origin of gender

intersex describes people who exhibit atypical physical features which would typically distinguish male and female.  this can be a genetic sex reversal (xx male or xy female), genital ambiguity, sex development differences or a person with physical characteristics of both male and female sexes.

androgyny is different - this refers to people without gender-specific physical sexual characteristics or sexual preferences or gender identity, or some combination thereof.

i just watched a fabulous argentinian movie called xxy.  the lead character, alex, is an intersexed 15-year-old.  she is living as a girl, but she has male and female parts and doesn't know if she likes boys or girls.  she takes loads of pills to maintain her "girlish" characteristics, including corticoid so she doesn't grow a beard.  no one knows her 'secret' except her parents and her best friend, who is a boy.  her parents were faced with the decision about whether to have "corrective" or "normalizing" surgery to the moment she was born.  they decided to forego the surgery and moved their family to a remote area.  they understood that teaching your child to be afraid or ashamed of their own body is one of the worst things you can do.  during the movie, alex is faced with making the decision for herself - does she want to be a boy or a girl?

this movie brought up some interesting questions:  what makes someone male vs female?  how much of our gender is determined by genetics vs environment?  if a baby is born with ambiguous genitalia, who decides if (s)he will have surgery?  if the parents wait, at what age are children old enough to decide their gender for themselves?  why is there so much pressure to assign a specific sex (one of two choices) to a newborn?

assigning sex is an extremely powerful concept.  and it is scary.  and there has not been sufficient long-term studies of people who have had "normalizing" surgery at birth to determine whether this is the best practice.  in fact, the surgery is standard pediatric practice despite having its basis in research done on hermaphrodites and a single set of identical twins originally tracked more than two decades ago.  thus, it is argued that there should be a moratorium on the surgery until more is known about outcomes of past interventions.

in addition, once parents choose to assign a sex (potentially reassign sex), they are told to raise their children without ambiguity.  and, as a result, many adults who have had these operations in infancy have never been candidly informed of their medical histories.

excuse me, i need to call my mom...

how many licks does it take?

i was skeptical when i heard about oral sex leading to throat cancer.  that means we are ALL going to get throat cancer.  right?!  i became even more skeptical when my girlfriend annelise, who is a pharmacist, hadn't heard of this research.

thanks to google scholar i have, unfortunately, confirmed the rumor.

maura l. gillison, md, phd, of johns hopkins university in baltimore is a longtime researcher of the hpv virus.  she first found the correlation between head/neck cancer and oral hpv infection in 2000.  since then, dozens of other studies have shown the same finding.  we appear to have a consensus.  more recent research has been examining the behaviors that contribute to risk.  longtime heavy tobacco and alcohol use are among the strongest identified risk factors for head and neck cancer.  but hpv is a stronger risk factor for oropharyngeal cancer, specifically.  gillison says this type accounts for about one in four head and neck cancers.  and having multiple oral sex partners topped the list of practices associated with an increased risk of developing orophyngeal cancer according to the study published in the May 2010 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

it is unclear whether the hpv vaccine will prevent hpv-driven throat cancer as it does for cervical cancer, but there is every reason to think it will, according to gillison.

the good news is that this is an uncommon cancer, so individual risk is quite low.  but, you can always choose safe oral sex.

empty your lungs

recent videos of the earthquake and tsunami that hit japan have been horrifying.  i can't imagine having that much destruction in my home.  besides the physical damage to the marinas, farmland and buildings caused by the quaking ground and then the forceful waters, there were many lives lost.

i have to think that some people were killed by explosions, some by blunt force and many probably drowned.  drowning has long been one of my greatest fears and yet i don't understand the a&p behind it.

here it is:  upon submersion, the victim holds his breath until forced to inhale.  he gulps water.  the water induces spasms of the larynx, which closes off the trachea to protect the lungs.  little water enters the lungs. with the trachea blocked by laryngospasms, no fresh air enters the lungs and the supply of oxygen begins to fail.  lack of oxygen, anoxia, affects the brain and within 30 seconds the laryngospasms begin to weaken with imminent brain failure.  the victim then inhales again, this time aspirating water into the lungs before a fresh spasm closes the trachea again but for a shorter duration.  with each successive inhalation, more water is aspirated; anoxia increases and the laryngospasms duration decreases until they are finally abolished and the lungs are filled with water.

unfortunately, i am no less afraid now than i was before.

pedalling health

a recurring theme in my daily conversations is, 'why bike?'  i frequently hear these reasons for not biking:

"there is a big financial investment."  to which i say, it is less than that of an automobile and far less than medical bills you could incur as a result of a sedentary lifestyle.

"there is a risk of injury."  to which i say, learn how to share the road with motorized vehicles and it won't be scary or dangerous or use the bike paths or ride on a trainer in your basement, if you must.

