Sexual Health News Headlines

CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S. introduction of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer in 2006 has reduced infections with the human papillomavirus or HPV - the sexually transmitted virus that causes the disease - by more than half among girls and young women, U.S. health officials said on Wednesday. The results were better …

Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...        

Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...        

Vaccines against the cancer-causing human papillomavirus appear to be working better than expected in the U.S., given the country’s dismal vaccination rates, according to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The HPV infection rate among girls between the ages...        

By Jason McLure LITTLETON, New Hampshire (Reuters) - New Hampshire is set to become the final state in New England to allow medical marijuana after negotiators from the Republican-controlled Senate and Democratic-controlled House agreed Tuesday on a bill backed by Governor Maggie Hassan. The law would allow up to four marijuana …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Antibodies to a high-risk type of a virus that causes mouth and throat cancers when transmitted via oral sex can be detected in blood tests many years before onset of the disease, according to a World Health Organisation-led team of researchers. In a study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, …

By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - A daily dose of powerful anti-HIV medicine helped cut the risk of infection with the AIDS virus by 49 percent in intravenous drug users in a Bangkok study that showed for the first time such a preventive step can work in this high-risk population. "This is a significant step forward …

WASHINGTON (AP) — Don't look for the morning-after pill to move next to the condoms on drugstore shelves right away — but after a decade-plus fight, it appears it really will happen. Backed into a corner by a series of court rulings, the Obama administration has agreed to let the Plan B One-Step brand of emergency contraception …

By Emily Le Coz JACKSON, Mississippi (Reuters) - Mississippi will require doctors to collect umbilical cord blood from babies born to some young mothers, under a new law intended to identify statutory rapists and reduce the state's rate of teenage pregnancy, the highest in the country. The measure, which takes effect on …

By Francesca Trianni NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New York-area prosecutors said on Thursday they would no longer consider unused condoms seized from suspected prostitutes and sex traffickers as evidence, saying the public health benefit of making condoms available trumped their value in the courtroom. "We need to put public …

By Genevra Pittman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who use birth control pills are less likely to develop ovarian cancer later in life, a new analysis of past studies suggests. Researchers pooled data from 24 studies and found Pill users had a 27 percent lower risk of being diagnosed with ovarian cancer. And longer use …

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's health ministry on Wednesday pulled an outreach campaign urging sex workers to use condoms after coming under fire from conservative lawmakers. "I'm happy being a prostitute" was the slogan on a web campaign for International Prostitute Day that also encouraged sex workers to not be ashamed …

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson is voluntarily recalling about 32 million packages of its birth control pill Cilest in Europe, Asia and Latin America, a spokeswoman said late on Tuesday, the latest in a string of recalls over the past two years. Cilest is manufactured by Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc, a unit of Johnson & Johnson. …

Almost two-thirds of all oral cancers at related to the human papillomavirus, or HPV.

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Tranquilizers known as benzodiazepines and certain older antidepressants are linked with a greater chance of having erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new survey. "Definitely it confirms the tricyclics (antidepressants)" are tied to ED, said Dr. Richard Balon, a psychiatry …

By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a victory for Planned Parenthood, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider whether the state of Indiana can prevent the nonprofit, which is the country's largest provider of abortions, from receiving federal Medicaid funding for any medical services it offers to …

Here’s a tidbit you probably didn’t know: Gonorrhea is the second-most frequently reported “notifiable” disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). (That means that if you have it, your doctor or local health official needs to report it to the federal government so they can track it; gonorrhea is beaten …

WASHINGTON (AP) — The decade-old law that transformed the battle against HIV and AIDS in developing countries is at a crossroads. The dream of future generations freed from epidemic is running up against an era of economic recovery and harsh budget cuts.

By Deena Beasley (Reuters) - An experimental drug from Gilead Sciences Inc shrank tumors in half of leukemia patients whose cancer had returned, according to an early-stage trial that represents a new foray into oncology by the world's biggest seller of HIV medications. The pill, idelalisib, is part of a new class of medications …

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge on Friday refused to delay enforcement of his decision giving women of all ages broad access to morning-after birth control, calling the government's appeal frivolous, a "silly argument" and an insult to the intelligence of women.

By Andrew M. Seaman NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The number of some cancers related to the human papillomavirus (HPV) increased throughout the U.S. before vaccines against the sexually transmitted infection were available, says to a new study. Researchers found an increase in many early-stage cancers and anal and head and …

By Kerry Grens NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Herbal supplements aimed at improving men's sexual abilities often contain the active ingredients in erectile dysfunction pills such as Viagra, according to a new study. Additionally, researchers found that some of these over-the-counter herbal remedies contained more of the ingredient …

By Kate Kelland LONDON (Reuters) - Drugmakers Merck and GlaxoSmithKline have cut the price of cervical cancer shots in a deal that will deliver them to poor countries for less than $5 a dose. The new record low price for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines should mean millions of girls in developing countries can be protected …