The Week: Most Recent relationships

Yogurt: The secret to male sexual prowess?

The Week — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:35:00 -0500

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were using mice to study how eating yogurt affects weight gain when they noticed something strange. Not only were yogurt-fed rodents noticeably slimmer than their peers, but the males exhibited a distinct sexual "swagger," complete with shinier fur and more pronounced... features. Here, a brief guide to the unexpected development:

What was the original point of the study?
MIT researchers wanted to examine how the healthy microbial bacteria in yogurt fight off age-related weight gain. Mice were divided into three groups and given three different...

Stendra: A guide to the new FDA-backed Viagra rival

The Week — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:57:00 -0500

Last Friday, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new erectile dysfunction drug, Stendra, which its creators are touting as a superior alternative to Viagra. Erectile dysfunction, or the inability to keep an erection, affects more than 30 million men in the U.S., and sales of treatment drugs exceeded $5 billion last year. Here's a look at the potentially lucrative newcomer:

What is Stendra exactly?
The FDA-backed medication, known chemically as avanafil, is in the same class as drugs like Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. All "inhibit the same enzyme, PDE5, and work by increasing blood flow...

Overestimating the effects of birth control: By the numbers

The Week — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:12:00 -0500

Many women may be putting too much faith in birth control pills and condoms. Nearly half of the women questioned in a new study, published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, thought these methods were better at preventing pregnancy than they really are. Just how far off were they? Here, a look at misconceptions about contraceptives, by the numbers:

9
Annual pregnancy rate, in percent, for women who take birth control pills, but fail to take them every day as directed

Less than 1
Annual pregnancy rate, in percent, for women who take the pill as directed

18 to 21
Annual pregnancy...

America's sharp drop in teen births: 4 explanations

The Week — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 17:55:00 -0500

The teen birth rate in the United States has declined for the third straight year. From 2009 to 2010, the most recent year for which data is available, the U.S. birth rate among women aged 15-19 fell 9 percent, to 34.3 births per 1,000 women, an all-time low since data was first collected in 1946. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the decrease was consistent across all racial and ethnic groups, although birth rates tended to be highest in the South and Southwest and lowest in the Northeast and Upper Midwest. Mississippi had the highest teen birth rate, with 55 births...

Divorce expos: A sign of the times?

The Week — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:20:00 -0500

The expo has become a staple of the insatiable wedding industry, with stalls upon stalls helping the newly engaged make the myriad decisions that go into their special day. But blushing brides-to-be were in short order at a related expo in New York City this weekend. Titled "Start Over Smart," it was the city's first-ever expo for divorcees, many of whom are wrestling with some pretty serious decisions of their own. And while "Start Over Smart' doesn't dwell on the happiest of events, the hundreds of attendees weren't engaged in long harangues or bitter fist-shaking. Instead, the expo tried ...

The skyrocketing cost of U.S. weddings: By the numbers

The Week — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:05:00 -0500

Here's another sign that the economy is slowly shaking off its sluggishness: In 2011, American brides and grooms shelled out more to get married than they have since the Great Recession struck in 2008, according to a new survey. "It probably has to do with attitudes toward economic recovery," says Carley Roney at The Knot, which helped conduct the research. When you factor in fees for wedding venues, a planner, a band or DJ, a photographer, flowers, cake, musicians, transportation, the engagement ring, the dress, and the rehearsal dinner, the average wedding cost more than $27,000 last year. How...

The key to male sexiness: A powerful immune system?

The Week — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:30:00 -0600

Forget the chiseled abs, strong cheekbones, and iron biceps. It turns out that the biggest turn-on for women is a man's powerful... immune system. A new study in Nature Communications found that women can somehow tell just by looking at a man that he's got high levels of the manly hormone testosterone and a rock-solid disease-fighting system, and that they find the combination extremely sexy. The hottest men, the study found, had great immune systems, lots of testosterone, and low levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Here's what you should know:

How did the study work?
Psychologist Fhionna Moore...

Should Plan B pills be available in vending machines?

The Week — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:24:00 -0600

Vending machines already dispense everything from iPods to live crabs. Now, a new dispenser at Shippenburg University's health center in Pennsylvania is selling morning after pills to students for $25 a pop. The private clinic is only accessible to registered Shippenberg students who are required to check-in at a front desk, thus deterring those under the legal age of 16 from using it. The idea is to expedite the process by giving young women already seeking the pill an alternative to going off campus. But are college health officials crossing a line by making the drug so readily available? ...

