Aid group says WHO is restricting access to Ebola vaccines in Congo

Aid group says WHO is restricting access to Ebola vaccines in Congo
Reuters: Health
A rigid system of eligibility set by the World Health Organization means far too few people at risk of Ebola are being vaccinated in an outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo, the aid group MSF said on Monday.

Why Women Fake Orgasm — And Why Most No Longer Do

Human sexuality is a wondrous activity. Our understanding of why we act the way we do when we have sex continues to intrigue psychological researchers, since we do things that don’t always seem to make much logical sense. Such as faking an orgasm.

Most of us would like to pursue a satisfying and pleasurable sex life. But expressing our sexual needs remains a taboo subject for most people — and especially women. Recently researchers examined how women communicate their sexual needs and examined the reasons behind faking an orgasm. Here’s what they found.

Despite the lack of open communication about our sexual needs, most people still report moderate to high levels of sexual satisfaction. That’s according to this most recent research from Debby Herbenick and her colleagues at Indiana University (Herbenick et al., 2019).

In a representative sample of 1,055 U.S. women drawn from across the country, the researchers administered a number of questionnaires online to gauge sexual behavior and development, faking orgasm and the reasons for doing so, sexual non-communication, and recent sexual satisfaction.

Faking Orgasm

The researchers found that over 58 percent of women had reported faking an orgasm, but that the vast majority — over 67 percent — no longer did. Why do women fake orgasm in the first place?

The reasons varied from wanting their “partner to feel successful, [wanting] sex to end because they were tired, and [because] they liked the person and didn’t want them to feel bad.”

Women who reported no longer faking an orgasm did so because they were more comfortable with sex, with their own identity as a woman, and a feeling of contentment and acceptance from their partner regardless of whether they had an orgasm or not. In other words, it wasn’t important any longer to their sexual satisfaction or self-identity. They felt safe and secure enough in their relationship to no longer feel the need to fake it.

The researchers note the positive effects of women who grow more confident in themselves and their relationship’s security:

In spite of the many challenges that women experience relevant to gendered norms and traditional scripts that minimize the role of female sexual pleasure and agency, the story our data and others’ tell is one of women’s persistence, growth, learning, and curiosity. Our findings evoke ideas of women navigating paths through relationships, love, and power differentials to explore and connect with their sexuality.

Sexual Communication & Conversations

Having a conversation about one’s sexual needs is not always easy. In fact, as this study discovered, most people simply choose not to. More than half the women — 55 percent — decided not to talk to their partner about their sexual needs, despite wanting to do so. Why? Primarily because they didn’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings, didn’t feel comfortable going into detail, and because it’s just too embarrassing.

Younger women also reported having trouble in knowing how to ask for what they wanted and they also worried about being rejected.

Of course, as one might expect, the more able a woman was able to talk about their sexual needs in frank and direct terms, the higher levels of satisfaction such women reported. The more you can talk about sex, the better it’s likely to be because you’re asking for exactly what you want (which hopefully your partner can provide).

The researchers suggest:

This finding is congruent with the idea that sexual partners benefit by sharing detailed directions or preferences with one another in order to guide stimulation on … parts of their bodies. […F]eeling capable, comfortable and/or confident communicating with a partner in sexually explicit ways likely builds on a variety of knowledge, experiences, and skills.

Summary

Open and frank conversations are important to a satisfying sex life for both partners. Direct conversations about sexuality and body parts — while perhaps initially difficult or embarrassing for many — are vital to ensuring both partners’ needs are met in their sexual relationship. Avoiding such conversations is correlated with lower sexual satisfaction in women.

In the discussion of their study, the researchers note how long most women suffer in not finding their own sexual voice:

[W]omen are, on average, in their mid-twenties before they feel comfortable and confident sharing how they would like to be touched or have sex, as well as before they feel like their sexual pleasure has been valued by a partner.

Also, about 1 in 5 women in our study still did not feel comfortable and confident discussing their sexual preferences and 1 in 10 had yet to feel that their sexual pleasure mattered to a partner.

American women’s average age of first coitus is at around age 16 or 17, with many young women reporting other partnered sexual activities (such as oral sex or partnered masturbation) prior to that. Thus, young women commonly engage in varied kinds of partnered sex for nearly a decade before they feel like their sexual pleasure matters to a partner—if they ever do.

Show that your partner’s sexual satisfaction matters to you by having a conversation about their — and your! — sexual needs. You may be surprised at the positive outcome of such a talk.

 

Reference

Herbenick, D. et al. (2019). Women’s Sexual Satisfaction, Communication, and Reasons for (No Longer) Faking Orgasm: Findings from a U.S. Probability Sample. Archives of Sexual Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-019-01493-0

What's the truth behind a viral celery juice 'cure'?

