Women's Center of Michigan

Posts Tagged ‘feminism’

What do you have to learn in order to become an OB/GYN?

It is definitely what I am going to major in, and make my career; But then again I am only a sophomore in High School. SO, what exactly do you have to have degrees in? What it pays a year on average? Your outlook on the career in general?

1) Know absolutely *all* of your basic sciences (math, biology, chemistry and physics) the best you possibly can… you’ll need every one of them in university, and no medical program will accept you without really good marks in all of them.

2) you have to have an undergrad degree (or at least be nearly finished one) in sciences – make sure you choose a “pre-med” option before enrolling – or very few schools of medicine will even consider you.

3) Once you’ve been accepted in med school, you’ll have 5 to 6 years of it to go through before you get your MD, and at *that* point, you can specialize in OB/Gyn work – another 2 to 4 years in residency before your final degree is gonna be granted.

*NO ONE* gets to be a medical specialist before age 28 to 30, unless they’re almost mutantly brilliant.

4) Money?

Most (67% of) OB/Gyn’s in the USA earn something between 250,000 and 1.5M dollars a year.

But do you mean before or *after* paying off the half million bux or more that it’s gonna cost you to do it all? If you actually want to do that for a living and are committed to the work, does it *matter* how long it takes to pay for it all? (It cost me every penny I could spare without sttarving – from my first seven years’ earnings – to get an electronics engineering degree)

5) Outlook for *all* medical doctors is *amazing* right now, because there’s a horrible shortage of doctors – especially doctors doing specialist work (neurologists, OB/Gyn’s, cardiologists, physiatrists…), and those entering the profession at that level are often getting *very* good positions atthe start of their careers.

How long will that last? I have no clue. Life’s aslways a gamble, kiddo. Go at it with a will and with confidence, and you’ll do just fine.

OBGYN Career Highlights & Work-Life Balance

Is it true that if a man stares at a woman’s breasts for 10 minutes a day,…?

, they can improve a man’s health and extend their lifespan by 5 to 6 years? I heard it on

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-Q6qbJCX8e9g/interesting_bra_facts_trivia_hot_facts_fun_girls/

at 2:51 on the video. Apparently, it was studied and published by the New England Journal of Medicine.

If this is true, why does it work?
The person who stated this was Dr. Karen Weatherby, a gerontologist. A gerontologist is a person who studies gerontology, which is te scientific study of the biological, psychological, and sociological phenomena associated with old age and aging.

happiness will make you live longer.
and staring at boobs makes men happy

A journal in Raw – January 1, 2010: A New Beginning!

CHRISTIANITY AND HIV PREVENTION: A COMPREHENSIVE CHRISTIAN APPROACH TOWARDS HIV PREVENTION

ABSTRACT

Condom use is a critical element in a comprehensive, effective and sustainable approach to HIV prevention and treatment. Prevention is the mainstay of the response to AIDS. Condoms are an integral and essential part of comprehensive prevention and care programmes, and their promotion must be accelerated based on scientific grounds. A biblical reflection on Sex before or outside Marriage is referred to as Adultery. Should Christians Have sex outside or before Marriage questions like should they use Condoms when having sex outside or before Marriage  whether for Prevention of HIV/AIDS or Contraceptive has elicited a Strong Controversial discussions on Both Theological and Scientifical grounds and yet Christians still contract HIV when having Sex Outside or within Marriage every day.

OBJECTIVES: This Paper reviews theological Approaches to condoms and generates information on How Christians should approach issues of Condom use for Contraceptives and HIV Prevention.

METHODOLOGY: Comparative Comprehensive Literature Review

ORIGIN: World Vision’s Channel of Hope Approaches towards HIV/AIDS

CONCLUSION: The church, meaning any religion that has a strong bond with a certain group of people should have some type of moral obligation when it comes to their rules and regulations, essentially the commandments or laws. The Global Community should acknowledge the theological perspective on HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy based on Biblical reflections on Lawful sex and at the same time Christians taking steps to see the vitality of the condom as a toll for reducing the spread of HIV without interfering spiritual norms in order to help in meeting the challenges of AIDS in the 21st century, both locally and globally.

Introduction

Condom use is a critical element in a comprehensive, effective and sustainable approach to HIV prevention and treatment. Prevention is the mainstay of the response to AIDS. Condoms are an integral and essential part of comprehensive prevention and care programmes, and their promotion must be accelerated based on scientific grounds. In 2007, an estimated 2.7 million people became newly infected with HIV. About 45% of them were young people from 15 to 24 years old, with young girls at greater risk of infection than boys. The male latex condom is the single, most efficient, available technology to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections. The search for new preventive technologies such as HIV vaccines and microbicides continues to make progress, but condoms will remain the key preventive tool for many, many years to come. Condoms are a key component of combination prevention strategies individuals can choose at different times in their lives to reduce their risks of sexual exposure to HIV. These include delay of sexual initiation, abstinence, being safer by being faithful to one’s partner when both partners are uninfected and consistently faithful, reducing the number of sexual partners, correct and consistent use of condoms and male circumcision (UNAIDS 2004).

Despite of Much HIV reduction success stories form Uganda, Thailand, Cambodia, Brazil and many other countries where condoms use have shown significant reduction in HIV Prevention, Christians has been opposing overwhelming Promotion of Condoms as a method of HIV Prevention. There are several questions about Christian and Condoms. There has been a very strong Spiritual apprehensiveness in as far as integrating the Condoms in Religious approaches towards the fight against HIV/AIDS. The place of the condom in the Church/Christian community has not been very clear. The Condom has often been related to Promiscuity and this has cast a dart shadow on its significance in prevention of HIV infections and other STIs. (World Vision)

 I: SCIENTIFIC VERIFICATION OF EFFECTIVENESS OF CONDOMS IN HIV PREVENTION

Conclusive evidence from extensive research among heterosexual couples in which one partner is infected with HIV shows that correct and consistent condom use significantly reduces the risk of HIV transmission from both men to women, and also from women to men (Holmes et al). Laboratory studies show that male latex condoms are impermeable to infectious agents contained in genital secretions (WHO/UNAIDS).

HIV prevention education and condom promotion must overcome the challenges of complex gender, cultural, economical and spiritual factors however Condoms have played a decisive role in HIV prevention efforts in many countries.

