Sex Health Dictionary

See CHILD ABUSE.... sexual abuse

Any type of pleasurable sexual practice which society regards as abnormal. Deviation may be related to the activity, such as EXHIBITIONISM or sadomasochistic sex (see SADISM; MASOCHISM); or to the sexual object, for example, shoes or clothes (fetishism). Di?erent cultures have di?erent values, and treatment is probably not required unless the deviation is antisocial or harmful to the participant(s). Aversion therapy, or the conditioning of a person’s behaviour, may help if treatment is considered necessary.... sexual deviation

The physical characteristics that develop during PUBERTY as the body matures sexually. Girls’ breasts and genitals increase in size, and, like boys, they grow pubic hair. Boys also grow facial hair, their voice breaks and their genitals grow to adult size.... secondary sexual characteristics

Inadequate sexual response may be due to a lack of sexual desire (LIBIDO) or to an inadequate performance; or it may be that there is a lack of satisfaction or ORGASM. Lack of sexual desire may be due to any generalised illness or endocrine disorder, or to the taking of drugs that antagonise endocrine function (see ENDOCRINE GLANDS). Disorders of performance in men can occur during arousal, penetration and EJACULATION. In the female, DYSPAREUNIA and VAGINISMUS are the main disorders of performance. DIABETES MELLITUS can cause a neuropathy which results in loss of erection. IMPOTENCE can follow nerve damage from operations on the PROSTATE GLAND and lower bowel, and can be the result of neurological diseases affecting the autonomic system (see NERVOUS SYSTEM). Disorders of satisfaction include, in men, impotence, emission without forceful ejaculation and pleasureless ejaculation. In women such disorders range from the absence of the congestive genital response to absence of orgasm. Erectile dysfunction in men can sometimes be treated with SILDENAFIL CITRATE (Viagra®), a drug that recent research suggests may also be helpful to women with reduced libido and/or inability to achieve orgasm.

Sexual dysfunction may be due to physical or psychiatric disease, or it may be the result of the administration of drugs. The main group of drugs likely to cause sexual problems are the ANTICONVULSANTS, the ANTIHYPERTENSIVE DRUGS, and drugs such as metoclopramide that induce HYPERPROLACTINAEMIA. The benzodiazepine TRANQUILLISERS can reduce libido and cause failure of erection. Tricyclic ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS may cause failure of erection and clomipramine may delay or abolish ejaculation by blockade of alpha-adrenergic receptors. The MONOAMINE OXIDASE INHIBITORS (MAOIS) often inhibit ejaculation. The PHENOTHIAZINES reduce sexual desire and arousal and may cause di?culty in maintaining an erection. The antihypertensive drug, methyldopa, causes impotence in over 20 per cent of patients on large doses. The beta-adrenoceptorblockers and the DIURETICS can also cause impotence. The main psychiatric causes of sexual dysfunction include stress, depression and guilt.... sexual dysfunction

The psycho-sexual condition characterised by feelings of belonging to the gender opposite to that of the genitalia and the secondary sex characteristics. Subjects may be helped by counselling, drug therapy and in some circumstances an operation to change their physical sexual characteristics. Trans-sexuals or their families wanting help and guidance should contact the Gender Identity Consultancy.... trans-sexualism

A form of sexual behaviour, most common in men, in which intercourse between adults is not the final aim. Forms of sexual deviation include exhibitionism, fetishism, paedophilia, and transvestism.... deviation, sexual

The process of producing offspring by the fusion of 2 cells from different individuals; this is achieved in humans by the fusion of 1 sperm and 1 ovum. This fusion (fertilization) is achieved by sexual intercourse or artificial insemination.... reproduction, sexual

Physical features appearing at puberty that indicate the onset of adult reproductive life.

In girls, breast enlargement is the first sign.

Shortly afterwards, pubic and underarm hair appears, and body fat increases around the hips, stomach, and thighs to produce the female body shape.

In boys, the first sign is enlargement of the testes, followed by thinning of the scrotal skin and enlargement of the penis.

