Patricia Holden MD|

Getting pregnant at a critical period (like on your last year of law school) wouldn’t be a pleasant thing to happen. You’ll be stressed out just from thinking about what’s going to happen that you’ll find it difficult to continue with your regular activities. Most likely, you’ll be opting for an abortion afterwards - which isn’t a good thing in my opinion.

Man (I mean humans, not just males) have thought of a lot of ways to prevent women from getting pregnant. There have been natural methods like the rhythm method, and artificial ones like condoms. There have also been beliefs that have been passed on through generations and of course, some are true while most are not. Let me tell you of seven myths regarding birth control.

Having Sex During a Woman’s Period - Many people thought that having sex while a woman is on her menstruation period wouldn’t get her pregnant. Although it is true that women are much more likely to conceive during their midcycle, studies have shown that a woman can conceive at any day of the month (except for the so called safe period, which I’m not going to talk about here). Aside from that, sperm can live up to 5 days inside a woman’s body.

Having Sex For The First Time - A lot of people believe that a woman won’t get pregnant during the first time she will have sex. This is not true. A woman can get pregnant as soon as ovulation occurs (read: when she begins having periods). Girls, don’t believe your boyfriend when he says otherwise. Guys, you know who you are…

Birth Control Pills Are Effective Immediately After Taking One - Oh no, it’s not…well, for most women. Usually, it takes one full cycle for the hormones in the pill to work with the woman’s hormones to prevent ovulation. The best way to go about using one is to follow the directions indicated on the product itself.

A Woman Can’t Get Pregnant Without An Orgasm - Seriously, what does having an orgasm have anything to do with the sperm reaching the egg and forming a zygote? None. Well for males, maybe since orgasm usually follows ejaculation. A woman, as long as she’s fertile and sperm enters her cervix and uterus, would get pregnant no matter if she’s had orgasm or not during sex.

Using The Withdrawal Method Wouldn’t Get A Woman Pregnant - False. That’s why there’s something called premature ejaculation. Sometimes a man releases his fluids even before reaching climax. With that said, it’s near impossible to tell whether sperm has already entered the cervix or not. Men should use condoms to be sure.

Douching After Sex - Once the sperm reaches the cervix, it’s nearly impossible for any douching method to fix that. With that in mind, douching cannot be considered a good method of contraception. Taking a bath afterwards also won’t help as the sperm has almost reached its destination (if not yet).

A Woman Can’t Get Pregnant While Breastfeeding - Not really. Although it is true that menstruation stops when a woman is on her breastfeeding stage, ovulation may happen without warning and could get you pregnant. Use birth control to be safe. Also, it is recommended by doctors to wait for a year before getting pregnant again.

If you’ve read my previous post about some of the disease outbreaks that hit the world hard, then you should know how horrible diseases can be when they spread. It’s not only the death toll that is fearful about it but also the chaos that accompanies such outbreaks. People trying to isolate themselves so they don’t get infected, people begging to be cured, the disease-free trying to push away the infected…things like that.

A good example (where the newer generation can relate) of a scenario would be what occurred in World of Warcraft. You can read about it here. to summarize, people (players) avoided each other to avoid the effects of the “plague”. It became so popular that it attracted attention from the media. Medical researches even went so far as to claim that massively multiplayer roleplaying games could serve as a good platform for studying disease outbreaks. My husband would be so proud.

So exactly what do we do in case such things occur? SARS was one of the latest that hit the world and I believe you guys already know how that went. Anyway, like any illnesses, there are ways to avoid contracting them. Here are some good tips on how to do so.

Keep yourself clean - Take a bath often, wash your hands before eating and after using the toilet. Stuff like what our mothers once told us to do. Those practices were instilled in us for a reason. That is, to prevent us from getting sick. The healthier our body would be, the better it can protect from disease causing microorganisms.

Get immunization - I remember getting vaccinations since I can…uhh, remember things. Immunization is a good way of preventing certain diseases from entering your body. Just remember to keep them up. Just because you got a shot doesn’t mean it will last forever.

Watch what you eat - I’m not talking about diet, although I would also recommend that. What I really meant was to make sure that the food that you eat are well-prepared and in good condition. When I say well-prepared, I meant that it was cooked in a clean environment and cooked well enough to kill any bacteria that may have been present when it was still raw.

Don’t share personal items - Things like your toothbrush and comb should be used by yourself only. Especially your toothbrush, since it goes in your mouth and would be the easiest place for bacteria to enter. With that in mind, don’t share your glass and eating utensils unless you are absolutely sure that the other person is healthy. Better yet, don’t risk it.

Keep your pets healthy - It’s not only from people that you can get infected. Pet’s can be carriers too. With that said, it’s important to keep your pets healthy and have them vaccinated. Make sure to keep their environment clean as well so they don’t get sick.

Avoid traveling to high-risk places - Don’t travel to places where there’s an outbreak. It think that’s obvious enough. Before going anywhere, try to gather information about possible illnesses you may contract from the area as well as other potential dangers. This goes both ways as well. If you are sick or contracted a disease, avoid traveling to keep it from spreading to other people you meet.

Stay at home - If you already show signs of infection, then by all means stay at home! Try to keep your family members from leaving as well if possible as they may already be infected. Get a doctor immediately and admit yourself to the hospital when needed. We can do our part in preventing diseases from spreading by doing this. Well, unless you turn into a zombie.

Have you ever had that experience where you suddenly woke up and found yourself somewhere out of bed and with your family members looking at you with that puzzled look on their faces? And no, you’re not drunk. Or how about a time when you woke up and you can’t move a limb no matter how hard you tried? Those are actually sleeping disorders and some can be terrifying. Let me show you a list of some sleeping disorders that you should know about.

Sleepwalking (Somnambulism) - In reality, sleepwalking is not the same as what is portrayed in cartoons or TV shows (arms extended to the front, closed eyes, etc…). When a person sleepwalks, his/her eyes are open for navigation as though he or she were awake. However, they will rarely respond to questions when asked. Sleepwalkers pose a danger to themselves as well as others - especially when a weapon or dangerous object is around. There have been cases of murder where sleepwalking has been used for defense.

To properly deal with a sleepwalker, lead the person back to bed and watch if he or she will try to stand back up again. If the person does, the person may still be thinking that a certain task was left unfinished so it is a good thing to observe his or her actions then either help them with the task or convince them that it was already finished. Alternatively, you may try waking the person up and prepare to deal with a bad mood later (just kidding).

Sleep-talking (Somniloquy) - A lot of people talk in their sleep. Although it is very common in children, some people tend to carry the disorder until adulthood. It has also been reported to run in families. Unlike sleepwalking, the disorder is unlikely to cause accidents. It can wake up other people since it ranges from whispers to loud voices. One way to prevent it is to wear a mouth guard.

Sleep Paralysis - Have you ever experienced waking up only to find that you are unable to move a muscle? Then you hear whispers, voices, and other sounds that don’t seem to make sense? Well, I have. That is actually sleep paralysis. In earlier times, it was believed that a demon was visiting whenever it happened. What possibly causes it is the paralysis that usually occurs during Rapid-Eye-Movement sleep. The brain causes the body to become paralyzed during that particular stage of sleep to prevent possible injury while dreaming (which happens during REM). When the person suddenly awakens, the brain may still think otherwise and does not release the paralysis. This can also be accompanied by hallucinations wherein the person feels that someone is talking to them or is watching them in the area. The result of the combination could cause the person to think that he or she is being threatened or attacked and would panic.

While we’re in the topic of sleep, I may continue this by posting something about dreams and nightmares later.