Condoms have helped to reduce HIV infection rates where AIDS has already taken hold, curtailing the broader spread of HIV in settings where the epidemic is still concentrated in specific populations. Condoms have also encouraged safer sexual behavior more generally. Recent analysis of the AIDS epidemic in Uganda has confirmed that increased condom use, in conjunction with delay in age of first sexual intercourse and reduction of sexual partners was an important factor in the decline of HIV prevalence in the 1990s(Singh S et al). Thailand’s efforts to de-stigmatize condoms and its targeted condom promotion for sex workers and their clients dramatically reduced HIV infections in these populations and helped reduce the spread of the epidemic to the general population. A similar policy in Cambodia has helped stabilize national prevalence, while substantially decreasing prevalence among sex workers. In addition, Brazil’s early and vigorous condom promotion among the general population and vulnerable groups has successfully contributed to sustained control of the epidemic.

II: THE ABC MODEL, THEORO-BEHAVIOURAL PERSPECTIVE

The predominant HIV prevention strategy exported to Africa from the United States has three messages: abstain from sex, be faithful to your partner in monogamous marriage, or use condoms every time you have sex. Abstain, be faithful, Condoms: ABC. This exportation comes through the funding the Bush Administration has committed to HIV prevention and treatment through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFER).The ABC approach is the only model that guides HIV prevention programs under PEPFAR. The first and third messages—abstinence and condom use—are defined in opposition to each other. “Abstinence” is a noun that invokes a certain kind of behavior—a behavior of refusal—and connects that behavior to identity. We know what kinds of persons abstain. “Condom” is a noun that invokes a certain kind behavior—a behavior of activity—and connects that behavior to identity. We know what kinds of persons use condoms. The terms themselves are exclusive by definition—one who abstains does not use a condom—but they are also exclusive in terms of the values they inscribe on the person who behaves in the ways they underwrite. Each one reinforces mutually exclusive identities that are perceived as threats to the other.

Christianity plays a central role in constructing and maintaining this dichotomy, both in Zambia and in the United States; over 90% of Zambians identify as Christian and the preamble to the country’s constitution states that Zambia is a Christian nation. In the United States, Christianity provides a number of mechanisms to underwrite abstinence and to support people who abstain in their identity as abstainers—theological texts, biblical interpretations, TRUE LOVE WAITS,youth rallies, weighty traditions, and ethical arguments. These mechanisms do not merely reinforce this identity in the United States. They are part of the prevention messages exported by the United States to other countries under PEPFAR. For example, True Love Waits, the abstinence support model developed by American evangelicals, has become the predominant governmental HIV prevention strategy for young people in Uganda. This strategy is funded through PEPFAR and the initiative is spreading to other African countries as President Bush acknowledged in his address to the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 2007: “I thank the Southern Baptists who are working to promote a culture of life abroad by helping lead the fight against… HIV/AIDS. In Uganda, Southern Baptists sponsor… True Love Waits…. And now we’re building on the success by expanding this important program to six more countries in Africa.”

If Christianity has a number of mechanisms to support abstinence and the identity of the one who abstains, it does not employ similar mechanisms to underwrite condom use or to support any identity that values condom use; those mechanisms, with very rare exceptions, are constructed and maintained outside of Christian communities. Most often, when Christians develop an argument of limited approval of condom use, those arguments generally advocate accommodation: “We Christians will agree that condoms should be used so that the spread of HIV might be slowed.” In these arguments, the rhetoric does not imply that condoms are things that Christians ourselves might use but are things that Christians could permit others to use to lessen the spread of HIV. The problem with limiting Christian speech to this claim is at least two-fold: 1) it assumes that Christians ourselves do not use condoms to limit the spread of HIV, and 2) it reinforces the assumption that people who do use condoms are the kind of people who are specifically not Christian.

The second behavior in the ABC triumvirate is ‘Be faithful.” The model is almost always invoked in social contexts as monogamy, the formal ideal of modern heterosexual marriage, professed both by the state and by the church. “Be faithful” is a natural partner to “Abstinence” for the predominant sexual ethical narratives of Christianity. Invoking abstinence and fidelity, those narratives articulate common claims of upright morality as well as socially approved identities: people who are abstinent until marriage become faithful partners in marriage, according to the rhetoric. This mutual support may make for a coherent ethical and moral code and it may help reinforce long-held norms of the way one should live one’s life..

If “Abstinence” and “Condoms” are mutually exclusive while “Abstinence” and “Be faithful” present an interconnected coherent picture to which one should aspire, then “ABC” prevention messages may, in fact, be detrimental to the people in relationships in which one person is HIV-positive and the other is HIV-negative (serodiscordant relationships). Because “Abstinence” and “Be faithful” are so powerfully linked to a certain kind of identity imbued with moral authority, there is no space to imagine a kind of moral identity that consists of both fidelity and condom use.

Kristin Dunkle, a behavioral scientist at The Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, collaborated with colleagues from Emory and San Francisco to explore this very question in Zambia. Their findings were published in July 2008 in Lancet. Dunkle and her colleagues analyzed data from demographic and health surveys conducted on 2,279 residents of Lusaka, Zambia and found that the vast majority (between 55% and 92%) of new infections in Lusaka occur in long-term serodiscordant relationships. The researchers estimate that voluntary HIV testing for long-term married or cohabitating serodiscordant couples accompanied by counseling on risk reduction and condom use would reduce the annual incidence rate of new infections from 20% to 7%. This simple intervention would prevent between 35% and 60% of all new HIV infections in Lusaka. Kristin Dunkle and her colleagues have demonstrated the limits of “ABC” prevention and offer a simple, realistic model that could drastically impact HIV transmission rates in Zambia. The challenge—a challenge embedded in religious language and practice—consists of finding ways to articulate a new kind of identity: the moral, condom-wearing Christian. If American Christianity were to develop the mechanisms to help articulate this identity, they could serve not so much as a new commodity to be exported to sub-Saharan African countries through PEPFAR but as moral, ethical, and theological perspectives that could complicate prevalent norms among Christians here in the United States regarding abstinence, fidelity, and condom use. We have already seen how those norms serve as the necessary precursor to programs such as True Love Waits and how those concrete programs are then spread to developing countries through PEPFAR.

