Why Your Sex Life is Only So-So

The Family Medicine Department at the University of Michigan Medical School has listed nine common reasons for why sexual satisfaction can be diminished. Here they are, together with possible solutions:

1. Prescription medications, especially those used to treat high blood pressure and heart conditions, may cause erectile dysfunction; antidepressants can reduce libido and cause ejaculation problems. Talk with your doctor about a possible change in meds.

2. Heart health. There’s no truth in the myth that having sex will cause a heart attack, although it’s sometimes necessary to be careful immediately after a heart attack or a cardiac procedure. If in any doubt, check with your doctor.

3. Depression can cause lack of interest in sex, as well as inability to perform. Get treatment – it may not need to be drug therapy.

4. Alcohol. Though it may lower inhibitions, it can reduce the pleasure considerably, and sometimes impair performance. And lowering inhibitions may lead to ‘risky sex’. So limit your intake.

5. Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). See above. If you have an STD, always wear a condom.

6. Stress. This may be a hidden cause; stressed people may not even realize that it’s affecting their sex lives – decreased libido, less time for giving and receiving pleasure. Rearrange your life.

7. Pregnancy. This shouldn’t be a cause of problems – ask you OB/GYN.

8. Menopause and beyond. This needn’t be a cause, either. Topical hormones and lubricants should help. Get advice.

9. Poor self esteem. This may be due to a poor body image, which can reduce enjoyment of sex. If necessary, lose a little weight. And/or get some psychological help.

After that long list, it’s good to hear that, in fact, 64% of Americans are satisfied with their sex lives. So maybe the problems aren’t so great, after all.

Comments

[Michael Roberts]

If you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw, then chances are, you're having a heart attack. This is a terrifying experience but even more terrifying if you are alone and there is no one to help. Here is what you need to know in order to survive a heart attack when you are alone.

Whether you've had CPR training or not, you still can't do CPR on yourself. Without help, if your heart stops beating properly and you begin to feel faint, you only have about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, you can help yourself by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough. The cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. And a cough must be repeated about every 2 seconds without stopping until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.