Health & Sexuality Education

Aspiring health educator. Currently in undergrad. Mostly reblogging for reference for now.

[silvaurum]

"i would kill a pedophile to protect my child" ok but would you teach your child how to say no? even to adults? even to adults you like? would you teach your child the words "penis" and "vulva" and then use them? would you let them ask questions about their body? would you answer them honestly? would you learn how to cope with your feelings when you talk about human bodies, so they don't feel ashamed? would you set a positive example for how you talk about your body? would you tell your child they don't have to hug or kiss anyone? would you tell your family the same? would you stand by them when they refuse to hug someone? even someone you know has never done anything to hurt them? would you let your child avoid food they don't like? would you let you child avoid people they don't like? would you believe them? would you sit in the discomfort of not knowing all the answers and not take it out on them? would you love your child the same if someone did hurt them? would you make them feel valued just as they are? would you let them talk to doctors or nurses in private? would you let them express their feelings? would you show interest in their life? would you let your child say no to you? would you help your child feel safe coming to you when they make a mistake? would you apologize to your child? would you believe them? would you put aside your anger to focus on what would make your child feel safe and loved? would you put your ego aside for your child? would you take your child's concerns seriously? would you listen to your child? would you believe them?

[adornedfemme]

counter to all the new years resolutioner diet bullshit, might I recommend unlearning your fatphobia with some light reading:

fearing the black body: the racial origins of fat phobia by sabrina strings

what we don't talk about when we talk about fat by aubrey gordon

the belly of the beast: the politics of anti-fatness as anti-blackness by da’shaun harrison

(there are many many more books I can list for those interested & your library probably has all of these)

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Do not quit alcohol cold turkey

Do not suddenly stop drinking alcohol as a new years resolution if you have been consistently using alcohol most days

Your body gets used to the presence of the alcohol as a sedative in your system

Suddenly removing the sedative you are chemically accustomed to is like suddenly removing the wall you are leaning on - you will topple over

You brain electricity gets overexcited

This causes seizures

This causes sudden onset dementia (Wernicke's encephalopathy)

This causes brain damage

If you use alcohol often (even in moderate amounts)

Or in large amounts

Or you have ever noticed you get shakey tremors and anxious when you stop drinking

Then your body is chemically dependant and you need to be very careful coming off alcohol otherwise you will cause brain damage

Slowly wean down the amount you drink over days or weeks

Talk to a doctor about your goals to quit and ask about support options

Medically supported withdrawal is a lot safer

If alcohol withdrawal goes badly there is a 15% chance it will kill you.

Do not go this alone

You deserve to be safe

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Please reblog this or other similar posts and talk about it with people around you

Support your friends to be safe

[felinesassosaurus]

Remember the Cold Turkey Rule:

Quitting drugs can make you feel like you're dying

Quitting alcohol can make you actually die

Do No Do This Alone

You Are Worth Helping

[puppytweaker]

the fact that AA/NA, an abstinence-only, deeply religious, non evidence supported model based off writings from the 1930s, is seen as the first, only, and mandatory form of treatment for problematic/dangerous drug use is insane and ridiculous and i hate it and i hate how normalized and institutionalized AA is. people have to choose between AA or jail, AA or not having custody of their kids, AA or not getting welfare it's embarassing that the war on drugs and drug use has gone on this long with so much evidence against it

[neverenoughmarauders]

I've not been able to stop crying for two hours, but it is tears of joy. I've waited so many years to see this news. 23 years I've waited. I cannot begin to describe what this means to the Huntington's community.

One day I'll write about what it's like to grow up knowing you might have a terminal, incurable illness, and not be allowed to test yourself because "it's such a serious decision" they don't want it hanging over you until you're an adult (as if it doesn't hang over you as you witness a parent die, and know you've got 50% chance of inheriting the same illness--as do your siblings). One day, I will talk about how, in the fear of traumatising children with the knowledge they might be incurably, terminally ill, they also took away their right to decide over their bodies to a degree that is traumatising. One day.

But today I am going to cry. Because it's over. Because no child will ever have to go through the same uncertainty, because at least they will know there is a treatment option available. A treatment option that one of my siblings might come to rely on. With all the shit things happening around us, my childhood hope and dream have been realised. That's got to count for something.

Huntington's disease successfully treated for first time

One of the most devastating diseases finally has a treatment that can slow its progression and transform lives, tearful doctors tell BBC.

[eldritchbauble]

Do people know about Vocational Rehab? If you're USAmerican they have this in every state.

It's a program that helps disabled folks access education, training, and employment. For FREE.