The value-laden meanings of “Abstinence” are so tied to the value-laden meanings of “Be faithful” that they crowd out any other meanings of value in regard to the complexities of sexuality and sexual behavior. Those of us who care about Christian languages and practices—languages of theology, ethics, or Biblical interpretation and practices of formation, compassion, or social justice—have some capacity to begin to create those other meanings of value; forging connections between the value-laden meanings of “Be faithful” and the value-laden meanings of “Condoms” would be a good place to start.(John B,2008)

We must remember that up until now, efforts to stem the tide of African AIDS have focused on condom distribution and other so-called safe sex methods. But the African nation that has witnessed the most dramatic reduction in HIV infections took a different approach. Uganda has aggressively promoted an “ABC” prevention approach that prioritizes “Abstinence,” “Be faithful,” and only then “Condoms.” Ugandans have responded with a dramatic delay in the onset of teen sexual activity and a reduced number of sex partners among adults.

The result? HIV infection rates have plunged from 18.5 percent in 1995 to 8.3 percent by the end of 1999—a 50 percent drop in just four years.

Ugandan newspapers give considerable credit for this success to Trans World Radio, which joined the AIDS battle with a one-time special produced in Kenya and with weekly AIDS broadcasts. The programs comfort the afflicted and instruct the healthy on how to avoid becoming infected—not by condom use, but through teaching chastity before marriage and fidelity afterward.

By contrast, African nations that emphasized condom use alone, and have the highest condom user rates on the continent, also suffer the highest HIV prevalence rates. Clearly, condoms must no longer be treated as a panacea for HIV prevention.

The Bush proposal endorses the ABC formula. Now, we can anticipate complaints that this is just another attempt by the Religious Right to impose its prudish morality. But is it compassionate to continue pushing “safe sex” campaigns when we know a different approach will save millions of lives?

Acting now is a moral imperative. Plagues have always been with us, but in the past people could do little besides bury the dead and mourn. We can do something about this modern plague—and we must, remember that great nations prove they are great not merely through the might of their armies, but also through the mercy of their hearts.

Bill Frist, the new Senate Majority Leader, strode into Room S. 207 at the Capitol, where he was to meet with roughly 30 Christian and African leaders on February 5. The topic was how to battle HIV/AIDS worldwide, and the Tennessee Republican had come not to fault the efforts of Christians but to praise them. “In my eight years here, evangelicals have now stepped up to the plate. They represent a great hope, and I think there’s a great awakening on this issue,” said Frist, according to meeting participants. “The ultimate cure cannot be found without the church.”Frist’s comments highlight the dramatic change in evangelical responsiveness to the HIV/AIDS problem overseas. Richard Cizik, vice president of governmental affairs for the National Association of Evangelicals, recalls that ten years ago he was one of two evangelicals to attend a White House conference on HIV/AIDS. Christians today, in contrast, are lobbying for specific strategies to prevent infection and care for people with HIV/AIDS.

 III: CATHOLIC PERSPECTIVE ON HIV PREVENTION ANDB CONTRACEPTIVES

The Condom is not found in The BIBLE and majority thinks it only induces promiscuity and even so there are a lot of things which are existing in our real world which are not found in the bible, the airplane for example, the church’s argument is not about whether Condom is found in the Bible but rather whether its use can be justified Biblically. The Catholic Church for example has stuck steadfastly to its opposition to condoms despite the AIDS crisis and widespread use of contraceptives by Catholics around the world. As long as the church holds out, it can depict itself as bravely championing the truth against the pressures of society. To reverse positions now would make past opposition to condoms look backward. The church would lose a good deal of face with such a reversal. 

All religious communities endorse mature sexuality. It is at the core of the Global Ethic promulgated by the Parliament of World Religions. Sexual development and maturity are the means by which life is transmitted and nurtured. Indeed self-respect and human rights are intimately connected with the way sexuality is defined, expressed and made responsible. Religious leaders around the world agree that sexual maturity cannot be achieved only by making sex safe, by preventing disease, by improving the technology of contraception. Maturity requires attitudes of respect, responsibility and rights, which transcend the concrete conditions of sexual behavior. Indeed, it might be argued that unless these prior attitudes are in place, even safe sex may be an assault on the dignity of others.

Catholic Church leaders tend to support the distribution of prophylactics when there is an educational program that underlines church teaching on responsible sexuality. Thus, Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for the Family writes in L’Osservatore Romano, the official Vatican newspaper, that “the use of prophylactics” in some circumstances, “is actually a lesser evil but it cannot be proposed as a model of humanization and development” (April 19, 2000).The French Bishops Council declared in 1996 that the use of condoms “can be understood in the case of people for whom sexual activity is an ingrained part of their life style and for whom [that activity] represents a serious risk; but it has to be firmly added that such a method does not promote mature sexuality.” The German Bishops Conference issued a document in 1993 which affirmed that “human conscience constitutes the decisive authority in personal ethics.” They add that “consideration must be given to the high number of abortions among single mothers and the spread of suffering even if the underlying behavior cannot be condoned in many cases…”Ranking church leaders, in individual statements, support the use of contraceptives in the context of responsible sexuality and prevention of AIDS. The Cardinal Archbishop of Paris, Jean-Marie Lustiger, declared in 1989 that love and chastity were essential values in sexual maturity but that if a person is “HIV positive” and “cannot live in chastity” that such a person “should use the means that have been proposed” to prevent infection of others. Bishop Eugenio Rixen of Goias, Brazil, adds that the principle of the lesser of two evils makes the “use of condoms less serious, morally speaking, than getting infected or infecting other people with the AIDS virus” (www.cath4choice.org:June, 2000).

Most people would be astonished to hear that ninety percent of the theologians on the papal birth control commission, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, maintained that artificial birth control is not intrinsically evil and that official teaching against contraception could be changed. The Catholic tradition is more resilient than many realize when issues of human life and dignity are compelling. For most of its history, the Church condemned cremation severely as a violation of the dignity of the human body and an attack on the central Catholic doctrine of the resurrection of the body. It felt so strongly on this issue that a Catholic funeral service was forbidden to all who would choose cremation. Even in those centuries, however, cremation was not only allowed but also considered a moral duty in times of Plague when infection and the lives of others were at issue.

