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The humble soya bean may play a role in the problem of male infertility, a team of researchers in Belfast has found.

Soya contains the female hormone oestrogen and too much of it is being linked to poor quality sperm.

Dr Lorraine Anderson says she found the link in research carried out at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.

"What many men do not realise is that soya is not just consumed by vegetarians, it is contained in a lot of everyday processed foods.

"It is contained in foods such as pizzas, any of those foods that you add hot water to, to reconstitute them, or some of the pre-packaged dinners like steak and kidney pies," Dr Anderson said.

"You'll find that a lot of the meat is not really meat, it is soya protein because it is cheaper and soya has the highest percentage of oestrogens compared to any other foods." The director of reproductive medicine at Queen's University, Belfast, Dr Sheena Lewis, said the findings were clear.

"What we have shown is that if men are consuming large amounts of soya products, for example, there is a negative relationship between that and the quality of their sperm.

"If they already have a slight problem in that area, then it might be better for them not to consume so much."

Dr Lewis said that the way to avoid excess oestrogen was to eat fresh produce.

"In our fast food diets, we are inclined to eat lots of meals and we really don't know what the ingredients are," she said.

"If we eat fresh fruits, if we make fresh food at home ourselves, which I know is very difficult in today's busy lifestyle, then we are really aware of what the ingredients are."

However, the research does not simply have implications for men who wish to start a family.

Dr Anderson said if boys eat a lot of soya when they are growing up, it can damage their reproductive capability.

"The key time for that is when a male foetus is developing and in the early toddler years and up to puberty.

"All through that period, if you alter the oestrogen that a man is exposed to, you can not only affect their sperm quality but affect the development of their reproductive tract, so that you can get an increase in structural abnormalities like undescended testes and you can also get other problems later in life, such as testicular cancer."

Dr Anderson recently came runner-up in a prestigious competition for her work on the link between male fertility and oestrogen in the diet.

BBC News

Scientists in the United States say they are hopeful they may have found new ways to fight HIV.

Early trials of two new classes of drugs show they are safe and that they work as well as existing treatments.

While further tests are needed, the drugs could boost the weaponry available to doctors to fight HIV.

A growing number of people are becoming resistant to anti-HIV medicines. New drugs are needed to enable doctors to continue to treat these patients.

Combination therapy

There are currently around 20 anti-HIV drugs. They are generally used in various combinations called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

When it works well, HAART can keep the virus at very low levels in patients, keeping them healthy and able to live virtually normal lives.

However, the virus eventually finds ways of resisting the drugs, forcing doctors to use different combinations to try to control it. But over time, they can run out of combinations. New classes of anti-HIV drugs offer patients the best hope. This is because they work differently to current drugs and patients are less likely to become resistant to them.

Last year, pharmaceutical company Roche launched a drug called Fuzeon - the first new class of anti-HIV drug for seven years.

Most of the big pharmaceutical companies are working on potentially new classes of anti-HIV drugs.

Two companies, Schering-Plough and Bristol-Myers Squibb, presented results from early trials at the annual Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in San Francisco.

Dr Mark Laughlin, a research executive at Schering-Plough, said experimental tests on patients showed its drug, called SCH-D, can help to reduce HIV levels.

The drug blocks a cellular doorway called CCR5, which HIV uses to enter and infect healthy cells.

While further trials are needed, Dr Laughlin said he was confident the drug will benefit patients.

"I think that it clearly will have clinical implications," he said.

Scientists from Bristol-Myers Squibb said they tested their latest drug, called BMS-488043, on a group of patients over two weeks. They said the drug reduced HIV levels safely.

Their drug stops HIV from attaching itself to healthy cells, a so-called attachment inhibitor. It is also a potentially new class of drug.

Hepatitis study

The conference also heard how a combination of drugs can help HIV positive patients who are also infected with hepatitis C.

A trial of over 800 patients in 19 countries found that using a drug called Pegasys in combination with ribavirin offers the greatest chance of curing hepatitis C.

The APRICOT study found that 40% of patients treated with both drugs cleared the virus compared to 12% of those treated with conventional treatments.

"These groundbreaking data from APRICOT shows the greatest chance of cure ever seen in these patients," said Dr Ed Wilkins, a consultant in infectious diseases at North Manchester General Hospital.

BBC News

Couples who eat lots of strawberries and bananas feel fruitier in the bedroom, according to new research.

Traditional aphrodisiacs such as chocolate and oysters no longer top the list of libido enhancing foods.

A survey by fruit company Cape found both men and woman were more ready for sex once they had tucked in to the healthy snacks, particularly grapes.

Top tips for using 'passion' fruit included: smearing bananas over bodies, dipping grapes in warm chocolate from the navel and sexily nibbling strawberries together.

Cape asked 500 couples how often they enjoyed sex while asking them about fruit and lifestyle. The survey found out that people in their 40s and 50s were most up for a fruity romp.