You only have to be disabled to qualify (autism, ADHD, mental illness, physical illness, etc) and they cover very broad categories of disability. You do NOT have to be officially diagnosed yet when you walk in - they will even help pay for your diagnosis if you are struggling w disability.

I applied with my suspected autism and fibromyalgia, and they paid for 100% of my formal autism assessment.

Once your disability is established they will give you career counseling to learn about your interests and skills, and depending on the plan you create with your caseworker they will then help with school or finding employment. They paid for 100% of my college tuition and books, and even provided a laptop for me to use.

You do not have to pay anything for this program. If you make above a certain income, you will have to contribute to educational costs but will still receive assistance.

They will also help with the cost of things like mental health counseling while you work towards your goals, clothing for interviews, etc.

They cannot discriminate based on your race, gender, or sexual orientation.

They won't make you do excessive meetings.

They will allow you to do meetings with your caseworker remotely.

They will not drug test you.

They want you to succeed.

I'm sure that individual experiences vary but my caseworker was exceptionally easy to work with and very kind.

Vocational Rehab is a phenomenal resource every disabled person should be aware of. Here is the list of offices in every state:

[going2hell4everythingbutbeingbi]

"I quit my birth control and feel so much better, this is proof birth control is poisoning our bodies!!!" listen I am a lucky duck who tried one form of birth control and felt great but if I had to try 80 different types I would because I don't want to get fucking pregnant. if your birth control sucks try a new type!! "everyone should quit their birth control" is a bunch of conservative-crunchy bullshit

[artistic-arteries]

Same goes for most types of medication btw, if your antibiotics or antidepressants or or ADHD meds are making you feel like shit, tell your doctor, they'll probably prescribe an alternative.

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Do not quit alcohol cold turkey

Do not suddenly stop drinking alcohol as a new years resolution if you have been consistently using alcohol most days

Your body gets used to the presence of the alcohol as a sedative in your system

Suddenly removing the sedative you are chemically accustomed to is like suddenly removing the wall you are leaning on - you will topple over

You brain electricity gets overexcited

This causes seizures

This causes sudden onset dementia (Wernicke's encephalopathy)

This causes brain damage

If you use alcohol often (even in moderate amounts)

Or in large amounts

Or you have ever noticed you get shakey tremors and anxious when you stop drinking

Then your body is chemically dependant and you need to be very careful coming off alcohol otherwise you will cause brain damage

Slowly wean down the amount you drink over days or weeks

Talk to a doctor about your goals to quit and ask about support options

Medically supported withdrawal is a lot safer

If alcohol withdrawal goes badly there is a 15% chance it will kill you.

Do not go this alone

You deserve to be safe

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Please reblog this or other similar posts and talk about it with people around you

Support your friends to be safe

[felinesassosaurus]

Remember the Cold Turkey Rule:

Quitting drugs can make you feel like you're dying

Quitting alcohol can make you actually die

Do No Do This Alone

You Are Worth Helping

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

Hello sex batman!! I have a question concerning menstruation: is it true that it's only supposed to hurt on one side during periods? And that the sides should be alternating??? It's what they told us at school, supposedly because the ovaries take turns producing the egg thats being menstruated out. Personally I always had pain on both sides though! So is it true or just complete bullshit?

hi anon,

let's fact check!

ovaries alternate ovulation: generally true, although some deviations from this pattern are perfectly normal - your body isn't a machine.

you can feel pain in the ovulating ovary: true! it's called mittelschmerz (isn't that fun?) and it doesn't usually take place during menstruation but about two weeks before, during ovulation. it's generally nothing to be concerned about, although strong persistent pain that can't be remedied with over the counter painkillers may warrant a check-in with a healthcare provider. also, crucially, this is not something that everyone experiences; if you're not feeling ovulation pains, that's nothing to worry about.

it's only supposed to hurt on one side during menstruation: depends! as we've established, mittelschmerz doesn't take place during menstruation. pain during menstruation can come in all kinds of locations and intensities, almost all of which are normal UNLESS they reach the point of preventing you from being able to function as you would while not on your period. your experience of pain on both sides is extremely common!

thank you for this ask, answering in this format was fun :)

[hellyeahscarleteen]

My Ectopic Pregnancy

"When the doctor called me back into her office, I knew something was not quite right. “You’re pregnant,” she said. She sounded worried. “We need to get you to the hospital,” she added. I was 25 years old and had come in to have the doctor check my IUD. I had been bleeding a little for over a week, which wasn’t normal for me in the three years I’d had the IUD⁠. Having the doctor tell me I was pregnant (or even to take a pregnancy test⁠), was a bit of a shock to me. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I might be pregnant.

