Sex Toy Story

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The people working to keep your booty....Bootylicous

via POZ Magazine, By Trenton Straube


This  except is from an article written on the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA). This group are the leaders in the fight for better technology that would protect your booty from HIV.

Can lubes increase the risk of HIV during anal sex?

A slew of recent studies suggest that using lubes for unprotected anal sex may increase the risk of HIV, and that some lubes may harm the rectum’s thin protective layer of cells (the epithelium). It’s premature to know which brands to avoid, says Marc-André LeBlanc, a lube advocate with the International Rectal Microbicide Advocates (IRMA). Most research has been done in laboratories, and it isn’t certain whether the findings translate to humans—or whether the products’ lubricating benefits outweigh their potential harm.

But one fact is certain: “The best way to prevent acquiring HIV and STIs [sexually transmitted infections] during anal sex is still using male or female condoms,” LeBlanc says. “And we know that using lubes with condoms decreases the risk of the condom slipping or breaking—a big bonus.”

In the meantime, here’s a highlight of what scientists are investigating and how lube qualities might affect the success of microbicides:

• Polyquaterniums, a class of chemicals common in cosmetics, seem to increase HIV replication by almost four times in lab tests. A Population Council study found this ingredient in three of four HIV-enhancing Astroglide brand lubes: Astroglide Liquid, Astroglide Warming Liquid, Astroglide Glyercin & Paraben Free liquid and Astroglide Silken Secret

• Osmolality refers to the concentration of salts, sugars and other substances (solutes) present in a lube. Hypo-osmolar lubes have a lower concentration of solutes than human cells and cause the cells to swell with water and burst. Hyperosmolar lubes cause cells to shrink and become brittle. Iso-osmolar lubes don’t affect cells because their concentrations are identical. Most water-based lubes are hyperosmolar and damaging.

• pH balance is acidic in the vagina and neutral in the rectum. Many lubes are designed for the vagina—does the difference in pH mean they affect the rectum differently? 

• Good and bad bacteria live in a delicate balance in the vagina and gut. Will disrupting this balance make the rectum more susceptible to HIV? 

• Viscosity is the slippery quality that gives lube its feel and texture. Glycerin, in water-based lubes, adds to viscosity. It also makes lubes hyperosmolar—and destructive to epithelium. When a rectal microbicide now in trials proved harmful to the epithelium, researchers solved the problem by lowering the glycerin content

Read more. 

Sex and the POZ Gay Man

Via POZ - If being HIV positive raises a million questions, being poz and sexually active raises a million more. In his article "Law & Disclosure" in The Positive Side, Glenn Betteridge wrote about one such question for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs): When are you required by law to inform your sexual partner of your HIV status?

Even if you've managed to keep the courtroom out of your bedroom, plenty of other uncertainties remain. Does having an undetectable viral load mean you're no longer infectious? How do sexually transmitted infections (STIs) affect people with HIV? How do you initiate sex if you think your prospective partner may be poz-phobic?

HIV-positive gay men may find these questions especially pressing. Gay culture can put a lot of value (and pressure) on having sex. How can a poz gay man feel healthy and horny when sex seems so fraught with potential landmines? Here are some issues that you might consider as you chart your course.


Read the rest...

FDA Begins Process of Ending Gay Blood Donor Ban

Via POZ - The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has started the process to review and possibly end the ban on blood donations from gay men, the Washington Blade reports.

The Department of Health and Human Services has scheduled meetings June 10 and 11 with the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability to consider “the most important factors (e.g. societal, scientific and economic) to consider in making a policy change,” states a notice published by the Federal Register.