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Marijuana use was more common among adults with medical conditions than those without such conditions, like arthritis, cancer, and depression, with smoking as the primary method, finds a new study (n=169,036). 11.2% of young adults with medical conditions reported using marijuana on a daily basis.

submitted by /u/mvea [link] [comments]

Peanut Allergy Treatment Palforzia Is One Step Closer to Market

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Primal + Keto Omelet Muffins

In a perfect world, we’d all sit down every morning to a leisurely, healthy breakfast. In the real world, however, we’ve all done our share of eating breakfast in our cars, on the bus, or at our work stations Sometimes, where you eat the breakfast you grabbed on your way out the door can’t be helped. What can be helped, however, is what you eat. Keep in mind that while omelet muffins are perfect for breakfast on the go, they’d also be great for a weekend brunch. Double the recipe and make a dozen. Then, make time to sit down with family or friends and enjoy the type of long, leisurely breakfast that’s so hard to come by during the week.

The beauty of these omelet muffins? What you mix in for added flavor is up to you. Anything you love adding to an omelet—diced vegetables, meat, and some cheese if you’re so inclined—you can add to this recipe to create your own personal omelet muffin.

Servings: 12 muffins

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 10 Large Eggs
• 6 oz. Bacon (Cooked)
• 1 cup chopped Red Bell Pepper
• 1/4 cup Shredded Cheese
• 2 Tbsp. Coconut Milk or Cream
• 2 Tbsp. Chopped Cilantro
• Pinch of Black Pepper
• Primal Kitchen® Avocado Oil Spray

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Arrange the bacon on a parchment covered sheet pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, until it reaches the doneness of your liking. Allow the bacon to cool and chop or crumble it into small pieces.

Whisk the eggs and coconut milk/cream together in a large bowl. Add in the chopped bacon, chopped bell pepper, cheese, cilantro and black pepper. Mix together until well combined.

Spray a set of 12 muffin tins with avocado oil spray. Ladle the egg mixture into each of the tins, about 2/3-3/4 of the way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until they are slightly puffed up, yet firm to the touch. Remove from the oven. and allow them to cool slightly before removing them from the muffin tin. The egg muffins will deflate slightly as they are cooling.

Nutritional Information (per muffin):

• Calories: 138
• Total Carbs: 1 grams
• Net Carbs: 1 grams
• Fat: 11 grams
• Protein: 11 grams

The post Primal + Keto Omelet Muffins appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

Declaring Your Purpose

According to the Dictionary of Word Origins, the word “purpose” comes from the Latin word proponere, which means “to declare” or “to put forward.” The word “declaration” invokes such a sense of strength for me. It is a powerful word. It is hard to make a declaration meekly. A person doesn’t “timidly” make a declaration. The very sentence, “he ambivalently declared his position” sounds rather nonsensical. I am also willing to wager that the founding fathers of the United States did not consider titling the Declaration of Independence the Proposal of Independence or the Suggestion of Independence.

Have you ever stopped to consider what you want your personal declaration to sound like and communicate? We all make declarations every day. Sometimes, these declarations are overt, but more often, they are silent or subconsciously communicated by our actions, our body language, and even our thoughts. 

Today, I invite you to write your own Declaration of Independence. It’s OK if you haven’t been living in alignment with this declaration — the mere act of determining who you want to be and how you want to show up is incredibly powerful. Don’t just think about what you would want to write — actually spend some time jotting it down. For example, you might decide to declare your independence from your mother and father if you struggle to see, act, or treat yourself like an adult because you continue to yield to their decisions for your life or if you. Or you might choose to write yourself a declaration of independence from your harsh inner critic, your perfectionism, your “should” monster, or your people-pleaser. You may even decide to write a declaration of independence from overworking or thinking too much, if doing so is compromising your relationships or if it is getting in the way of your taking necessary action.

Declaring your independence is an empowering tool that can help you step into the unknown that we must all face and that we all (to varying degrees) fear. To declare one’s independence is to declare oneself worthy of such a declaration. Without such a declaration we are often left stuck in unhelpful patterns and habits and guessing at our life’s purpose.

My bottom-line hope and request to every person (including myself!) is to not give up and not to quit on your declaration when enforcing it gets difficult. Rest when you must but commit to getting back up when you can, continuing to move forward, no matter how slow the progress is and even when you are convinced that you don’t have it in you to keep going.

This likely sounds discouraging — and it is — but the fact is that most challenges in our lives will not fit into neat packages. Often what we need most is to stop digging the holes we are digging, take a deep breath and a step back, and declare independence from the internal message that tells us to give up.

When I have refused to quit and give up on myself, I have often felt awful and worn down at the end of the day, but my self-respect remained intact. Remember: there is often a big difference between how you are feeling and how you are doing. You may be doing well (that is to say, that you remain committed in thought and action to taking care of yourself, for example), but you can still feel horrible. In my experience, when we’re learning to take responsibility for ourselves, it definitely is one of those darker before dawn times!

Ask yourself:

• What is the relationship between the way you are feeling and what you are doing right now? What might be impacting each? How would you like to be doing?
• What is one thing you would like to declare independence from? What has or is preventing you from doing so?