Virgin Diaries

[Cen1aur 1963]

Originally Posted by cheerfulgreek

I don't eat fast food, so I'm not going to comment on that. I also don't know if getting cancer from having oral sex is entirely true, so I won't debate that either. However, avoiding cigarette smoke, harmful chemicals, unhealthy food, etc. are all causes of cancer, so I don't disagree with you there. But that's not always the case with cancer. Cancer is just abnormal cell growth which is the result of mutations in certain genes. It's just that cancer cells have the ability to break free from the tissue of which they are a part. Most normal cells stay put, stuck to each other and their surroundings. Unless they are attached to something, they cannot grow and multiply. If they become detached, they pretty much commit kind of like a suicide by a process known as apoptosis. But in cancer cells the normal self destruct instructions do not work, and they can grow and multiply without being attached to anything. This allows them to invade the rest of the body, travelling via the bloodstream to start more tumors elsewhere (metastasis). You also need to know that some people are born with an increased risk of cancer because they inherit a mutation in a gene important for cell growth or for repairing damaged DNA. This means that all the cells in their body have already taken one step down the multistep pathway that turns a normal cell into a cancerous one, so just because a person doesn't smoke, eats healthy, doesn't do drugs etc, doesn't mean she/he is exempt from getting cancer and dying from it. I know because I deal with cancer patients at least twice a month. They're animals, but it invades the body in somewhat the same fashion.

This is interesting, and I know you know what you're talking about based on you being a veterinarian and all, and that's all good, but I'm talking about people trying to tie cancer to damn near everything, and in this case, oral sex. I've had relatives who smoked, drank, really didn't eat all that healthy, and didn't have cancer in past family generations, but lived an old age, eventually dying from cancer. My grandpa is a good example of this. He died of cancer at 96, and smoked all his life, and never really had any serious health problems from his unhealthy habits, or being born with cancer causing problems as you stated. How do you explain that? With the oral sex, the article I read was talking more about HPV causing cancer, not just having a lot of oral sex (assuming that being what you meant). It's a virus so I can see an actual virus that folks can live with causing cancer in somebody else, but to say having oral sex in itself eventually causing cancer just doesn't make any sense to me.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

It is probably safe to say that most people who engage in certain forms of sex around the world do not get cancer, at least not directly and immediately linked to those forms of sex. It is also important to note the difference between correlation and causation. There are a number of things that are correlated with health outcomes but do not cause them--doing these things in and of themselves will not cause the health outcome more often than not.

People who do not want to engage in certain forms of sex have every right to do with their bodies as they choose. Whether they think it is gross, cancerous, or whatever...those who are getting married in cultures that encourage some level of (consensual) sexual liberation and openness with a spouse need to disclose their reservations prior to marriage. If the future spouse is fine with certain sexual restrictions then there is no problem. Perhaps they will eventually get curious and want to try it, perhaps the spouse will eventually want to engage in that sexual act...who knows but the couple needs to work that out through communication and understanding.

I agree with all of this. I think that's what it all boils down to, is communication, instead of folks telling their partner one thing and then doing another, or thinking they can change that person after the fact.

Originally Posted by DrPhil

(General response that is not about cheerfulgreek. I think this is an important discussion for the different reasons behind abstinence.)

Your post is what I had read about, including the controversy over giving North American high schoolers HPV vaccines with or without parental consent. And your post is how the information should be relayed (since this was not just a discussion of safer sex and STDs that can be transmitted through oral, anal, and vaginal sex).

See, this is what I was thinking from the original post about the cancer. I was thinking of an STD that can potentially cause the cancer, not just having oral sex, like she said originally. I'm not trying to get off topic from this post or what not, but if waiting to have oral sex after marriage, or sex period, because of being afraid you'll catch something from doing it, then folks might as well not engage in any kind of sexual intimacy at all. There are couples who marry, then one or both fuck around and then bring back an STD. I don't see the point of waiting, unless there's some kind of religious reason. I respect people who want to do that, but doing that doesn't mean 'My chances of getting an STD, or cancer of the throat' are slim to none.

[cheerfulgreek]

Originally Posted by summer_gphib

Thank you. Cancer strikes many people who live "healthy lifestyles." And as an advocate for Pet Cancer Awareness thank you for the work you do. My Forrest is still hanging in there. 10 weeks ago they told us "days not weeks, but it's Forrest, so who knows."

No problem, and thank you for all you do, too, summer. I mean, doing what you do with pets is just as important as what I do. Thank you for that. And I'm so happy to see that Forrest is still with the family and doing well. I love hearing and reading amazing pet stories like yours. Keep up the good work, and keep doing what you do, by making pet owners aware.

Originally Posted by Cen1aur 1963

This is interesting, and I know you know what you're talking about based on you being a veterinarian and all, and that's all good, but I'm talking about people trying to tie cancer to damn near everything, and in this case, oral sex. I've had relatives who smoked, drank, really didn't eat all that healthy, and didn't have cancer in past family generations, but lived an old age, eventually dying from cancer. My grandpa is a good example of this. He died of cancer at 96, and smoked all his life, and never really had any serious health problems from his unhealthy habits, or being born with cancer causing problems as you stated. How do you explain that? With the oral sex, the article I read was talking more about HPV causing cancer, not just having a lot of oral sex (assuming that being what you meant). It's a virus so I can see an actual virus that folks can live with causing cancer in somebody else, but to say having oral sex in itself eventually causing cancer just doesn't make any sense to me.

I was referring to doing it too much could cause cancer to develop. The article I read didn't mention anything about any STDs. Like I said, I don't know if it causes cancer to develop or not, but I'm also not going to rule it completely out, either.

The ageing process all comes down to the steady accumulation of genetic damage. It doesn't matter how well someone did or didn't take care of themselves, what they ate or didn't eat, although that can play a role in developing cancer. Apart from brain cells, most of the cells that make up a normal person's body are constantly replaced, as existing cells multiply to make new ones. But every time a cell divides, the ends of its chromosomes (telomeres) become shorter. Once they reach a certain length, the cell stops dividing and eventually dies. Apart from germ cells, like I said earlier to you, the only other cells that can multiply indefinitely are cancer cells. As more normal cells are lost or damaged, signs of ageing start to develop, including possible cancer, whether you've taken care of yourself or not. Your body is made up of 100 million, million cells, and cancer can start when just one of those cells begins to grow in an uncontrolled way. When you're young, your body is able to keep this under control by repairing most of the damage. But as you get older, the repair process isn't as efficient as it once was when you were younger. Cancer is usually the result of genetic damage acquired during a lifetime, which is why most cases occur in people over 60 years old. Again, I don't know anything about the "STD" or the "oral sex" part of it.