Forty-one per cent of couples said they used fruit in their lovemaking, and of these the majority said it was because they were bored with other food like chocolate, cream and ice cream.

As people reach middle age, they become more adventurous in the bedroom. People in their 40s were the top fruit players, followed by those in their 50s. Couples in their 20s rarely used fruit in the bedroom or any other food.

Of those surveyed 54% felt sexier when they regularly ate more fruit than usual and one-third said they had twice as much sex as a result. Women felt most fruity with an average 32% increase in desire compared to men (21%).

Ananova.com

A porn star is to stand for election as a Czech Euro MP in the European Parliament elections in June.

Dolly Buster, 34, whose real name is Katerina Bochnickova, has been chosen as the Independent Initiative's candidate

The party, which originally registered as the Independent Erotic Initiative in 1990 before changing its name two years later, said she would make an ideal Euro MP.

It said: "Katerina Bochnickova is returning to her homeland after years spent in Germany, and wants to use all her many experiences to help the Czech Republic join the leading EU countries as quickly and in as dignified a manner as possible."

The Czechs will elect 24 deputies to the European Parliament in June.

The porn star, who has starred in hundreds of X-rated films on her way to becoming one of the biggest names in the European porn industry, said her election campaign would be based on "contact with people".

She has made millions both as a porn star and also as a successful crime writer.

Her books follow German porn-star-turned-amateur-sleuth Lilly DeLight as she solves murders that baffle bumbling police officers.

Ananova.com

A Chilean theatre has staged a play in which actors simulated sex for 27 hours.

The Sex play was performed by four actors who took turns on stage at the Matucana 100 Theatre in Santiago.

Tickets allowed the audience to leave the theatre and come back at any time during the performance.

Actor Alexei Vergara suffered from severe cramps after a few hours in the play and had to be given medication to continue.

The actors were dressed in white underwear and at points they would show their breasts or their bottoms but were never fully naked.

The play was created by Juan Carlos Montagna who told Las Ultimas Noticias: "I hope the audience left with the feeling that they saw a show that seriously questions our sexuality, with freedom and no prejudice."

Viewers had mixed reactions. Pedro Hernandez said: "This play is poetic, wonderful and deep." But Maria Jose said: "This is not theatre, this is opportunism!"

Ananova.com

Germany's biggest sex shop chain is hoping to buy the bankrupt firm that owns men's magazine Penthouse. Beate Uhse AG has offered $62m for General Media Inc, which it said would raise its international profile.

The German firm, named after the woman who founded it in 1946, has focused recently on expanding into other European markets.

General Media has been in bankruptcy and protected from its creditors since August 2003 following sliding sales.

Expansion plans

The Beate Uhse chain includes 291 stores in 10 countries.

It has no shops in the US, but operates a mail order service there.

Owning Penthouse, it said, would allow it to "strictly following our international expansion plans".

Penthouse itself was founded in 1965 to compete with Hugh Hefner's Playboy magazine.

But in recent years the popularity of porn on the internet, combined with the wide availability of revealing pictures of celebrities in the mainstream media, mean its sales have slumped.

Despite being a woman, Ms Uhse was a Luftwaffe pilot during World War II, holding the rank of a captain.

After the war she embarked on a new career selling sexual aids and literature.

BBC News

When Super Bowl revelers park themselves in front of their television sets before the game Feb. 1, they will see among the usual set of clever ads one exhorting them to learn more about preventing HIV and AIDS. The ad, which is scheduled to air during the pregame show, launches the second year of a TV campaign aimed at spreading the word that people are still becoming infected with HIV and dying of AIDS.

For the past year, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation has helped media giant Viacom in its campaign to develop public service announcements on television, radio and billboards. And several shows in the Viacom empire, including CBS, UPN, MTV, Black Entertainment Television and Infinity Radio, have incorporated story lines that include HIV/AIDS themes.

Viacom donated airtime valued at $180 million last year. And it plans to spend $200 million this year, says Imara Jones, director of the initiative for Viacom.

The pre-Super Bowl ad shows young people climbing out of a trash bin with a voice-over saying that 20 million young people are expected to contract AIDS, but "it doesn't have to be like that. HIV is preventable."

It directs people to a Web site, knowhivaids.org, which had 6.5 million visitors in the past year. Ads also refer people to a toll-free phone hotline (866-344-5669), where 336,000 callers last year requested information about AIDS and got referrals for counseling and testing.

Several shows under the Viacom umbrella, including Star Trek: Enterprise, The Parkers, The District, Queer as Folk and The Blackwater Lightship, a movie featuring Angela Lansbury, have included plots with HIV and AIDS — only some of which have arisen directly as a result of the campaign.

"I've lost so many friends to AIDS that it's very, very close to me," Lansbury says.

Mo'Nique, who plays Nikki in the UPN show The Parkers and is featured in one of the most popular PSAs, lost her best friend to AIDS last year.

