Sex and cardiac arrest

Men did not have a gender advantage according to a recent study. It found the odds of suffering cardiac arrest during or soon after sex are very low, but higher for men than women.

Previous studies have looked at sex and heart attacks, but those are caused by a clot suddenly restricting blood flow, and people usually have time to get to a hospital and be treated, said  cardiologists . Researchers wanted to know how sex affected the odds of cardiac arrest, a different problem that's more often fatal.

They studied records on more than 4,500 cardiac arrests over 13 years in the Portland area, Oregon. Only 34 were during or within an hour of having sex, and 32 of those were in men. Most already were on medicines for heart conditions, so their risk was elevated to start with.

"It's a very awkward situation, and a very horrifying situation to be one of the two people who survives," but more would survive if CPR rates were higher, doctors comment.

Spying sex toys , is it real?

Image courtesy of imagerymajestic
 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Smart sex toys may be the craze currently, but the fact that these devices are connected to the Internet can endanger users’ privacy. This was evidenced by the most recent case of a sex toy which was caught recording users because of what the company reportedly called a "bug" in the software.

An app used to control a vibrator made by Hong Kong-based sex toy company, Lovense, was found recording sounds made by a consumer while using it. The user later found a six-minute audio file stored in the app’s local folder. Many users later reported similar issues with the device.

This is not the first instance of a sex toy being caught recording users. Canadian sex toy manufacturer We-Vibe was accused in 2016 of failure to protect consumers' privacy. In that instance, the sex toys made by the company were also collecting “highly intimate and sensitive data" while promising a secure connection between the smartphone and the sex toy. The class action lawsuit was settled for money later.

To understand the issues behind smart sex toys, one needs to know about the technology involved in making one. Smart sex toys use technologies such as Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi which makes them vulnerable to hacking — your privacy is still at stake, even if the manufacturer doesn’t have a vested interest in collecting your data.

Svakom Siime Eye, a Wi-Fi enabled vibrator with a built in camera designed for private live streaming, was found to be easily hackable earlier this year.

Looks like it is not bad idea after all to stick to the old fashioned "dumb" toys.

Ashley Madison Scandal: Science Reveals 2 Main Reasons People Cheat

Photo by t0zz. Cutesy of freedigitalphotos.net

In the wake of last month’s Ashley Madison hack,
which saw the personal information of 37 million members released on the internet, scientists have sought to understand why people cheat on their partners.According to researchers, there are two main causes that lead people to cheat are boredom and the need for emotional support.The first reason happens when people are bored and not  particularly happy with their sex lives, Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the
University of Washington told Live Science.
“They've been in a relationship for a long time, and they long for the excitement of something new,” she said.Usually, these people aren’t actively looking for an affair, but will take advantage of meeting a crush at a conference, workplace or reunion.This is reflected on Ashley Madison, the site’s chief science officer has said.Most women who joined the site said they weren’t unhappy with their partner and didn’t want a divorce, but were looking for more romantic passion in their lives. The second category covers people who are in unhappy relationships.See the whole article here:
Ashley Madison Scandal: Science Reveals 2 Main Reasons People Cheat

Boost of Protein for middle-eged men and other words of wisdom

Curtesy of Photostock/FreeDigitalPhoto.net

Hitting 40 marks a turning point for many men and their health.

Their metabolism slows, leading to the dreaded belly and the first signs of aging and long-term disease — raised blood cholesterol and high blood pressure — begin to appear.

Increased body mass index (BMI) and heightened sense of mortality is often enough to kick start a new regimen, which usually means choosing low-fat foods and taking up jogging as an obvious health choice.There are strong indications that such diets for man in their fifties and up could be making their long-term health worse.Why? Low fat diets are usualy high in sugar and carbs - upto 67%.

Men heading toward the big 6-0 want to keep or build muscle mass, they need to increase the amount of protein they eat - especially after each resistance workout. One study found that doubling intake from 21 grams to 42 grams of protein is optimal for building more muscle fibers and keeping a toned physique. But no one should get all that protein from fatty meat.

For every meal, energy should, instead, come from protein (in the form of meat, fish, eggs and cheese) and a wide variety of fruit, vegetables and salads.

When we consume proteins, the body breaks them down into amino acids, which are absorbed through the wall of the bowel and form skin, bones, muscles, tendons, and all the organs such as the brain and the heart.

Consider grains and vegetables: beans, lentils, brown rice and our favorites - almonds, walnuts, pecans, pistachios, cashews and pine nuts. spinach, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, chia, tofu and tempeh are also rich source of proteins.

Here are some more key recommendations from Dr Clark author of the book "Health Revolution For Men".

Forget the jogging if you are overweight with poor muscle tone, jogging is a fast track to ruining your hip and knee joints and put unbearable strain on your heart and lungs.