Pubic, facial, axillary, and other body hair appears, the voice deepens, and muscle bulk and bone size increase.... sexual characteristics, secondary

Lack of sexual desire or of the ability to become physically aroused during sexual activity.... sexual desire, inhibited

A term sometimes used to describe a variety of sexual activities, but which specifically refers to the insertion of the penis into the vagina.... sexual intercourse

A term describing the capacity for sexual feelings and behaviour, or an individual’s sexual orientation or preference. Heterosexuality is sexuality directed towards the anatomically opposite sex; homosexuality is attraction to the same sex; and bisexuality is attraction to both sexes. (See also gender identity.)... sexuality

(STIs) Infections transmitted primarily, but not exclusively, by sexual intercourse. Common STIs include chlamydial infections, genital herpes, pubic lice, genital warts, trichomoniasis, syphilis, gonorrhoea, and HIV infection. Antibiotics can be used to treat most bacterial STIs. Confidential tracing and treatment of an affected person’s partners is an essential part of the management of STIs (see contact tracing).

Practising safer sex can help prevent STIs.... sexually transmitted infections

Any difficulty associated with sexual performance or behaviour. Sexual problems are often psychological in origin (see psychosexual dysfunction). Sex therapy may help such problems. Some sexual problems are due to physical disease, such as a disorder affecting blood flow or a hormonal dysfunction. A disorder of the genitals may result in pain during intercourse (see intercourse, painful). Such problems are addressed by treating the cause, where possible.... sexual problems

Sexually transmitted diseases – traditionally called venereal diseases – are infections transmitted by sexual intercourse (heterosexual and homosexual). In the United Kingdom they are treated in genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics. The incidences of these diseases are more common among people who have several sexual partners, as STDs are very infectious; some of the major STDs, particularly AIDS/HIV, are also transmitted by blood and so can result from needle-sharing by drug addicts, or by TRANSFUSION. The ‘traditional’ STDs – SYPHILIS, GONORRHOEA and CHANCROID – now comprise only 10 per cent of all such diseases treated in STD clinics: these clinics also treat patients with CHLAMYDIA, TRICHOMONIASIS, HERPES GENITALIS, MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM and genital WARTS. SCABIES and pubic lice (see PEDICULOSIS – Pediculus pubis) can also be transmitted by sexual intercourse, and HEPATITIS B is also recognised as an STD.

The incidence of STDs rose sharply during World War II but the advent of PENICILLIN and subsequent antibiotics meant that syphilis and gonorrhoea could be treated e?ectively. The arrival of oral contraception and more tolerant public attitudes to sexual activities resulted in an increase in the incidence of sexually transmitted infections. The diagnosis of NONSPECIFIC URETHRITIS (NSU), once given to many patients whose symptoms were not due to the traditional recognised infections, was in the 1970s realised to be wrong, as the condition was proved to be the result of infection by chlamydia.

Most STDs are treatable, but herpes is an infection that could become chronic, while hepatitis B and, of course, AIDS/HIV are potentially fatal – although treatment of HIV is now proving more e?ective. As well as the treatment and subsequent monitoring of patients with STDs, one of the important functions of clinics has been the tracing, treatment and follow-up of sexual contacts of infected individuals, a procedure that is conducted con?dentially.

Apart from AIDS/HIV, the incidence of STDs fell during the 1980s; however in some countries the agents causing syphilis and gonorrhoea began to develop resistance to antibiotics, which showed the continued importance of practising safe sex – in particular by restricting the number of sexual partners and ensuring the regular use of condoms. In the United Kingdom the rates per million of the male population infected by syphilis rose from 8.8 in 1991 to 9.7 in 1999; in females the ?gures were 4.0 to 4.5, respectively. For gonorrhoea, the ?gures for men were 399.4 in 1991 and 385 in 1999, with women also showing a reduction, from

216.5 to 171.3. In 1991, 552.6 per million of men had chlamydia, a ?gure which rose to

829.5 in 1999; for women in the same period the incidence also rose, from 622.5 to 1,077.1 per million. For genital herpes simplex virus, the infection rate for men fell from 236.6 per million to 227.7, whereas the ?gures for women showed a rise, 258.5 to 357. The incidence of AIDS/HIV is given under the relevant entry. (These ?gures are based on information in United Kingdom Health Statistics, 2001 edition, UKHSI, published by the O?ce of National Statistics.)... sexually transmitted diseases (stds)

(DSDs) see intersex.... differences of sexual development

(DSDs) see intersex.... disorders of sexual development

n. the age when a person first engages in sexual intercourse.... sexarche

n. the study of sexual matters, including anatomy, physiology, behaviour, and techniques.... sexology

(STD) any disease transmitted by sexual intercourse, formerly known as venereal disease. STDs include *AIDS, *syphilis, *gonorrhoea, some *Chlamydia infections, genital *herpes, and *soft sore. The medical specialty concerned with STDs is genitourinary medicine.... sexually transmitted disease