While you may have used a headache as an excuse to get out of sex in the past, researchers say you've got it the wrong way around. According to an article in the Telegraph, a team of German neurologists has found that sex can actually cure a migraine headache in some sufferers.
In a study published in the journal of the International Headache Society, researchers from the University of Munster went so far as to suggest that the next time a headache strikes, you reach for your mate instead of a painkiller.
In more than half of migraine sufferers, it was found that sex mitigated the effects of a migraine, with one five sufferers entirely relieved of symptoms.
The way it works: sex triggers the body's natural painkillers, known as endorphins, thereby reducing or even alleviating the headache. In fact, sex has a myriad health benefits.
“Our results show that sexual activity during a migraine attack might relieve or even stop an attack in some cases, and that sexual activity in the presence of headache is not an unusual behaviour. Sex can abort migraine and cluster headache attacks, and sexual activity is used by some patients as acute headache treatment.”
As a migraine sufferer, I foresee a problem. Namely, when you are overcome with an attack, the urge to have sex or even move is often the last thing on your mind.
Might be just me but the combination of a nauseous stomach, blinding auras, and the jackhammer steadily pounding into my brain have a habit of killing the mood. As for stress relief or a preventative measure, maybe. But I'm not sure about using sex in the heat of the moment, as therapy.
Of the 800 migraine sufferers surveyed, two thirds reported an improvement in their symptoms following sexual activity, while a third claimed the headache had worsened.
If you've had sex in the midst of a migraine or cluster headache, did it improve—or worsen—your symptoms?
E L James has a lot to answer for. It seems the Fifty Shades book craze has led to a craze of another kind. Equestrian supplies.
For those who have read the bestselling erotic page-turner, it will come as little surprise that sales of riding crops have "mysteriously doubled" in the past year, according to an article in the Star. And the reason has little to do with horseback riding, but another kind of ride altogether.
Fans of the book are looking to take fandom to the next level. Just as Twi-hards rushed to the fictional setting of the Twilight saga, Fifty Shade fans are looking to replicate the S&M adventure between characters Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey—with a riding crop of their own, purely for explicit bedroom use.
This is good news for store owners with a passion for horses. Business is booming in a North Toronto store, Greenhawk Harness & Equestrian Supplies, as fans stock up on what the Star calls "slender, sting-inflicting instruments of discipline."
Outside the city it seems riders are well, simply riders with no ulterior, literary motive.
“I don’t know the exact numbers,” says Greenhawk owner Concetta Tucciarone, “but I would definitely say there’s been a doubling of sales.” The sales, she claims, come from purchasers who obviously wouldn't know their forelock from their fetlock. They don't beat around the bush, either, being quite open about the fact that the crops won't be used for riding...
The crops range in price from $6 to $10. Leather ones, though, will run you as much as $65.
Apparently what now goes for T.O. has always gone for New York City, where one store apparently has a strong fetish clientele. The crops may come cheap, but the shoppers don't seem to mind.
“To be honest with you, they don’t care,” says Mike Santiago, manager of Manhattan Saddlery. “When that one breaks down, they say, ‘Next!’ As long as it inflicts pain, they’re happy.” Yikes.
In a landmark case presented at this year’s Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Atlanta, a baby born with HIV appears to be the first ever to be cured of the virus.
According to an article in Science Daily, the two-year-old child from Mississippi, who was subjected to antiretroviral therapy shortly after birth, now shows no trace of HIV.
While the mother and child definitely tested HIV positive at the time of birth, Dr. Hannah Gay, a pediatric HIV specialist at the University of Mississippi, found no signs of the infection, despite tests using the “most sensitive means available” when the child was 23 months old. The toddler had ceased the antiretroviral therapy at 18 months.
"Given that this cure appears to have been achieved by antiretroviral therapy alone," said Dr. Rowena Johnston, amfAR vice president and director of research, "it is also imperative that we learn more about a newborn's immune system, how it differs from an adult's, and what factors made it possible for the child to be cured."
The Mississippi case marks a huge leap in the fight against HIV. As researchers suggest, it also “underscores the importance of identifying HIV-positive pregnant women” so infants can be treated promptly with antiretroviral therapy if they are born HIV positive.
"We are proud to have played a leading role in bringing this first pediatric HIV cure to light," said amfAR CEO Kevin Robert Frost. "The case is a startling reminder that a cure for HIV could come in ways we never anticipated, and we hope this is the first of many children cured of HIV in the months and years to come."
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