The Better2Know Blog

If you are worried that you might have HIV, the only way you can know is to have an HIV test.  Testing has moved on and it is now possible to have a test just ten says after any incident you are concerned about.

New research in Canada has been looking at the different methods of testing for Chlamydia and gonorrhoea in Men.

At Better2Know we are often asked about training to improve the knowledge of the health care teams we work with.  As well as our own internal training programmes, leaflets and manuals there are also several external courses that can earn you credit towards a recognised qualification (while we work on ours!).

The film “Hope Springs” breaks one of Hollywood’s taboos about older people having sex.  In the main, sex scenes involve bright young thing’s body doubles.  Age UK has even looked into this, the Charity’s Director General, Michelle Mitchell says: “Our research has shown that while advertisers and the media promote sexualised representations of younger people, sex and older age is widely viewed as a taboo subject…We found that many people are often reluctant to even acknowledge that sexuality in older age exists.”

Better2Know tests can test for herpes using three different methods.  Your Better2Know doctor will help you decide which one of these methods is the best for you.  All our tests differentiate between Herpes Type I (Herpes Simplex I – HSVI) and Herpes Type II (Herpes Simples II – HSVII).  Usually type I is found as cold sores around the mouth, and type II are cold sores around the genitals, but oral sex can mean that either type can be found in either place.

The number of gay men having an HIV test in Scotland has increased significantly.  The percentage of men who identified themselves as gay who have had an HIV test increased from 27% to 57% from 2000 to 2010.  This is encouraging alongside an increase in gay men who saw testing as “the community norm” which is an important change in attitude.

Untreated syphilis can cause a loss of hearing with a condition called “otosyphilis” which causes hearing loss but can be reversible.  If a patient tests positive for syphilis and has no other reason for lost hearing, then this condition can be considered, and has been studied by Dr Daniel Bradshaw at the University of New South Wales, Australia.

A new study by the Department of Health Behaviour in the United States has looked at whether condoms prevent non-viral STIs.  A non-viral STI includes: Chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis,  ureaplasma and mycoplasma.

Earlier this year, an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine declared that the world was in a “watershed moment” in the history of treatment for hepatitis C, a virus that is believed to infect roughly 180 million people globally. Dr. Warner Greene, director of the Gladstone Institute of Virology and Immunology in San Francisco, agrees wholeheartedly – and believes that with recent advances in treatments and a cure, the world could be on the cusp of nearly wiping out the virus.

Non specific Urethritis (NSU) is just that, “non-specific”. This means that you may:

Research published this month in the journal PLOS ONE shows that there are vast differences across the UK in school girls receiving the HPV Vaccine to protect them from Cervical Cancer and Genital Warts.

The National Vaccination programme is usually delivered by school nurses and some are excellent, getting very high rates of completion of the course of three vaccines, but others are facing problems.

Since 2008, all 12-13 year old girls should be offered the vaccine.  From this autumn, the vaccine has changed from Cervarix to Gardasil which offers greater protection against other non-cervical cancers and genital warts.   Around 80% of all girls have received the full course.

The study was led by Dr Tammy Boyce, from the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London who says that “There’s no question that the UK national HPV immunisation programme is one of the most successful in the world, but this research has highlighted thousands of young women who have either not been offered the vaccine, or where more could have been done to increase uptake… What’s more, there is a group of young women in certain social classes or who do not regularly attend school that could be vulnerable in terms of HPV risk.”

“More efforts could be made to vaccinate these vulnerable young women who have not yet received the vaccine. We mustn’t let overall vaccination rates mask the stark inequalities that do exist, and instead take action to identify and reach those that drop off the school system and are most in need of protection.”

Better2Know offers the gardasil vaccine to boys as well as girls – of  any age!  At many of its private clinics across the UK.  If you or your son or daughter is sexually active then you should consider the HPV vaccine.

Out of thousands of applications, the Hepatitis C Trust were one of 52 charities that were chosen this year. They are all thrilled at the opportunity – the team at the Trust have put so much work into the campaign with initial conversations taking place with the BBC back in December 2011.

In 2011, I worked in a remote part of Tanzania for six months in a hospital where HIV/ AIDS was a major issue.

This year FPA and Brook are working together. They are launching  the campaign XES – We Can’t Go Backwards because we know that across the UK there are areas where:

The latest figures published by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) show that the new number of people with gonorrhoea in 2011 was 21,000 in the UK , up from 17,000 in 2010.  Most of the new cases were in young people aged 25 or under.

