2020: A Year in Blogging
Like face masks and toilet paper, moments of levity were in high demand in 2020. As many rode out the year homebound and online, social media was a go-to source for a lion’s share of our comic relief.
STD Awareness: Can the HPV Vaccine Prevent Head-and-Neck Cancer?
The HPV vaccine Gardasil protects against human papillomavirus, a prolific virus that causes many types of cancer. In fact, although it was initially approved to prevent cervical cancer, the most common HPV-associated cancer is head-and-neck cancer. Last month, Gardasil 9 was finally approved for the prevention of head-and-neck cancer.
Show Your Pride by Practicing Safe Sex
The last few months have been hard for everyone. COVID-19 has brought about the need for social distancing to decrease risk of spreading the disease, and we are witnessing the largest push in our nation’s history for police accountability. For those of us who already feel isolated because of our gender identity or sexuality, the stay-at-home orders can heighten the feelings of anxiety about being LGBTQ. For LGBTQ people of color, anxieties about violence are being exacerbated by recent protests regarding instances of police brutality.
STD Awareness: COVID-19 and Semen
You might have read the headlines earlier this month that the virus that causes COVID-19 has been found in semen. Is that true — and if it is, does that mean COVID-19 can be transmitted sexually?
The short answers to those questions are yes, and we don’t know yet.
STD Awareness: COVID-19 and Your Sexual Health
The world has found itself in the clutches of a pandemic, and every day we’re learning about the ripple effects this new virus is having in everyone’s lives, not just the lives of those who cross its path. These devastating consequences include millions of people losing their jobs and hospitals stretched so far past capacity that they can’t adequately treat all their patients.
STD Awareness: Stigma and Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Stigma and disease have always gone hand in hand, with some diseases more stigmatized than others. Over the millennia, people living with diseases ranging from leprosy to AIDS have been burdened by moral judgments, while people with conditions like common colds or Alzheimer’s disease are seen as randomly — and innocently — afflicted.
STD Awareness: How Do I Tell Someone I Have Herpes? Or HPV? Or HIV?
Of all the novel ways to jump-start a difficult conversation, presenting someone with a hand-drawn comic about herpes is among the most creative. A couple of weeks ago, Vice shared the story of Katie, a millennial with genital herpes who struggled to find the optimal way to disclose her status to potential partners. In a fit of inspiration, she wrote and illustrated a pamphlet that not only shared her history and status — it also included important stats and other facts about genital herpes, a highly stigmatized and widely misunderstood condition.
STD Awareness: When Syphilis Goes North
Last month, a “weird” medical case made headlines. An Australian man with unexplained headaches and eye pain got a diagnosis for his mysterious symptoms when his doctors discovered he had syphilis — and the infection had spread to his head. Syphilis had caused both optic nerves to become swollen, triggering pain that worsened whenever he moved his eyes.
2019: A Year in Blogging
Nearly three years into the Trump administration, a lot of us are tired. The headlines got more and more draining, culminating in impeachment proceedings at the end of the year. But in response, we’re so fired up that we’re ready to storm the polls next November — and make sure our friends and family do so as well. And 2019 was also a time to be hopeful.
Explore Our Blog Archives!
Want to read more? Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona’s blog is a volunteer-driven project that has produced over 800 blog posts! Explore all of our older posts by visiting our blog archives.