Catholic doctrine forbidding usury or the taking of interest on money continued through its history. Usury is condemned in the Bible and it was affirmed by centuries of Catholic teaching. Yet, when it was clear that the new economic order of the modern period depended on usury for the financial health of the human family, the imputation of interest on money loaned was not only deemed permissible for the world at large but became the norm for the Vatican banking system itself.

Catholic teaching on a just war theory prevailed without significant challenge from the time of Augustine in the fifth century until the twentieth century. Just war theory maintains that there are legitimate and even moral reasons for engaging in war provided that war is a last resort, that proportionate and not excessive means are used and that non-combatants are protected. The advent of nuclear weapons has changed Catholic thinking in this area. Nuclear war is seen as unjust because proportionality and the indiscriminate killing of innocent people, even of the planet, have changed the moral equation. The protection of life, perhaps of all life, has led Catholic leaders to conclude that the very possession of nuclear weapons is morally questionable. The United States Catholic Bishops wrote in their 1983 pastoral letter, “The Challenge of Peace,” that there must be a “completely fresh appraisal of war” and that it was irresponsible “simply to repeat what we have said before.” Nuclear war was deemed immoral; the possession of nuclear weapons was considered tentatively moral only as an interim measure to minimize the threat of a nuclear holocaust and as a step “on the way toward progressive disarmament.”

The consistent thinking of the Church has affirmed the lesser of two evils. This approach reasons that the ambiguity of choices sometimes makes it necessary to prefer one evil in order to prevent a greater evil. Thus, a pregnant woman may choose the removal of a cancerous uterus even if it entails the death of the fetus because the intention is the preservation of her life. It accepts the “evil” of the termination of prenatal life as a lesser evil, not intended directly.

A terminally ill patient may choose to forego all surgery and life support systems and permit death long before its biological inevitability as the lesser of evils. The “evil” of choosing one’s own death is seen as the lesser of evils when the alternative is prolonged, painful, and pointless continuation of life, achieved only through extraordinary methods.

The AIDS crisis claims more human lives than Plague or nuclear weapons took in their history. The crisis has the potential to destabilize world financial systems, with consequent malnourishment and the death of millions not infected with AIDS. The economic crisis is as severe as the usury crisis of former centuries. Yet contraception is not condemned in the Bible; usury was explicitly forbidden there. If a biblical prohibition can be set aside when conditions change substantially, a non-biblical prohibition can even more readily be reversed when the consequences of human lives and the lesser evil are weighed in the balance.

The Church cannot and will not promote a “culture of death” if the lives of tens of millions of people can be saved through the moral choices open to the Catholic tradition. We have reached a point with contraception and AIDS where the intent is no longer the prevention of pregnancy but the prevention of death. Contraception in the context we are considering is not aimed at controlling population but at avoiding a holocaust.

The Church is convinced that an action that is intrinsically evil, corrupt to its very roots, cannot be utilized as a moral means even in a lesser of two evils approach. Thus, one may not kill innocent civilians to win a war even over an evil system such as Nazism. One may not control population growth with infanticide or forced abortion. One may not order the rape of women in order to demoralize the enemy and hasten the end of a war. Contraception, therefore, can only be universally prohibited if it is deemed intrinsically evil.

The encyclical letter of Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae (1968), prohibited all means of artificial contraception. The pope, however, made it clear that this teaching was not infallible. He could not have done this unless there was doubt about the intrinsic evil of contraception. Indeed, the papal commission on birth control could not have been summoned, previous to the encyclical, unless there was doubt about the intrinsic evil of contraception. The vast majority of Catholics and of priests see no intrinsic evil in contraception. Indeed, immediately after the publication of Humanae Vitae, the official Catholic pastoral letters of national bishop’s conferences in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States made it clear that these were instances when the conscience of a Catholic prevails against the papal prohibition. It was argued that a responsible use of sexuality might require that a couple, even though respecting the pope’s teaching, might conclude that the need to limit births and the need to preserve the sexual life of a marriage might prompt a couple, in conscience to choose contraception as the lesser of the evils.

The instances and examples we have cited happened long before there was an AIDS crisis, even before AIDS existed. In the light of the magnitude of death before us, in the context of entire nations of orphan children and indeed of cultures whose young people are substantially absent, a new approach is imperative. Catholicism can find in its resources and in its commitment to life the resiliency to allow and recommend condom use to prevent a sexual plague more catastrophic than the bubonic death which almost destroyed European civilization. The world does not always allow us to live in it in an ideal environment and according to our preferred wishes. It does demand of us, however, that we do live in the world and that we do so responsibly and generously. To stop AIDS is a life decision, a responsible choice, a generous action. When all efforts to promote mature sexuality are in place, we must also factor in the reality that all people are not mature. The realism of the Catholic tradition knows this and provides for this in other instances. Condoms to prevent AIDS can be a step on the way of teaching sexual maturity and responsibility. In the light of this, there is sufficient evidence that Catholics at large and leaders in increasing numbers affirm life over death and the protection of the innocent from the plague of AIDS.

Even the Catholic Church although it has burned condom use but I do believe that it will revise that approach. The Church has reversed itself on lots of big issues throughout history. The Catholic Church instituted hereditary slavery of Africans and now calls slavery “intrinsically disordered.” It forbade usury (charging interest on loans) and now allows it. It championed geocentrism and CREATIONISM, but now accepts modern cosmology and biology. It sanctioned monarchy and now advocates democracy. It called for Crusades but Pope John Paul II spoke out against the invasion of Iraq. The church practiced Capital Punishment and now opposes it. It opposed modern scholarship applied to the Bible and now accepts it within limits.

