients with oral cancer also tested positive for HPV.
"It has been established beyond reasonable doubt that the HPV type 16 is the causative agent in oropharyngeal cancer," said Mahesh Kumar, a consultant head and neck surgeon in London. But even Kumar doubted that cunnilingus alone caused the cancer in Douglas.
In the UK and elsewhere, teenaged girls are vaccinated against HPV, a measure which health professionals hope will protect them and their future partners against cervical and oral cancers.
Would you consider having your daughter vaccinated against HPV? See what our resident doctor has to say about screening.
You hardly expect a cereal to spearhead racial equality, but surprises lurk everywhere. The latest commercial by Cheerios is guaranteed to warm some hearts, while it turned others cold.
The “Just Checking” ad, which features a cute little girl of mixed race, attracted all the wrong kind of attention. The hate mail poured in thick and fast as milk.
From every dark pocket of social media spilled the racist remarks. According to the article in Slate, the outpouring turned so ugly, the comments were disabled on the commercial's YouTube page.
This wouldn't be surprising 20 years ago, but now? That an ad like this should garner any reaction beyond an 'awww' is shameful.
I would like to think that it is a very small minority that has a problem with the reality of interracial couples and multiracial children. Sadly that 'minority' is a vocal one on the internet.
Fortunately it seems the cereal manufacturer has risen above all petty bigotry. “Consumers have responded positively to our new Cheerios ad," said vice president of marketing for Cheerios, Camille Gibson. "At Cheerios, we know there are many kinds of families and we celebrate them all.”
While we can't hope to quash the dissenters out there, we can—and must—shout that much louder to drown out their voices.
Let's hope other companies have the temerity to do go where Cheerios has bravely gone.
We all know that the line between pain and pleasure can occasionally blur (Fifty Shades, anyone?). But we rarely expect them to collide during labour? An article in the Huffington Post questions whether it is indeed possible to have an orgasm while giving birth.
If you asked mom and author of "Memoirs of a Singing Birth," Elena Skoko, the answer would be an unequivocal 'yes.'
"I had this wavy sensation of blissful waves going through me," said Skoko of giving birth to her daughter three years ago.
Apparently Skoko isn't alone in experiencing this phenomena known as 'orgasmic' or 'ecstatic' birth. In the journal Sexologies, a new study revealed that around 0.3 percent of births culminated with an orgasm.
A professor of psychology at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Barry Komisaruk, says, anatomically at at least, orgasm during birth shouldn't come as a surprise—what with all the vaginal and cervical stimulation, not to mention those intense uterine contractions.
In natural birthing circles, such orgasms are a well-kept secret. (After all, who wants to associate sexual arousal with delivering a baby. It's too kinky and incestuous for comfort, right? But there it is.) With midwives observing countless births—and many moms themselves—reporting that they did indeed come while giving birth.
Advocates claim the medicalization of childbirth has largely put a damper on birth ecstasy, given the machinery and overall lack of mobility.
"There are so many factors that could make the difference between a pleasurable response and a terribly stressful, aversive experience that you can't generalize it," Komisaruk said. "There's no reason to try to generalize. Different people have different pain thresholds. Different people have different attitudes. If a woman has a fear of sexuality, if she starts having a pleasurable sensation she may feel this is completely inappropriate psychologically, and that itself could be an aversive effect."
But is this actually good news for women, or just another impossibly high bar to strive for?
Komisaruk has long been an advocate of sex as a perfectly natural and adequate form of pain relief. Might we start reaching for a vibrator in lieu of an epidural?
"I had pain, but was not afraid of it, because I was dealing with it," she said. "It was fun, because I could laugh through it." Whatever you say, Skoko...
Did you come during childbirth? Do you believe it's possible?
Printer-friendly version