"i am lazy."  to which i say, duh.

but, really, why not bike?

it makes me feel good.

i am more aware of my surroundings.

i am liberated and free to travel where i like, when i like.

i am learning about discipline, riding even when i would rather drive.

i can get home safely after visiting a local establishment.

i have learned valuable life lessons (how to plan, suffer and take my time) by riding in the winter.

i am using less of our limited resources and burning my own calories.

cycling (and all forms of exercise) improves heart health, decreases chances of type II diabetes, increases bone density to avoid osteoporosis, and lowers blood lipids, cholesterol and blood pressure.

with all of these intrinsic and measurable health benefits, there are too many reasons to ride...

q&a

the cardiovascular system is a complex beast.  there is an incredible amount of anatomy and even more physiology to learn before the system can be understood, even at a basic level.  so i have decided to focus a question on the small stuff.   which type of capillary is found in the lungs?

we learned about three kinds of capillaries:
1) continuous capillaries - found abundantly in the skin and muscles, uninterrupted lining, tight junctions
2) fenestrated capillaries - same as continuous but with oval pores, permeable to fluids
3) sinusoidal capillaries - leaky, allow large particles to pass

none of these sound like the kind of capillary that would be found in the lungs, exchanging carbon dioxide and oxygen.  i did some research on the respiratory system and learned the following.  pulmonary arteries branch into pulmonary capillary networks surrounding the alveoli which are air cells of the lungs where respiratory gases are exchanged.  so i haven't determined which type of capillary is found in the pulmonary capillary network, but i did learn that the gas is not exchanged directly from the capillary, rather it is exchanged from the alveoli, which is connected to lungs via the respiratory bronchiole.

woman, homegirl, lady, lass, chica

mary roach, author of bonk, has a very wry and creative way of teaching me about my own body.  there are loads of tidbits in bonk that i find compelling and extremely hard not to share with all of my female friends.  this is one of the most fascinating things i have learned:

when women get turned on they get "wet."  this lubrication is plasma secreting from the capillaries in the nether region.  who knew, right?!  in our culture, this wetness is a nice, even requisite part of sex.  if a woman does not or cannot produce enough for the ease of penile sliding, she needn't fret, our capitalist friends have produced all kinds of synthetic lubes.

if, however, this woman lives in parts of africa, haiti or indonesia her wet vagina is a turnoff.  wow!  i didn't see that coming.  in those places, men prefer dry sex and the women accommodate.  they use all types of drying agents including newspaper, cotton, rock salt, detergent, bark and dried animal excreta.  most of us probably have a similar reaction to that new information.  ouch, coach.  but roach goes on to explain that women in "developed" countries are regularly taking part in an even more damaging practice - using super absorbent tampons.  unfortunately, they have been shown to cause the outer layer of the vaginal cells to dry out so severely that it peels away.  ouch.  again.

an alternative for women who can't help but shed their uterine walls once per month, is to use a diva cup.  it is a friendly option for our sensitive bodies, it is convenient and reliable, there is no risk of toxic shock syndrome, and it is an environmentally friendly choice.

organic

organ donation is a highly volatile subject for many.  and rightfully so.  our body is the most sacred possession we have, the only possession we have.  so it is no surprise that there is much discussion about the best organ donation policies.


on january 21, this article was posted in the online huffington post:

Colorado Organ Donor Legislation Pulled

DENVER — A Colorado bill that defaults all driver's license applicants as organ donors is unlikely to become law this year.

Democratic Sen. Lucia Guzman told Denver's KUSA-TV that she is dropping her proposal that the state change to a "presumed consent" system.

That system automatically classifies all applicants for driver's licenses and state ID cards as organ and tissue donors unless they opt out. Such donations are used in several European countries but have raised ethical concerns in the U.S.

The Colorado proposal was introduced last week and sparked fears and opposition from many.

Supporters say they will drop the proposal for now.

Colorado Senate bill: http://goo.gl/MlKSw

should colorado adopt an opt-out policy for organ donation?

yes -
1) there is a shortage of organs available for transplant every year, and although most of the public says that they would donate their organs to help someone else, less are actually registered to donate
2) currently, the family gets the final decision and may override the wishes of the potential donor.
3) the family of a potential donor is in a fragile state after the death of a loved one and they don't need the extra stress of deciding whether to donate organs.
4) this new law retains the role of the potential donor to decide whether or not to donate organs, and requires him/her to be acquainted with the law - like most other laws.
5) this maximizes the number of donated organs.

no -
1) this doesn't mean that more organs will be available.  some could see this as a threat to their rights and may result in less donors than we see currently.  there are some cultural and religious rituals that do not support organ donation.
2) the presumption of consent (potentially despite family wishes) could be traumatic for the family of the donor.  this could result in poor publicity or distrust of the medical profession.
3) there could be medical issues with removal or organs for donation that the family could reveal in a screening before donation.
4) a person may not opt-out because of a misunderstanding and their organs may be removed despite an objection to the procedure.
5) this helps the family stay involved with the donation and support the program.