"I've always talked about this — always," Mo'Nique says.

Her ad encourages women to use condoms even if their partners come up with excuses such as, "Hey, I look safe, don't I?" or "Don't make 'em big enough for me." It was designed to reach African-American women. But it turned out to be so popular with all women that Viacom ended up airing it 3,349 times last year, and it's still in rotation.

"My job is to reach out to everybody, because just not black people watch The Parkers and not just black people watch the PSAs. Everybody and every color watches that."

"We're trying to reach anyone who will listen. It's something that's killing us unnecessarily."

People are listening, says Sylvia Drew Ivie, executive director of the To Help Clinic, a non-profit community clinic serving low-income and mostly minority clients.

"Our populations are very tuned into what they see on television," she says. The shows can allow educators to broach the topic — especially with young people — more easily. "Anything that normalizes it helps, because then you can speak of it."

By Janet Kornblum,
USA Today

The makers of Durex have ceased production of condoms containing a controversial lubricant amid doubts about its ability to prevent infection.

The lubricant, nonoxynol-9 (N-9), was originally thought to provide a high level of protection against infections such as HIV.

However, recent studies have shown that it may actually increase the risk.

Concerns had been raised by the World Health Organization, UNAIDS and the US Centres for Disease Control.

The UK National Aids Trust, which has campaigned for the removal of N-9 from condoms, applauded the decision.

Keith Winestein, campaigns manager, said: "This is a very welcome decision. "A raft of agencies and organisations agree that N-9 is harmful and it needs to be removed from any products that might put the consumer at risk."

Call on the government

Mr Winestein said the government should re-double its efforts to ensure N-9 is removed from all condoms manufactured in the UK, as well as those sent overseas.

N-9, originally developed as a detergent, has been used for nearly 50 years as a vaginal cream that rapidly kills sperm cells.

Research indicated that N-9 can act to break up or irritate the cell lining, or epithelium, of the rectum and the vagina - the first line of defence against HIV and other diseases.

Such irritation can make it easier for a virus or other infective organism to invade.

The danger in anal sex is especially significant because the rectum has only a single-cell wall. The vagina has a wall that is about 40 cells thick.

When it comes to condoms, many of which are treated with N-9 inside and out, there is more HIV risk if the condom slips, breaks or is misused.

But there is also possible danger of N-9 breakdown of the anal or vaginal epithelium whether the condom breaks or not.

Durex condoms are manufactured by SSL International Plc.

In a statement, the company said: "SSL is anticipating a material reduction in demand for spermicidally-lubricated condoms following a recent WHO report which questioned the level of additional protection provided by such condoms when compared to non-spermicidally lubricated condoms.

"In light of this, SSL decided to discontinue using the spermicide N9 in our condom manufacturing process. "As a result of this action, SSL will stop offering spermicidally lubricated condoms for sale and distribution."

Other companies, such as Johnson and Johnson, have already ceased making products containing N-9.

BBC NEWS

Python-style sex is safe for people to be protected from AIDS.
A snake-charmer from Tanzania has announced beginning of an unusual campaign for safe sex in Dar es-Salaam, Africa. African pythons will help the man fight sexually transmitted diseases. Norbert Chenga says that fast sex typical of snakes and usage of condoms reduce the risk of catching AIDS/HIV. BBC quotes Chenga as saying that condoms may burst if coitus is too long, and then a partner may catch AIDS. So, the snake-charmer recommends a python-style sex to people to be protected from AIDS.

Chenga says that in the framework of his campaign people will be able to see snake coitus. He adds that snakes need less time for sex as compared with people; it may take them just several seconds while people have sex for half an hour and even several hours, the snake-charmer says.

Norbert Chenga says that a condom torn during long coitus may become the cause of a deadly disease. At the same time, Mark Graver from Terence Higgins Trust objects to Chenga and says that safety of a condom does not depend upon the duration of coitus, but depends upon other factors.

All the same, Chenga keeps on fighting for safe sex and organizes performances in clubs, at wedding ceremonies and parties in his city in the framework of his unusual campaign. The snake-charmer says that once his snakes participated in a performance organized for the Tanzania president.

Pravda.Ru

A Chinese couple has sued their former high school after it broadcast a video of them kissing on campus as an example of "irregular action".

Wei Gang and his unnamed girlfriend have demanded compensation of 5,000 yuan ($600) and a public apology for "mental anguish" caused by the screening, which they said was an invasion of their privacy.

Although the video tried to cover up the couple's faces, fellow students recognised them by their dress, the Shanghai Daily reported.

"Since then, we were often mocked by other students," the paper quoted Wei as saying.

The school authorities showed the video as an example of what they called irregular behaviour among students, saying it was a legitimate form of moral education.

"We just want to show that irregular actions exist on campus," said Tao Xinliang, a lawyer representing the school.

The couple graduated from the school last year. BBC News