 At some point with each issue, the church found it could no longer afford to stick to its guns. It has had to revise its stand to remain within the pale. Its stand on an issue can be different from the secular consensus, but it can’t be so different that people can no longer take the church seriously. If the church still promoted slavery and monarchy, it would lose more by having stuck to its traditions that it lost by accepting social progress and following the advance of humanism. So the question isn’t whether the church is capable of reversing itself after making such a big deal about opposing condoms. The Vatican is so far removed from the laity on the condom issue that the church is starting to see high-level dissent. A spokesman for the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, for example, said, “Condoms have a place in the global prevention of AIDS.”  (Anthony T.P, June 2001)

IV: HIV/AIDS FROM BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE

Many people think that as long as they are married and Faithful to their spouses then they are safe. In sub Saharan Africa, heterosexual union is said to account for almost 80% of transmissions and globally as we knows has been commercialized causing more people to indulge in sexual activities with many partners. What used to be called ‘Illicit sex’ in the past is now called Commercial sex and is in most cases free for all who need it whichever from they would prefer, whether hetero or homosexual or other. Its also necessary to observe that a great number of people professing to be passionate advocates of human social security failed to display a humane attitude in dealing with matters of global concern such as the HIV/AIDS crisis and especially in embracing people that are adversely affected by a scourge such as abstinent men and women whose spouses where unfaithful enough to bring the virus within wedlock. Its quiet sad to note that much of the global effort aimed at overcoming impasse such as the HIV/AIDS pandemic has often been confronted with stern opposition  and sometimes this has been from the church. The sad part of this story is that there has been little or no realization on the part of some advocates that most of the victims of this diabolical quagmire are the people that were driven into it by some forces of spiritual, socio-economic, political and cultural inequalities and nequity.Others got it form their mothers and thus did nothing wrong to face the judgment that we church folk have often predetermined for the poor little children. We are also told that 61% of the women who are HIV positive in Africa today had sex with only one man, who most invariably was the husband. This puts a major question mark on the message of ‘Being Faithful to one Partner”. In essence, being faithful may not necessarily guarantee safety from infection. These forces are entrenched in naïve minds over considerably long period of time. Hence there is a need for us to promote the vitality of the condom as a toll for reducing the spread of HIV.

In a Group Discussion organized by World Vision Zambia Facilitated by G.Musonda where issues of ‘The Christian and the Condom” were discussed as and additional approaches to complement the Channels of Hope, a World Vision’s Approaches towards HIV/AIDS Prevention Programmes,six questions where disscussed,The questions included: Should Christians Have sex outside or before Marriage? Are the Christians having sex outside or before Marriage? Should Christians use Condoms when having sex outside or before Marriage? Does Condom use fit within the Biblical Perspective? Should Christians use Condoms for Prevention of HIV Infection? Can Christians contract HIV when having Sex Outside or within Marriage?

The answer to the First Question was obviously NO based on Biblical reflections as Sex before Marriage is referred to as Adultery. (The Bible, Ten Commandments Exodus 20:14).

The Group acknowledged that Christians are having sex outside or before Marriage   and this is accounted to the fact that human beings are always making mistakes and the Church struggles to teach Christians about Lawful and Unlawful sexual practices. It’s the Church’s believe that if Human being Practices what is called Lawful Sex (Sex only by only lawfully Married Couple) HIV will not be spread and People would have avoided the consequences of sin. (The Bible, Roman 6:23, Genesis 2:16-17).

There is a big Challenge to establish whether those Christians who in spite of God’s message on ‘Though shall not commit adultery’ still decide to have sex outside or before Marriage however to some extent the Church perhaps should agree on using a Condom for example in situations where one partner is Positive and Another is negative in a Lawful Marriage. However this is a Contradicting situation as Condom is not 100% effective and there are a lot of inconsistencies in its use and this poses a risk of infection to a negative partner.

The Bible is clear that God created the World and its all inhabitants for his own delight and glory. God’s ideal plan was to communicate together in perfect harmony with all creation in the world where there would be no pain, suffering, sickness, death, anguish and tear. Our first parents, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and lead to the proliferation of sin and human beings fallen short of God’s Glory. The Consequences of which lead to a world that is unlike God’s ideal world. In God’s Ideal world, HIV/AIDS would have not existed nor would murder, lying, sickness or anger, HIV/AIDS needs to be seen as one consequences, among many, of the world that has estranged itself from God.

Pain and sufferings whether due to HIV/AIDS or other causes are not parts of God’s Ideal World(Isaiah 65:19,Revelation 21:4).But in the presence world, God has allowed pain and sufferings to exist-not because he chooses it but because we as His creation have chosen it by our collective disobediences. HIV/AIDS has been spread by behaviors that are contrary to God’s world, However many people are affected or infected by HIV/AIDS through no fault of their own. Millions faithful spouses have been infected by unfaithful partners. Millions of Children have borne the pain and fear of losing parents. Countless others have been infected in their mothers tomb, others by infected through blood supplies, unsterllilized medical equipments and unhealthy cultural practices. It’s impossible to make sweeping generalizations about why people become infected or affected. It’s impossible to attribute motivations to God as why He allows the pandemic to continue. God has given us standards for personal behaviors that protect us from harming ourselves or others and if we follow these standards and encourage others to do so, we promote life in its fullness. And even if one of us is infected by HIV, God calls us to help those who are in need without attempting to pass judgment on what may have led them to the needy condition(John 9:3-4,Mathew 22:39).

 V: CONDOM: NEO THEOROGIGAL PERSPECTIVE

When used consistently and correctly, condoms has been shown to significantly reduce the transmission of HIV, Obviously the Bible doesn’t have a Chapter on Condom use. The Bible plainly teaches the Sanctity of Marriage .Marriage is a God designed relationship. God gave us a clear instruction to be faithful within marriage and abstinent outside marriage. The marriage relationship is the central to God’s teaching. We should do everything we can to promote choices and lifestyles that conform to God’s ideal. We are to do all we can to protect and preserve life. The Promotion of Condoms creates tension between sanctity of Marriage and sanctity of life. Condoms can protect lives by preventing the spread of HIV. However it’s also true that some might misuse the availability of Condoms to engage in sexual behavior that violates God’s desire for sexual purity and the sanctity of marriage. World Vision, A Christian organization  for example has taken the position of doing all we to honor both the sanctity of marriage and the sanctity of life, Thus it promotes fidelity within marriage and abstinence outside of marriage as God’s desired sexual behavior and at the same time promoting the responsible and appropriate use of condoms in situations where abstinence is not chosen and human life must be protected, because condoms have been demonstrated to be reliable preventive to the transmission of HIV, However Condoms should never be considered a guarantee of Protection (Overthrowing with HOPE: World Vision’s Hand Book)

CONCLUSION

 The church, meaning any religion that has a strong bond with a certain group of people should have some type of moral obligation when it comes to their rules and regulations, essentially the commandments or laws. Progressive religion, especially in its interfaith aspects, must help in meeting the challenges of AIDS; but we need to take seriously the questions that secularists raise about the risks and problems associated with these efforts.

