British Journal of Sexual Medicine - 2011

2011, Volume 33 Number 4

Comment: Sex addiction in the spotlight
Paul Woolley
pp 3-3
Sexual addiction is not the same as sexual desire. It is not defined by the type of sexual act performed, nor by the frequency of sexual activity. Rather, it denotes the addict’s compulsive use of sex to address non-sexual needs. It is believed that sex is used as a way to avoid stress, strain, boredom or anxiety.

Sexually transmitted infections and the eye
Richard T Colling, Darren Cousins and Kathryn J Eccleston
pp 4-8
Sexually acquired ophthalmic infections are the symptomatic colonisation of ocular and periorbital structures by pathogens introduced via sexual contact. These manifest commonly in the conjunctiva, cornea and uvea, and rarely in the retina. This article will examine the presentation and management of such sexually transmitted infections (STIs) of the eye, with a focus on the latest guidelines.

Spot and treat chlamydial eye infection in adults
Paul Woolley
pp 9-10
Inclusion conjunctivitis is the most common form of eye infection caused by Chlamydia trachomatis (serovars D–K). The usual presentation is as a chronic follicular conjunctivitis with mucopurulent discharge, erythema, and a sensation described as ‘like having a foreign body in the eye’. This article details the transmission and treatment of chlamydial conjunctivitis, in complement to the review of sexually transmitted infections of the eye also published in this issue.

The science behind human papillomavirus vaccines: part 2
Margaret A Stanley
pp 12-14
Only 30 to 40 years ago, human papillomaviruses (HPVs) were thought to be a rather insignificant group of viruses that caused unsightly but trivial excrescences (warts) on skin and mucosal surfaces. In the subsequent decades, knowledge about these agents has exploded, revealing them to be major pathogens responsible for significant morbidity and mortality.

HRT: one size does not fit all
Margaret Rees
pp 16-18
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has existed since the early 1940s and, until the late 1990s, was considered to be a panacea for midlife women. Following the publication of the US randomised Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) and the UK observational Million Women Study (MWS), however, it became perceived as a poison, and prescriptions reduced dramatically.

Swearing is good for you
David Hicks
pp 19-19
I reported previously on the ongoing ‘G spot war’ between English and French sexologists. The Brits published a study to show the G spot did not histologically, physiologically or anatomically exist, while the French (led by Dr Sylvain Mimoun, France’s most famous gynaecologist) retorted that these claims were motivated by ‘an Anglo-Saxon tendency to reduce the mysteries of sexuality to absolutes’.