No surprises that people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are having sex with new partners.

Some people are coming out of relationships and dating again. Some have always been single. And many over 50s are enjoying fantastic sex and finding new love at this point in their lives.

The problem is that lots of people over 50, single or dating, don’t think safer sex applies to them. If you’re coming out of a long-term relationship it may not be something you’ve had to think about for years. And, after the menopause, using condoms can be easily forgotten about. Result? STIs are making a comeback in a new generation.

STIs don’t care about greying hair or a few wrinkles. If you’re having unprotected sex, an STI will find you just as attractive whatever your age.

Better2Know’s oldest patient this year was in their 80s and enjoying their life responsibly!

A new study has found that those couples who delay having sex stay together for longer and are happier.

A new study by Dartmouth College, an Ivy League University in the USA, has found that letting your children watch films with a high sexual content means that they start to have sex earlier and have more partners. The study found this was linked to increased promiscuity and not using condoms. Over 1,200 teenagers were asked to respond to questions when they were aged 12 to 14 and then this was repeated six years later. The study concentrates on cinema and films, but some argue this could also apply to on line pornography.

If you have sexual intercourse with someone who is HIV+ it doesn’t automatically mean that you will become HIV+. The risk decreases if you wear a condom quite significantly, but there are factors that can increase the risk of transmission, and one of them is having another STI, or HPV.

Ureaplasma is a common infection that can be sexually transmitted.  Most people who have the organism, do not have any symptoms, but it has been linked to infertility and other long term conditions in both men and women.  Ureaplasma is very easy to catch, and as many people do not know they have it and do not test for it regularly it is very common.

Most people with ureaplasma have no symptoms, but itching, burning when urinating and unusual discharge can all be associated with ureaplasma and other STIs.

Ureaplasma can be cured with a short course of antibiotics.

Better2Know tests for ureaplasma with a simple urine test at all of its private STD Testing clinics in the UK.  The test is included in our Platinum, Full and Comfort Screens and is also available on its own.

Better2Know offers the Gardasil vaccine to both men and women over the age of national screening programme.

EL James’ first novel Fifty Shades of Grey has sold over five million copies in the UK and it is estimated that 17% of women have read it, with increasing evidence that its reader base is diverting from “mummy porn” to include teenagers and men.

Professor Stanley from the University of Cambridge says that boys as well as girls should be given the HPV vaccine to help protect them from HPV and related cancers (tongue, head, neck and tonsils) and discusses this in the journal Nature.  The World Health Organisation has linked HPV to more than 5% of the world’s cancers.

Overall mortality from both liver-related disease and non-liver conditions — including some cancers is significantly increased in people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection compared with uninfected individuals, according to a study published in the July 17, 2012, advance online edition of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, according to the Hepatitis C Trust, a charity for people with Hepatitis C, based in London.

Over years or decades, chronic hepatitis C can progress to serious liver disease including cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and end-stage liver failure. But the effect of HCV infection on non-liver-related illness and death has not been extensively studied.

Mei-Hsuan Lee from Academia Sinica in Taipei, Chien-Jen Chen from the Genomic Research Center, and fellow investigators with the R.E.V.E.A.L.-HCV Study Group looked at associations between HCV infection and liver-related and non-liver deaths.

The researchers assessed the presence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), antibodies against HCV, and serum HCV RNA viral load levels at study entry. After excluding individuals with hepatitis B or HIV co-infection, the analysis included 18,541 HCV antibody negative and 1095 HCV antibody positive people.

Information about deaths was obtained by computerized linkage to national death certificate data from 1991 to 2008.

Results

• Among HCV antibody positive participants, 69.4% had detectable serum HCV RNA.
• A total of 2394 deaths occurred during an average follow-up period of 16.2 years.
• People who were HCV antibody positive had higher mortality rates due to both liver-related and non-liver (extrahepatic) diseases compared with HCV antibody negative people.
• In a multivariate analysis, the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) for all causes of death was 1.89, or nearly double the risk.
• The adjusted HR for liver-related death was 12.48, or more than 12-fold higher risk.
• The adjusted HR for extrahepatic death was a much lower but still significant 1.35.

