Discussing “Safe Sex” With Your Parents

I get a variety of newsletters and health information via e-mail but this one really got me thinking. HealthDay reported “Older widowers who recently lost their wives are more likely to have a sexually transmitted disease than their counterparts who are still married.”

I have to confess, I initially chuckled over this lead paragraph. Dirty old men, I thought. But as I read the entire news brief, I actually felt a wave of anxiety.

The study looked at more than 400,000 U.S. couples aged 67 to 99 years in 1993. Within six months to a year after their wives died, men were 16 percent more likely to be infected with a sexually transmitted disease. And for recently widowed men, the risk of having a sexually transmitted disease rose by 83 percent after 1998. That’s the year that Viagra went on the market as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. Again I just shook my head-until I really gave that statistic some thought.

My parents are roughly 70 years old and as far as I know, they are in reasonably good health. Now, should my father pass away my mother would again enter the dating pool-an arena she’s not been a part of since the late 1950′s. When my mom was a young woman, the most common STD’s were mono (not technically a STD but a virus spread by kissing) and gonorrhea. In my mother’s day, there was virtually (or literally ) no Chlamydia, genital warts or Herpes. Now at the tender age of 70, she would not only be exposed to, but according to this study she would be at increased risk of contracting a STD.

Now this is what broke me out into a cold sweat. Would I need to discuss safe sex with my mom? Many of you are like me, a member of the “sandwich” generation; raising your own family while also caring for (or at least monitoring the health and well being of) your parents. I don’t know about you, but I just can’t imagine discussing safe sex practices with my mom (or my dad should the situation be reversed!) How does one even broach such a topic? And at what point does such a discussion become infringement of privacy?

My head went into a dizzy whirl as I pondered this situation. However the more I thought about it, the more I am convinced that we children HAVE to have such conversations with our parents. They are from a generation when such topics weren’t openly discussed and quite frankly, many of our parents may have absolutely no idea how serious the STD situation has become. Gone are the days when a simple course of antibiotics solved the immediate shame. Today our parents can contract diseases that they could carry for the rest of their lives or that could actually kill them.

I can’t think of a more awkward topic to discuss with either of my parents at this stage in our lives. But the facts are what they are. Just as I love my children and want them to make wise health care choices, I want the same for my parents. One can only make wise, informed choices when they have the necessary tools and information. Just as I will swallow hard and have “the talk” with my children, I shall will also bite from the other side of this ‘sandwich’ I’m in and have a similar talk with my parent(s).

The study appears in the Sept. 17, 2009 online edition and the November print issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Add a comment September 23, 2009

Did Merck Use Good Laboratory Practices Getting Gardasil Approved?

In my circle of moms, the discussion about Gardasil has been quite active. A fellow fitness mom and friend Chris Caffey Heidel spoke eloquently about her concerns not only about Gardasil’s efficacy and potential side effects, but to laboratories to use Good Laboratory practices, rules and habits advocated by the Late Senator Edward M. Kennedy (later signed to law) to ensure that research laboratories follow a standard set of guidelines that will help ensure that  Americans are safe and healthy. Chris has graciously allowed me to reprint her blog post here. You can view the original blog post at http://librafitnessaustin.com/?p=270. So here in its entirety is Chris’s post. Thanks Chris!

August 26th, 2009

Thank You, Senator Kennedy

In addition to being a personal trainer, I have worked for over 10 years in the pharmaceutical research field, most of those years in Quality Assurance. My job is to make sure that laboratories and other companies working in pharmaceutical research are following FDA regulations and accurately reporting results. It’s not always pretty, but overall, drugs these days are much safer than they were before the 1970s. Prior to that time, there were no significant laws governing the quality of laboratory research. Mail fraud was about all anyone could be convicted of. In the 1970s, several cases of fraud in studies submitted to the FDA were uncovered that led to a series of hearings in the Senate, chaired by Senator Edward Kennedy (i.e., “The Kennedy Hearings”). These hearings resulted in the creation of the Good Laboratory Practice regulations. Laboratories conducting preclinical research are now required to follow these regulations and to also staff a Quality Assurance Unit. Hence, my field of expertise.

I appreciate these and other efforts by Senator Kennedy throughout his long career to do right by the American people. What an incredible legacy. Thanks, Teddy. I hope that our Congress will honor Senator Kennedy’s passing by truly working together in a bipartisan way to enact meaningful legislation that can help address the current health care crisis in this country. One can only hope.

Below is a favorite quote from Senator Kennedy that is often used in Good Laboratory Practice training sessions.

“Inaccurate science, sloppy science, fraudulent science—these are the greatest threats to the health and safety of the American people. Whether the science is wrong because of clerical error, or because of poor technique, or because of incompetence, or because of negligence, is less important than the fact that it is wrong. For if it is wrong, and if the FDA did not know it was wrong, then the protective regulatory barrier between a potentially dangerous drug and the patient is removed.” – Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), The Kennedy Hearings

Add a comment September 10, 2009

A must read for moms of young girls

I started this blog as a way to chronical my personal journey back to good health. Since having my son in 2003 I’ve struggled and am now just finding practitioners and treatment s that are really helping me.  But today I have to speak about something a little bit different, ensuring the safety of my daughter.

Those of you that know me know that I had uterine fibroids and had quite a journey having my children.  A large motivation for me to get healthy is so that I can pass on good health habits to my daughter. Always in my mind is her well being and how I can help her to avoid many of the health pitfalls that I encountered.  When Gardasil, the vaccine that is  touted to prevent cervical cancer, came on the market I immediately began tracking it and I have to say that I have not been impressed with what I have seen.  Now I am even more concerned.  I just recently received a news piece stating that one of the actually clinical researchers for the Gardasil Vaccine has serious concerns about the vaccine. (Read her comments here http://budurl.com/ekmf)  The vaccine is proving to have some very serious side effects and now there are questions as to whether or not the vaccine is effective after 5 years.