Ectopic pregnancy is when an ovum⁠ (a human egg) is fertilized and grows outside the uterus⁠. “Ectopic” means “in an abnormal place or position,” which is exactly what it is — the pregnancy is growing outside the uterus (abnormal) instead of inside the uterus, where a pregnancy should be happening, and needs to be if it’s to have any chance of resulting in a birth.

In a normal pregnancy, the fertilized egg travels down the fallopian tube (more on these in the full story!) to the uterus, where it implants in the uterine lining. You can read more about basic reproduction in Human Reproduction: A Seafarer’s Guide. If this is a lot of new or funny-sounding words, I totally get it! Stay with me!

In an ectopic pregnancy, things are a little different; the fertilized egg typically implants in one of the fallopian tubes instead of continuing into the uterus. As the pregnancy grows, it can rupture and cause internal bleeding and in severe cases be deadly. Ectopic pregnancy also cannot result in a birth: a fetus⁠ needs to be inside the uterus to develop. You’re probably starting to understand why my doctor sounded so worried.

An increased risk of a pregnancy being ectopic existed because I had an IUD. Other risk factors, besides having an IUD, include advanced maternal age (which usually means being over 35), smoking, a previous ectopic pregnancy, and assisted reproductive technologies use (Mummert & Gnugnoli, 2023). I was only 25 years old, not a smoker and had no prior history of ectopic pregnancy. It’s rare, but it happens. Ectopic pregnancy is less rare than you might think: it actually happens in around 1-2% of all pregnancies (NCBI2). Although this might sound low, that’s a lot of people worldwide! And this just makes it so much more important to talk about. If discovered early, severe consequences such as infertility or maternal death can be prevented and you can go on to live a normal life. Just like me. We need more easily accessible information about ectopic pregnancy. So here we are!"

Read the rest of Roselil's story here:

My Ectopic Pregnancy

Get the basics on ectopic pregnancy: what it is, how it’s treated, and the magic of the fallopian tubes.

[hellyeahscarleteen]

This article also includes important basic anatomy, symptoms, and explains the treatment options in the case of implantation in the fallopian tubes. Link embedded in the graphic!

[rimonoroni2]

i think we should be talking about the semi-recent advancements in cystic fibrosis treatment like all the time every day. there hasn’t been a drug like this since AZT medications for HIV infection it is truly fucking miraculous and very important

[rimonoroni2]

basically: cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease which makes the mucous a person generates extra sticky. it used to kill people in infancy, then with advancements in medical tech it killed people in young childhood, and until very recently cystic fibrosis patients could expect to live until about thirty years old with consistent painful lung infections and complications.

in 2019 the FDA approved a drug called trikafta (which is really three drugs in one) for cystic fibrosis treatment. what it essentially does is patch up the malfunctioning proteins that cause the extra sticky mucus. trikafta is effective on about 90% of cystic fibrosis patients.

people who had spent their entire lives in and out of hospitals, on and off of ventilators, suffering from pneumonia and sometimes treated through painful procedures like intubation took this drug, got out of bed, coughed up an entire lifetimes worth of mucus out of their lungs over the course of a few hours, breathed clearly for perhaps the first time in their lives, and now go on to live well into their seventies.

like isn’t that insane. isn’t that amazing. doesn’t that give you hope for the future of medical advancements and treatment. fuck. i think about it all the time……

[kittydesade]

There’s a WHAT.

For WHAT.

[sweetdreamspootypie]

It's been amazing!

My ward is the respiratory ward - CF is one of the things we specialize in.

Since this med came out we haven't had a SINGLE CF admission to the ward

There used to always be a CF patient spending a couple of months with us at a time

There's a man who is 23 years old who I was sure would not survive his next admission (aim saturations 85% is end stage lung disease)

There's a set of the local frequent flyers that we all know so well

Except

No we don't

On the CF specialist ward (with reasonable staff turnover)

Half the staff have probably never even seen a CF patient

They are going to live

[anartificialsatellite]

For the people asking "well how do we know people are living that long if it's so new????" Here's a page from the CF foundation about life expectancy.

Additionally, it should be noted that metrics like life expectancy are in no way a guarantee of... Anything. There are significant outlier CF patients who are at an advanced age now despite the odds due to a variety of different factors, having lived the majority of their lives before the development of modulators.

But the fact remains that the odds are better now than they have ever ever been before, by leaps and bounds. It isn't cured, and many patients still need significant treatment in addition to Trikafta, but it is so much better than anyone could have dreamed of twenty years ago, and that is a triumph.

