Contemporary Sexuality - August 2008 - (Page 1) American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists sexuality The international resource for educators, researchers and therapists elevision newscasts are full of stories about how exercise, diet and stress can affect health. What’s almost nonexistent are stories about how sexual expression can impact one’s well-being. Unless it’s negative, of course. AASECT member Beverly Whipple made that observation in a paper she co-authored for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. “Today’s public discourse about sexuality is almost exclusively about risks and dangers: abuse, addiction, dysfunction, infection, pedophilia, teen pregnancy, and the struggle of sexual minorities for their civil rights,” wrote Whipple, PhD, RN, FAAN. In researching “The Health Benefits of Sexual Expression,” Whipple and her co-authors, including AASECT member Jon Knowles, sought to uncover studies that examined links between sex- contemporary August 2008 Vol. 42, No. 8 In this issue AASECT Board Meeting . . . . . . . . .2 Listserv now has 590 subscribers Healthy sex, healthy lives T President’s Column . . . . . . . . .3 Helen ‘Ginger’ Bush shares her vision Research is limited, but some studies suggest sex can benefit a body Member Spotlight . . . . . . . .6 Meet Sol Gordon of Chapel Hill, N.C. Quick Hits: Sex in the News . . . . .8 New YRBS data is ‘troubling’ ual activity and longevity, cancer prevention, pain management, reproductive health and psychological health. She spent months at medical libraries reading scientific literature on the topic. Most of the studies focused on sexual dysfunction, but a few dozen explored whether frequent sexual activity helped people live longer, happier lives. “It was very difficult finding studies on the benefits,” says Whipple, co-author of The G-Spot and Other Discoveries About Human Sexuality, The Science of Orgasm and other books. She is also professor emerita at Rutgers University. In the paper, the authors emphasize that their report is not a meta-analysis or a critique. They also note, “this body of research is limited and often only suggestive when compared with the vast sexological literature on dysfunction, disease and unwanted pregnancy.” Still, Whipple’s hopefulness is easy to detect when she adds that the studies are “intriguing, and point to the need for more rigorous research in this important area.” The Caerphilly study From 1979 to 1983, researchers recruited men and women in Caerphilly, South Wales to participate in a long-term health study. After successfully signing up a majority of individuals between the ages of 45-59 in the city and five nearby villages, the subjects submitted to a screening that included recording data on age, height, body mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and other measures. The men also completed a health questionnaire, which included a query about how often they experienced orgasm. The 918 responses were categorized as more than twice per week (high), less than once per month (low) and a continued on page 4 News of Members . . . . . . .10 Satterly and Dyson to organize 2009 conference
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