HCV infection was associated with increased risk for several extrahepatic causes of death:

• Thyroid cancer: adjusted HR 8.22;
• Prostate cancer: adjusted HR 4.19;
• Esophageal cancer: adjusted HR 4.08;
• Kidney disease (nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, or nephrosis): adjusted HR 2.77;
• Circulatory system diseases: adjusted HR 1.50.

HCV antibody positive people with detectable HCV RNA had significantly higher mortality from both liver-related and extrahepatic diseases than those with undetectable viral load.

Further analysis showed that people with HCV antibodies but undetectable HCV RNA had mortality rates statistically similar to those of uninfected individuals.

Based on these findings, the study authors concluded that close monitoring of people with detectable HCV antibodies or genetic material “is essential for the prediction of mortality associated with hepatitis C.”

This study indicates that even chronic hepatitis C patients with no symptoms have a higher likelihood of death, and that treatment that reduces HCV viral load may lower mortality, underling the importance of timely HCV testing and therapy.

“The findings implied that the serum HCV RNA level is an important marker for clinical decisions in the management of HCV-infected patients,” Chen said in a press release issued by the Infectious Diseases Society of America, which publishes the journal.

In an accompanying editorial, Kenrad Nelson from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health pointed out that overall mortality was significantly higher among HCV-infected compared with uninfected individuals even when looking at people from the same communities, thereby minimizing potential bias.

Better2Know can test for Hepatitis C just 10 days after potential exposure with a simple blood test at all of its nationwide STD Testing clinics.  With results the same day that the sample is received in the laboratory.  Hepatitis C testing is available as part of our Platinum and Early Detection Screens as well as on its own.

Better2Know tests for both Herpes type I (Oral) (Herpes Simplex Virus I – HSV I) and Herpes type II (Genital) (Herpes Simplex Virus II – HSV II) in three different ways.  Although the different types of herpes are usually associated with the mouth or genitals, if you have unprotected oral sex with someone who has an outbreak of herpes, you can see why it is possible to get oral herpes in your genitals and genital herpes around your mouth.

Your Better2Know doctor will help you to decide which one of the following is the best test for herpes for you:

• Blood test – this tests for a past infection to see if you have had Herpes in the past
• Urine test – this tests for a current infection to see whether the symptoms you currently have are due to the Herpes virus
• Swab test – this takes a swab of an area to see if the symptoms in this area are caused by the Herpes virus

The Herpes urine test is also available to order from our home sample collection service.

The results for a Herpes test take just five days from when a sample is received in the laboratory.

Better2Know has now added new testing for Chlamydia and gonorrhoea.  Following increasing demand from you for different sites to be tested, you can now be tested for Chlamydia and gonorrhoea in the:

The Scottish psychologist Stuart Brody from the West of Scotland University, has claimed that unprotected heterosexual sex can significantly increase both of the partners’ mental well being, and that using a condom can lead to poor mental health issues including dealing with stress and depression.  Brody claims that people are programmed to enjoy sex as part of the reproductive process and to improve chances of conceiving.  The full article will be published in The Archives of Sexual Behaviour.

In Los Angeles, five US Adult movie stars have tested positive for syphilis.  Over 1,000 performers have had to cease working while they are all tested and given preventative antibiotics.  It is thought that one male star has continued to have sex on camera with over 100 women and this has lead to all filming being stopped.

Male circumcision has long been associated with a decrease risk of HIV and HPV transmission to the circumcised man.

Fears are growing of a gonorrhoea super bug that may become resistant to antibiotics.  Currently the STI is still treatable and curable using a combination of antibiotics, sometimes including an injection.

If left untreated, gonorrhoea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, still births, severe eye infections in newborns (as they are born) and infertility in both men and women.

Infected people often have no symptoms, so the number of cases is thought to be over twice as high as are reported each year.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)said in June this year that the drug resistant strains of gonorrhoea are not almost one in ten of sexually transmitted disease in Europe in 2010 (latest available figures).  Cases are still treatable, but it is a becoming harder and longer to do do.

The ECDC is working closely with the Centre for Disease Control in the USA and the World Health Organisation to monitor the whole world for emerging resistance and success of new drugs as this super bug could be catastrophic for anyone trying to have a baby in the future.

Better2Know can test for gonorrhoea at any of its partner clinics with a simple urine test that also looks for Chlamydia.  In addition you can choose to have a swab of your throat (if you have unprotected oral sex) or rectum (if you have anal sex) for these two STIs.