Christians should be in the lead, putting politics and prejudices aside to fight this great plague of the 21st century. Progressive religion (whether Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, or other) can and must help in meeting the challenges of AIDS in the 21st century, both locally and globally.

The World Vision’s HOPE initiative which promotes fidelity within marriage and abstinence outside of marriage as God’s desired sexual behavior and at the same time promoting the responsible and appropriate use of condoms in situations where abstinence is not chosen and where human life must be protected is a Good Step towards Christian realization of the Importance of Condoms in HIV Prevention.

The Global Community should acknowledge the theological perspective on HIV/AIDS Prevention Strategy based on Biblical reflections on Lawful sex and at the same time Christians taking steps to see the vitality of the condom as a toll for reducing the spread of HIV without interfering spiritual norms in order to help in meeting the challenges of AIDS in the 21st century, both locally and globally.

 REFERENCES:

1. The Holy Bible: New International Version

2. World Vision’s International: HIV/AIDS HOPE Initiative:2003 Edition

3.World Vision Zambia: The Christian and The Condom; Group Discussion exercise by George Musonda; an Addition to the Channels of Hope Programme.

4. World Vision: Overflowing with HOPE: Faith and Response in the age of HIV/AIDS:A Handbook for World Vision Staff: A resource provided by HIV/AIDS HOPE Initiative.

5.UNAIDS. 2004 Report on the global AIDS epidemic, page.72.

6.Holmes K, Levine R, Weaver M. Effectiveness of condoms in preventing sexually transmitted infections. Bulletin of the World Health Organization. Geneva. June 2004.

7. WHO/UNAIDS. Information note on Effectiveness of Condoms in Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections including HIV. Geneva. August 2001.

8. UNFPA. 2007 report on donor support for contraceptives and condoms for STI/HIV prevention 2007.

9.Singh S, Darroch J.E, Bankole A. A, B, and C in Uganda: The Roles of Abstinence, Mongamy and Condom Use in HIV Decline. The Alan Guttmacher Institute. Washington DC. 2003.

10.  Gremy I, Beltzer N. HIV risk and condom use in the adult heterosexual population in France between 1992 and 2001: return to the starting point? AIDS 2004; 18:805-9.

11. Anthony T. Padovano, Catholic Theologian, June, 2001 ~ from the website:www.cath4choice.org

12. John Blevins: September 2008: Christianity and Condoms

13.Susan Henkin:August 2009: Religion and HIV/AIDS: When Interfaith is Not Enough.

14. Charles Colson with Anne Morse: June 2003: Beyond Condoms” To alleviate AIDS, we must sharpen our moral vision”

15. Mark Stricherz:April 2003:ABC vs. HIV: Christians back abstinence-fidelity plan against deadly virus

16. James Hitchcock: July 2005: Condom, Coercion, and Christianity: A Princeton Tale

 

NFP vs. Contraception I

Women’s Health Care

When the topic of women’s health care is raised, the first disease that comes to mind is probably breast cancer. But surprisingly, that’s not the number one health care issue confronting women today. In fact, heart disease kills more women each year than all forms of cancer combined. By knowing the most significant risks in women’s health care and what you can do to combat these health care issues, women of all ages can take a proactive approach to leading healthier lives.

The #1 Women’s Health Care Issue: Heart Disease More than 489,000 American women lose their lives each year as a result of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases. In fact, more women than men die from heart disease each year. Until recently, little research focused on women and heart disease, but the good news is that’s no longer the case. From research into the effects of hormone replacement therapy on heart health to studies of how cholesterol-lowering medications work in women, there’s an unprecedented increase in the amount of information available to women working to live with and ward off heart disease.

Experts at the Mayo Clinic offer simple common sense advice to women (and men) in the fight against heart disease: don’t smoke, eat a diet low in fat and rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products, exercise at least 30 to 60 minutes a week, and maintain a healthy weight.

In addition, they encourage women to see their family doctor each year for a physical which includes blood pressure and cholesterol screenings. Studies indicate that there is a 46% increase in stroke risk for women for each 7.5 mm HG increase in their diastolic blood pressure, so monitoring blood pressure and controlling hypertension are vital.

Women who suffer migraines, are pregnant, have atrial fibrillation and those with the auto-immune disease Lupus also appear to run a greater stroke risk. Diabetes is another women’s health care issue with a direct impact on heart health. The American Heart Association notes women with diabetes have a two to six times greater risk of heart disease and heart attack and are at a significantly greater risk of suffering a stroke. All of these risk factors make an annual visit with your doctor one of the best ways women can manage and improve the health of their hearts.

Cancer Concerns: The Second Deadliest Health Care Issue Women Face While breast cancer is often at the top of the list of health care issues for women, several other types of cancers also pose a significant threat to women’s health. In this country, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer during her lifetime according to current data which means that a little more than 2 million women are currently living with breast cancer in the U.S. But melanoma, a form of skin cancer, actually kills more young women than any other cancer according to statistics provided by the Skin Cancer Foundation. In fact, melanoma is the most common form of cancer in women between the ages of 25 and 29 and its incidence has tripled in women under 40 in the last thirty years.

Ovarian cancer is another women’s health care concern. Usually symptomless until it is widespread, this disease is the fourth most frequent cause of death for American women. The American Cancer Society estimates 26,000 new cases of ovarian cancer diagnosed each year. Unfortunately, there are few definitive screening tests that detect this disease, but experts advise a thorough annual gynecological exam and for women to be alert to pelvic pain and pressure, low back discomfort, mild nausea, and an increase in constipation or gas. A serum CA-125 blood test can detect certain forms of ovarian cancer, but the test is not accurate enough to be used as a routine screening tool.