The dramatic rise of STDs among senior citizens

The Week — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:41:00 -0600

The good news: Adults between the ages of 50 and 90 are having more sex than ever before, according to a new British study. The bad news? There has been a corresponding rise in HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and other STDs among these older adults. Here's what you should know about the "dramatic" uptick:

How much more sex are older people having?
Adults 50 and older are having more sex than ever before, according to the Student British Medical Journal. In the U.K., a whopping 80 percent of people in this age range report being sexually active.

What changed?
A couple of things. "Drugs that...

Sniffing smelly T-shirts: The new way to find a soulmate?

The Week — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:08:00 -0600

Birds do it. Bees do it. So Atlanta artist Judith Prays figured, why not people, too? In late 2010, Prays developed the Pheromone Party, on the premise that the best way to find your other half is through the magnetic chemical scents that many animals use to attract each other. "The first time I dated someone for purely physical reasons, it was amazing how well it went," Prays tells The Daily's Justin Rocket Silverman. "I was so into his smell even when it was objectively nasty. So then I just thought, what if I could choose people by smell?" Here's what she did:

First off: What exactly are pheromones...

Living with a brain-damaged ex-husband

The Week — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:59:00 -0600

ON ITS DESTRUCTIVE path up the East Coast in September 2003, Hurricane Isabel ripped through central Virginia, downing trees and leaving thousands without power for days, including the Meltons. From his office near the Capitol, Robert, a reporter for The Washington Post, was writing story after story about the devastation. He had spent days clearing out his own backyard and was surprised at how tired the work made him.

He was working at his office on Saturday, Sept. 20, when his chest started to hurt. He thought perhaps he had eaten bad salami for lunch, but since he'd had a heart scare before...

Sharing passwords: A dangerous new teen trend?

The Week — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 10:53:00 -0600

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours" used to mean something risqué between two kids in love. Now, according to The New York Times, it implies something more revealing but less exciting: Swapping passwords. A recent Pew survey found that 30 percent of teenagers — and 47 percent of girls age 14-17— who use the internet have shared at least one personal online password with a friend or significant other. While such swaps can lead volatile and vulnerable teens to use humiliating online secrets against each other, young lovers aren't deterred. Exchanging email and Facebook ...

New York's new safe-sex campaign: 'Too raw'?

The Week — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:22:00 -0600

A New York nonprofit called Community Health Network had a novel idea to educate inner-city teenagers about safe sex, sexually transmitted infections, and respect for people's sexual boundaries: Have inner-city teens create public-service announcements, then post the resulting videos on Vimeo. "Teens talk with slang," says Anthony Murray, 17, who stars in the clip The Importance of Condoms! (watch below). "We don't want to sound phony using too much medical terms." The taxpayer-funded "More Than Just Sex" videos certainly "capture the realities of what is happening in inner-city neighborhoods...

Nevada's Alien Cathouse: A sci-fi brothel for nerds?

The Week — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 06:40:00 -0600

Sex can be out of this world. But a Nevada brothel owner is taking that premise a step further, by building a prostitution den for sci-fi nerds who dream of having sex with exotic alien women. The businessman — Dennis Hof, the star of HBO's long-running documentary series Cathouse — is betting there are plenty of men who will pay a premium for some extraterrestrial TLC. Here's what you need to know about his eyebrow-raising business plan:

An alien-themed sex house?
It's exactly what it sounds like. If you ever "found yourself jealous of Captain James T. Kirk" and his interplanetary...

Are married people 'nearly a minority'?

The Week — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 16:26:00 -0600

The proportion of adults in the United States who are married has plummeted to a record low, according to new data released by the Pew Research Center. Just 51 percent of Americans are bound by matrimony, making married people "nearly a minority." What's behind the shifting stats? Here, a guide:

This is a record low?
Yes. The proportion of Americans who are married has been falling precipitously. In 1960, 72 percent were married, but by 2000, that statistic was only 57 percent, says Carol Morello at The Washington Post. The decline has been especially sharp in recent years. Between 2009 and 2010...

Does Yaz birth control cause deadly blood clots?

The Week — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 13:01:00 -0600

One of the most widely used oral contraceptives in the U.S. may be getting a new warning label — a label that would describe the risks of potentially fatal blood clots. Here's what you should know:

Is birth control really so dangerous?
Blood clots have actually been "a known side effect" of birth control pills ever since these contraceptives "hit the market 50 years ago," says Bloomberg Businessweek. However, a new generation of pills may be raising the risk. According to several recent studies, about 10 in 10,000 women on Yasmin, Yaz, or their generic versions may experience...