As many of you may know, I write and research a lot of women’s health issuses for Austinwoman Magazine as well as for my own business and personal edification. For the past couple of years I’ve been watching Gardarsil, the vaccine that is supposed to protect women from getting cervical cancer. I have to say as a former clinician and reseacher and as a mother of a young daughter I have been skeptical of this vaccine. First, my radar always goes up when something is rushed through the FDA when there is no clear danger to the public. Then when Gov. Rick Perry made that crazy Saturday Mandate that all girls going into middle school must take the vaccine, I was even more skeptical-especially when I saw that one of his former aides works for Merck and was “encouraging” the mandate. It’s was unclear to me if Perry’s support garnered him any funding, but if he did in fact receive funds from Merck as a result of Mandating Gardasil, isn’t this a conflict of interest?    I reviewed the FDA filing documents,  http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/g/gardasil/gardasil_pi.pdf as well as the Vaccine and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee report on Gardasil (one of the documents that explained the review process of the FDA).  In these documents Merck openly reports that there are 9 reported cases of systemic autoimmune disorders that presented after the subjects enrolled in the Gardasil trials and took the vaccine.  There was one case of Juvenile Arthritis, 2 cases of rheumatoid arthritis, 5 cases of arthritis and one case of reactive arthritis.  That is all that is said.  Merck does not go on to say whether or not these systemic cases arose as a result of taking Gardasil or that the subjects had a predisposition to autoimmune disorders.  Merck makes no comment on these findings.

Now one can say that these are completely unrelated reactions, but no one knows this for sure. One can also say that statistically, this is not a significant number.  The total number of people on this particular study who received the vaccine was 11,813 and only 9 who took Gardasil ended up with an autoimmune disease. So 0.0762% of the participants had an autoimmune reaction.  That’s pretty small.  However, multiply this percentage by the number of girls who are targeted to get the vaccine which according to the CDC is approximately 30 million girls.  A simple algebra equation reveals that 22,860 girls could be at risk for developing an autoimmune disease if the 9 girls who developed autoimmune diseases in the clinical trials actually developed their diseases as a result of taking Gardasil. For all of the clinical trials there were 102 serious adverse events reported for all of the study participants, 21,514 (the 11, 813 who took Gardasil + 9701 who took placebo). This number translates to 14,220 potentially serious adverse events if 30 million girls are vaccinated. I don’t know about you, but 14,000 girls developing an autoimmune disease from a vaccine is a pretty significant number to me.

Merck claims that by making Gardasil a mandatory vaccine, the estimated annual 9710 new cervical cancer cases and estimated 3700 deaths (Data for 2006) would be significantly reduced but not avoided altogether.  However, if  women continue to get annual pap smears and pelvic examinations and to act promptly if they receive an abnormal pap smear, rates for cervical cancer are similarly reduced.

Everyone has to make their own decision when it comes to caring for their children.  But in light of these findings from one of the clinical researchers, My daughter won’t be getting the vaccine.

1 comment September 5, 2009

Which Came First?

So I finally got my saliva test results back last week. There really was no surprise. My adrenals are shot and my cortisol pattern bears this out. Apparently cortisol levels should be lower in the early morning, enabling you to get up and to get busy, rise during the day when you need to be productive and fall later in the day as you should be relaxing and winding down. My pattern was the complete opposite. My levels were highest in the early morning, hence my early morning awakening complete with my mind rushing and not being able to go back to sleep. During the day I would get progressively more fatigued and weary, as if dragging through the mud. Then at night, I’d become somewhat wired and often have trouble falling asleep. Dr. Edgerton started me on a 3 month adrenal support plan and we’ll see how things go.

My adrenal patterns have made me wonder what came first, my increasing anxiety and insomnia leading to hormonal imbalance and adrenal fatigue or my hormonal imbalances leanding to insomnia and anxiety?? It’s really a tough call.

Our fast paced society really does not lend itself to periods of rest, reflection and contemplation-those times of rejuvenation. However, without them, one ends up in a state of internal and external turmoil much like I experienced. I am very cognizant now of the effect that sleep (or the lack there of) and stress have on my health. One may say, “Well duh!!” but in my case, while I knew it in my head, it was something else entirely as I lived it. While I am a full blown believer, I still struggle with keeping things in perspective, allowing time to rest and rejuvenate and letting go of the “small stuff.”

Christiane Northurp, MD speaks extensively about heeding the body’s cues and tuning into its wisdom in her book, The Wisdom of Menopause. She actually states that the when  a woman is experiencing physical and emotional unrest it may in fact be due to hormonal imbalance, but it is also due to the imbalances in our lives. The pain and discomfort is a wake up call that something is wrong, out of balance and we need to attend to it.  Boy did I get that message loud and clear! And like any good pupil, I am studying the events leading up to my state of imbalance, seeing what I need to change and rectify and doing my best to move forward.

Now I take a thyroid supplement, DHEA, iron, Vitamin D, and adrenal supplements daily. In addition to my multivitamin and Calcium tablet it looks like a lot and my 3 y.o. was quick to point this out. Sometimes I feel a bit like a fool for ever getting so far out of whack and yet, in an effort to be kinder to myself, I acknowledge the struggle, congratulate myself on those days when I am able to refrain from over exertion, excessive stress and taking on that last little task “to help someone out.” Each day is another in the journey. I’m just glad that the damage was not irreparable and that I can continue on.

Add a comment September 1, 2009