Instead, start exercising slowly and build up your fitness gradually by walking for 20 minutes five times a week, and adding some gentle muscle-building exercises (such as lifting light weights) and stretching.

Exercise your smooth muscle
To ‘exercise’ the smooth muscles, you need roughage (such as green vegetables). This stretches the muscle fibres and helps to press food through the bowel. If you don’t have roughage in your diet, the bowel isn’t stimulated and it becomes dormant — a major cause of bowel cancer.

Water is also vital — drink regularly, not just when you feel thirsty. This keeps the bowel’s contractor muscle moving, prevents constipation and prevents many of the typical diseases that occur in middle age such as cancer, irritable bowel syndrome, colitis and peptic ulcers.

De-stressing is vital: eat healthily and at regular intervals (hunger and poor diet put extra stress on the body), get plenty of sleep and exercise, and try relaxation techniques and deep breathing exercises.

Drink alcohol with moderation. Drink eight to ten cups of water a day. fruit juice is ‘far too high in sugar for general consumption’, coffee causes dehydration and should be restricted to two cups a day, tea to three cups (herbal tea is unlimited), but alcohol is allowed, in moderation.

‘Beers have high carbohydrate content and therefore a greater likelihood of promoting the development of diabetes than those drinks with a low carbohydrate content, such as red wine,’ says Dr Clark, recommending alcohol consumption is limited to two small glasses of red wine per day.

Save your sex life

Testosterone levels naturally fall with age (at a rate of 1-2 per cent per year after the age of 40), but a dwindling libido can also be a symptom of excessive stress and poor diet. Poor nutrition causes physical and mental fatigue, leaving little left over for social interest, let alone sexual activity. Obesity itself also limits libido. In one French study, obese men were 69 per cent less likely to have had more than one sexual partner in a year than men of normal weight.

Another problem at this age can be impotence, which can be an early sign of coronary heart disease and diabetes. It can also be due to atherosclerosis, a systemic condition where plaque builds up inside the arteries, leading to restricted blood flow in the penis.

So how to resolve a flagging libido? Once again the process is simple, says Dr Clark: Reduce refined carbohydrates, reduce stress levels and take more exercise. 
All will help ensure the body is working at optimum levels.


Adapted from
1.Health Revolution For Men by Dr Charles Clark and Maureen Clark © 2012 Dr Charles Clark and Maureen Clark
2.Sources on Internet

Playtex 'Fresh + Sexy Wipes' Suggest You Should Be Insecure About Your Intimate Parts

According to a Playtex survey released earlier this month, 35 per cent of Canadians reported having sex just a few times a month while 19 per cent are only doing it once a month or less. With the average between-the-sheets session lasting a mere six minutes, I’m willing to bet that most of us spend more time each day waiting for the bus or standing in line at Starbucks than we do being intimate with our partners.

Married versus dating? 63% of Canadians who are dating are having sex at least a few times per week while married folk are only clocking in at 36%. A whopping 20% of daters are doing it every day. (Rah! Rah! Or is it raw, raw?) This is where we all sigh. It is so fresh in the beginning. Only 2% of those married manage to do it every day. Every day? There is no way those people have kids. Heck, I'd say they don't even have jobs!
  
The survey breaks that wish fulfillment down by sex. 38% of men and 23% of women would like sex every day. 44% of men and 49% of women would it a few times per week. 15% of men and 23% of women would like to stick to a few times per month. The percentage is low but the survey does say a small group would go for once a month or less. Hmmm, somebody needs a refresher course in something other than missionary in bed under the covers with the lights out. A little more aural and oral goes a long way.

What factors would contribute to higher satisfaction in the bedroom?
 33%: Better physique  
14%: If my partner had a better physique
(Hmmm, if we turn out the lights is that proverb true? At night, all cats are grey.)  
30%: More spontaneity  
28%: More romance  
24%: More experimentation
 21%: If my partner had an increased libido 18%: A deep emotional connection with my partner
 

The survey showed that people have a few turn-offs starting with hygiene. Come on folks, these are easily correctable.
 63%: Bad body odors  
58%: Bad breath 35%: Not feeling fresh or clean  
35%: Poorly groomed private parts  
15%: Perspiration


The original report  can be found below:
http://files.newswire.ca/1073/FreshandSexyReport.pdf

"Spartacus:War of the Damned" is upon us in its final seson

At first glance, it appears to be a show for men with all the sex, blood and violence. But some of the best and most complicated female characters can be found in the show. Since the very first season, Starz Spartacus has been a showcase for fascinating female characters and for the actors who play them.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson as Naevia in Spartacus: War of the Damned, copyright Starz Entertainment.
 That will be no different in the final season, Spartacus: War of the Damned, premiering Friday night, January 25th, on the Starz network.