[smokeandsong]

The Cystic-Fibrosis Breakthrough That Changed Everything

The disease once guaranteed an early death—but a new treatment has given many patients a chance to live decades longer than expected. What d

(if paywalled, try here)

[etakeh]

Find Out Why Health Insurance Denied Your Claim

You likely have the right to access records that explain why your insurer denied your claim or prior authorization request. Use ProPublica’s

Hey y'all. Here's something for you.

[siriosa]

hella useful tool

[guerrillatech]

[no-passaran]

Unaffordable rents are linked to premature death, Princeton study finds

Renters burdened by unaffordable housing costs may be at a higher risk of dying sooner, according to a new study published in Social Science

[teabree-shark]

[lorenzobane]

I know there is no end to horrible news we're getting out of the White House these days, and so many people are suffering. But this is really important and so monstrously, horrifically evil that it is making my stomach turn.

They want to defund and eliminate PEPFAR. If you don't know what PEPFAR is, it is a program that funds HIV/AIDS treatment in poor countries. "As of September 30, 2024 , PEPFAR has enabled 7.8 million babies to be born HIV-free to mothers living with HIV. The program has also provided critical care and support for 6.6 million orphans, vulnerable children, and their caregivers so they can survive and thrive."

This was actually a program started by GWB and was literally the only good thing he ever did. And it has helped so many people. This is just. Beyond evil. Beyond cruel. Even if they have the medicine from PEPFAR at clinics, they're not allowed to distribute it.

They've already paused it. Doctors are worried that it will create a new treatment-resistant form of HIV because it'll be pausing treatment for so many people.

This program has saved 26 MILLION lives.

It has such a tiny, tiny part of the budget. Them cutting this program will do nothing to balance the budget. There is no logical reason for this except abject cruelty. Please, please, please call your lawmakers- especially if you have Republican Senators and House members. Remind them that this was a program created by a Republican president.

I don't even know. I just. We can't just let it die in darkness. At the very least, spread the word. Talk to your normie friends about this. Talk to your non-political friends and ask them if they think a program that makes up less than 1% of the budget should be cut if it has saved MILLIONS of lives. We may fail but we shouldn't let it die without a fight.

Here is a link to find your House member: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

And your Senator: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Do not quit alcohol cold turkey

Do not suddenly stop drinking alcohol as a new years resolution if you have been consistently using alcohol most days

Your body gets used to the presence of the alcohol as a sedative in your system

Suddenly removing the sedative you are chemically accustomed to is like suddenly removing the wall you are leaning on - you will topple over

You brain electricity gets overexcited

This causes seizures

This causes sudden onset dementia (Wernicke's encephalopathy)

This causes brain damage

If you use alcohol often (even in moderate amounts)

Or in large amounts

Or you have ever noticed you get shakey tremors and anxious when you stop drinking

Then your body is chemically dependant and you need to be very careful coming off alcohol otherwise you will cause brain damage

Slowly wean down the amount you drink over days or weeks

Talk to a doctor about your goals to quit and ask about support options

Medically supported withdrawal is a lot safer

If alcohol withdrawal goes badly there is a 15% chance it will kill you.

Do not go this alone

You deserve to be safe

[sweetdreamspootypie]

Please reblog this or other similar posts and talk about it with people around you

Support your friends to be safe

[felinesassosaurus]

Remember the Cold Turkey Rule:

Quitting drugs can make you feel like you're dying

Quitting alcohol can make you actually die

Do No Do This Alone

You Are Worth Helping

[fatliberation]

Do you have any recs for interesting video essays abt fatphobia? I want to learn more and I like the video essay format but most of the results on YouTube when I search it up are just conservatives making fun of the concept of fatphobia. Thx!

those kinds of videos are so triggering, I’m happy to share some fat positive ones so you don’t have to sift through the trash!! the first two are video essays, the others are talks, presentations, and q&as. but all of these are very long.

12 10 20 Webinar: Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia with Dr. Sabrina Strings

Event description:NAAFA Community Outreach Director, Tigress Osborn, is joined by author Dr. Sabrina Strings to discuss her book, Fearing th

6/16/22 Abundant Brilliance: Fat Intellectual Dialogue featuring Sonalee Rashatwar & Athia Choudhury

Description of webinar:This edition of the #NAAFA Webinar Series features scholars Athia Choudhury (she/her) and Sonalee Rashatwar (they/he)

[brytning]

I saw a post the other day about how difficult mindfulness meditation can be, especially for people who are neurodivergent, and OP was frustrated that their therapist never recommended anything else. There are many opportunities to bring mindfulness, focus, and intention to activities you already like! Learning about flow state has been a real eye-opener for me.