The rate of women suffering from cervical cancer has dropped a great deal over the years, thanks in part to the increase in the number of women who get an annual Pap smear which can indicate the presence of abnormal cells on the cervix. It’s a strong argument for making sure you never skip your Pap smear. Women who have had Human Papillomaviruses (HPVs), herpes simplex virus, those with suppressed immune systems, and those who have had multiple sexual partners run a greater risk of cervical cancer. On the prevention front, a recent trial of a vaccine against cervical cancer was 100% effective in the short term at blocking the disease.

Psychological Well-being: A Growing Health Care Issue for Women In the field of women’s health care, psychological problems, which include eating disorders, depression, and anxiety disorders, affect millions of American women. From coping skills to medications to alternative and complementary medical approaches, there is a growing body of knowledge being brought to bear on this important health care issue.

More than 19 million people in the United States, the greatest percentage being women, live with anxiety disorders that disrupt their lives. The different types of disorders within this group include generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and phobias. Treatment options include talk therapy and a wide range of medications that can quell the symptoms of the condition. Many women also combine alternative approaches to treatment such as acupuncture, meditation, and diet modification with traditional forms of treatment.

According to the American Psychological Association, women are almost twice as likely to suffer from major depression as men. In fact, some experts in the field have called depression the most significant mental health risk for women, especially those in their childbearing and rearing years. Studies have found that married women and mothers are especially vulnerable to depression. It’s important for a woman who feels she may be suffering from depression to be carefully evaluated by a physician because the source of the depressive symptoms could be birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, or thyroid disease. Treatment for depression, like most other psychological conditions, includes talk therapy and medications. Some women also find relief in alternative medicine with herbal supplements, meditation, and other complementary techniques.

Though many of the women who struggle with eating disorders are in their teens and twenties, these conditions also affect women at other stages in their lives. Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are the most well-known forms of eating disorders. Statistics show that one out of every one hundred girls between the ages of 10 and 20 is anorexic, 4% of college-aged women are bulimic, and 1% of women are binge eaters. The root causes of these diseases include stress at home and at school or work, depression and anxiety, major life changes like a divorce or death, and physical and sexual abuse. Breaking out of the cycle of eating disorders requires a combined approach to this health care issue including psychological treatment, nutrition counseling, and in some cases, hospitalization.

A Holistic Approach to Women’s Health Care As women become more proactive about their health, many seek a holistic approach to improving their well-being and fighting disease. But coordinating information among several health care providers, keeping on top of the latest breakthroughs in health, and finding the United States’ best doctors is a daunting task for any women.

Some are turning to private professional health care advocates, like those available at PinnacleCare, to help them achieve their goal of a whole-woman centered approach to health care issues. From compiling and electronically storing comprehensive medical records to researching treatment options and providing accelerated access to the United States’ top doctors, PinnacleCare’s health advocates make a holistic approach to health care possible.

“I passionately believe that what our PinnacleCare Members experience is the way healthcare ought to be delivered,” explains John Hutchins, PinnacleCare’s Managing Director. “The healthcare system has gotten so complex that most people are at a loss to find their way through it without professional guidance and objective counsel.”

 

www.thearticlepad.com

 

 

published articles

 

About the Author

R.gitcher is one of the leader in womens health with 60,000 articles to his name and 12 million reads he surely can help to make it happen
www.thearticlepad.com
published articles

Women’s Health Group – TV Ad – Blue Ridge HealthCare

The story behind the landmark women’s health study that is creating exciting breakthroughs

Marilyn Swope, 75, of Zanesville, Ohio, has worn many hats in her life: first-grade teacher, union president, city mayor, quilt shop owner, and great-grandmother. But one of her most cherished roles was guinea pig. A decade ago, Swope saw an article in the newspaper seeking participants for the Women’s Health Initiative, a massive federal effort to study the major causes of death, disease, and disability in older women. She felt a responsibility to sign up immediately. Zanesville, about 55miles east of Columbus, had such high incidences of cancer and heart disease, “people always think there is something wrong with the water,” says Swope. But she suspected it was more than that. “We are habituated to eating a lot more than what we really need.”Swope agreed to enroll in a trial testing the health effects of a low-fat diet and committed the next 10 years of her life to eating in a radically different way. “Maybe it’s not going to help you,” says Swope. “I was doing it for my family, for my daughters.”Swope probably didn’t know it at the time, but that pledge put her smack dab in the middle of a new kind of women’s movement. With more than 160,000 participants, the Women’s Health Initiative is the largest government trial of its time and is perhaps the most dramatic and ambitious act in a long-running debate on women’s health. The study aimed to enroll 1 out of every 200 women ages 50 to 79 and track her for the next seven to 12 years. With its sheer size and scope, as well as an eventual $725 million in funding, the WHI made a defiant statement against scientific trials that excluded women and challenged long-held medical beliefs. “By far and away, it’s the largest and most comprehensive longitudinal investigation of women’s health issues that’s ever been undertaken,” says Duncan Thomas, codirector of the Division of Biostatistics at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine.

Shock wave. One thing’s for sure: The WHI has certainly made a mark. In 2002 and again in 2004, the WHI abruptly halted its two hormone therapy trials, rocking the world of medicine by casting doubt on what most experts thought was a proven tool in preventing heart disease and prompting women everywhere to toss out their estrogen pills. Now new studies are re-examining the role of hormones for younger, premenopausal women (story, Page 66). Earlier in February, the initiative caused another shock wave when researchers announced that in spite of a national obsession with fat-free products, a low-fat diet alone has little effect on cancer. And all the vitamin D and calcium supplements that women were taking don’t seem to prevent bone fractures.Some critics fault the findings on the low-fat diet and vitamin supplements: A lot of money was spent to prove something wrong. Others disagree. “It’s very good to put theories to the test–some work, and some don’t,”says David Freedman, a statistics professor at the University of California-Berkeley. “It’s a big study, but expense is kind of relative given the public health costs of giving wrong advice.”

| health | health clinic | health services |

About the Author

| health | health clinic | health services |

 

McCain Mock Women’s “HEALTH”

Woman stranded for 7 weeks recovering
A Canadian woman who lived off nothing but trail mix, fish oil tablets and candy for seven weeks in the Nevada mountains has been upgraded to a solid diet, say hospital officials.
Bathroom Hog

Used Fashion Magazine

Brogues have their origins in Ireland and Scotland, from where they caught the fancy of people today in other countries. What started as lowly work shoes, primarily worn by farmers and factory workers, have now grow to be classic all season footwear that go equally very well with formal and fashion clothing. In basic words, brogues could be described as low heel shoe created up of heavy leather patterned with punched out holes. They have come a lengthy way from being plain leather footwear with not much of variety. Today, brogues are manufactured in a wide assortment of styles and material.