“The show is known for the sex and violence but what keeps viewers coming back are the relationships and the love between the characters,” said Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who plays Naevia, the longest surviving female character on the show. Naevia’s sometimes star-crossed love story with Crixus (Manu Bennett), a former gladiator turned rebel, has been woven through all the show’s seasons.

The women of this final season, Laeta (Anna Hutchison), Saxa (Ellen Hollman), and Naevia, are a fascinating trio: the Roman woman suddenly a widow fighting to survive in the midst of a war, the fierce German warrior who will match any man in love or war, and Naevia, who has come into her own.

The common thread among the women was how excited they were to have been part of the show and how thrilled they are to see the final product, as much is added in post-production after they finished their work.

In an interview Addai-Robinson said the experience was so confidence-building that she felt “ready for anything,” perhaps even a musical. Ellen Hollman, who plays Saxa, is a comic geek and said her dream job would be to play Ms. Marvel, now Captain Marvel, a super-powered Marvel Comics character. (Joss Whedon, new Marvel Movie and Television guru, are you listening?) Anna Hutchison, a former Power Ranger who starred in Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods, said she’s done horror and now “outrageous drama” and now she’s ready to try some comedy.

Ellen Hollman as Saxa in Spartacus: War of the Damned, image copyright Starz. 

“It’s been an amazing gift that’s been given to me to take the character from one extreme to the other,” said Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who took on the role of Naevia in Spartacus: Vengeance. Addai-Robinson began her role as Naevia was a prisoner in a mine where slaves are worked to death. By the end of the season, she was exacting a measure of vengeance against the man responsible for putting her there. Her love for Crixus kept her alive.
“Crixus is the light at the end of the tunnel for her,” Addai-Robinson said. When I expressed concern about the eventual ending for the lovers–characters die on this show with regularity– she said the ending was bittersweet but may leave room for some “positives,” even though their real-life historical counterparts didn’t survive the rebellion. “At the end of the day, it’s a television and there are some surprises,” she said.

Ellen Hollman said this year, viewers will see “Hurricane Saxa,” and said she’s the female version of Gannicus this season in that she never apologies for anything. She’s also paired up (or threesomed up?) with Gannicus in the first episode of the season.

Like most of the cast members, all three women had to attend gladiator camp, a four-week program of five days a week, four hours a day of intense physical activity designed to get all the actors into shape for the demanding show before shooting starts.

“It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done,” Addai-Robinson said. “While Naevia was learning from Crixus in the show, Cynthia was learning from the stunt guys.” She also said the confidence she gained in filming the show would stay with her. “We’re all in this bubble, and we need each other’s support to inhabit the roles properly and they especially helped me get there. I don’t know if I ever dreamed of doing something like this and to take that away was big, in that they saw more in me than maybe I originally saw in myself.”

The trio said all the cast members were nothing but supportive. Hutchison said everyone made her feel immediately welcome. “It was a great way to join the cast and after that connection from the camp, you feel safe acting with them.”

Hollman took the focus on being in shape one step farther. She had no stunt double on the show. ”It was a once in a lifetime role and I wanted to bring my A game. I wanted the challenge.”

She said her countless hours of training pays off on screen in her fight sequences. She said it’s a little surreal that she no longer has to fight for her life on the battlefield and laughed, joking that walking around Los Angeles without a sword or weapon seems so odd after being so immersed in the show’s world. “We call it post-traumatic Spartacus syndrome.” She said, proudly, that the show left her with a permanent reminder: a four-inch scar on her quad. A comic geek who owns Rogue’s first appearance, she hopes to stay in the action genre while she’s in optimum shape. Hollman wanted to add a mention for "Visual Impact Now", her non-profit organization dedicated to providing eye care to Los Angeles youth that she founded during the writer’s strike. She does need glasses, she said, but generally wears contacts. “It wouldn’t be right to have Saxa wearing them,” she added with a laugh.

Anna Hutchison as Laeta in Spartacus: War of the Damned, image copyright Starz

Hutchison, the former Power Ranger in Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, came in as the newcomer to the show, following the footsteps of the Roman women played by Lucy Lawless (Lucretia) and Viva Bianca (Ilithyia). Hutchison has a fine first appearance as Laeta in episode 2. “We’re all trying to survive,” she said. “Laeta was an incredible journey because she starts with all these pretty dresses and a home and ends up fighting for her life. For me, one of the cool things taking this role was researching how the women were treated in this time period and how different it is from today.”
Hutchison gave credit to Lawless and Bianca for paving the way for how she played the role.Without giving too much away, Laeta’s point of view, especially in how she wants to protect the Roman citizens of a city that Spartacus attacks, adds another layer to the show, allowing viewers to see how sometimes even those fighting for the right thing–freedom–can impact seemingly innocent bystanders.
 The three women are excited for the premiere this week, especially the other cast members and crew, for which they had nothing but praise.

Original article can be found here:http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2013/01/women-of-spartacus-war-of-the-damned/