Brogues started out as sneakers mainly meant for men. But over the years women’s clogs have carved out a niche for themselves too. In reality choose up any vogue magazine and you can discover the supermodels sporting the most recent range of women’s brogues. But yes, a women’s brogue worn with a wrong dress or accompanied by negative accessories can convey a actually unhealthy impression.

For decades brogues had been considered to be the ultimate shoe for grown-ups, but are now no longer the preferred footwear of just the adults.

There are many forms of on the internet periodicals obtainable on the internet, and several of them cowl guidelines and topics that pertain mainly to men. There are sports magazine, travel magazine, and mens journal options that can be manufactured on the web as properly as off the shelf.

These matters are frequently things that guys are interested in, and there are numerous that have open forums for contributions by readers as well.

Some on the web periodicals also provide special articles or blog posts on fine living, as very well as every man’s favorite topic – women.

Aside from these topics, you will discover also self improvement content articles which can be included such as grooming information, the latest hairstyles, and treatments for selected conditions that happen to be focal issues for men, in addition to other suggestions and suggestions for the self-conscious male. Many of these articles also go over food and medical wellness difficulties that might be of concern to some adult males just like cholesterol, high blood pressure, and external diseases.

More and more folks are foregoing conventional for unconventional as far as brogues are concerned. Instead from the standard colors black and brown, plenty of other vibrant colours like white, blue and red have become rather common. They no lengthier must be wing tipped or straight capped either.

Some sports activities magazines even provide college level games such as university football, basketball, and baseball games.

If you were inspired by this topic you could also love reading about Wholesale Liquor Distributors and also Magazine Distributor.

ASHLEY GREENE Women’s Health Magazine

Chinese Fertility Herbs And Complementary Fertility Therapies

Everything has its perfect timing! Conception is not an exception to this principle – and educating yourself regarding the system of ovulation will greatly improve your chances of conception. Ovulation is the release of a matured egg cell from the ovarian follicle which is then transported to the uterus where it will await for the sperm cell for it to get fertilized. The life span of the egg after ovulation is only 12 -24 hours so it is vital that you the couple know when it will take place.

Ovulation herbs are very effective because they bring back the hormonal balance of the body in the natural way. They promote ovulation by cleansing, balancing and strengthening the organs associated with human reproduction. Chasteberry, which is also a major ovulation herb present in Mother’s Hope products lengthen the luteal phase defects and helps lower prolactin levels of a woman. It helps regulate the menstrual cycle which is very vital for the preparation and implantation of the fetus in the uterus. Although the effect of Chasteberry may not be felt in an instant, by combining it with other natural ingredients Mother’s Hope products are able to increase and quicken its effect.

Chasteberry is one of the herbs for infertility which is believed to increase the possibility of conception of infertile women. This works perfectly for those with progesterone deficiency because it normalizes the menstrual cycle of a woman. It promotes a high level of prolactin which solves the problem for irregular menstrual cycle which is experienced by some.

Ovulation pills vary from the type of medication, the price and the affectivity rate of the product. There are two types of medication: oral and injectibles. Injectibles are said to have longer lasting effect yet may provide detrimental effects in the body in the future because it alters some of the hormonal production in the body. Oral ovulation pills are the most widely used in the market because of its convenience but you should be aware of some deceptive ovulation pills in the market.

The most common fertility test is taking your BBT temperature. What this means is that you take your temperature at the same time every morning, before you get out of bed or do anything else. If there is a clear thermal shift of at least 0.02 degrees followed by at least three days of higher temperatures it indicates that you are ovulating but you may still need another fertility test to confirm.

Mother’s Hope products are a variety of fertility products which are all natural and scientifically proven to be safe and effective. With its 90 day unconditional Money Back Guarantee you are assured of its affectivity. They offer only the best fertility products in the world because they know how to value their customers. They have done extensive research on how to improve fertility and increase the chances of conception.

Want to find out more about Infertility Stress Busters, then visit our site and learn more about 2010-06-28
IMSI IVF technique and male infertility .

The morning after pill Is Chemically Induced abortion Video / Pro-Life Anti-abortion Video

Women’s Health Issues’ new supplement highlights abortion, reproductive health research
The Editors of Women’s Health Issues, the peer-reviewed journal of the Jacobs Institute of Women’s Health at The George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, are pleased to announce the publication of a new Supplement entitled, abortion, Reproductive Rights and Health: Highlights from the Charlotte Ellertson Social Science Postdoctoral Fellowship 2003-2010.
G-spot -ISSWSH congress 2009- Sexual medicine experts have voted against the existence of G-spot

Why has it taken this long for my menstruation to come?

Hello.I am TTC#2 But to no succession. What is weird I thought I was but quickly knew I wasn’t. Just didn’t feel it. Being a mum of one I do know the basic feelings and or symptoms of being pregnant. So any way back to the question. I was 2 months late on my period. (just started yesterday.)
What I am asking is why has it come this late? Is there something wrong with my body internally?
In the first month I had brownish discharge, so I padded up but the period never came. Second month same brownish discharge and this time it has come.

Please someone advise me in the right direction. I have a doctors appointment next week, so any advice now can help.

(please no rude answers I will only report you. This is about my well being not stupidity. Thank you.)

Oh I put this on Trying to conceive & pregnancy as well as I don’t know where the subjects falls as i believe it falls on all three subjects. womens health and obviously because I am trying to conceive and pregnancy.

well if you have recently come off of some type of birth control it can take a few months sometimes before you actual ovulate. That could be a reason.
I was having cycles as long as 45 days when I first came off my bc because I wasn’t ovulating, or I was ovulating late in my cycle. We weren’t sure because I wasn’t charting my temperature yet or even taken ovulation tests.

Women’s Health : How to Relieve Menstrual Cramps