ASK DR. BAUGHAN                                             April 3, 1998

HIV MYTHS

The HIV pendulum is swinging.  Ten years ago, everyone was afraid of catching AIDS.  Education stressed that high risk behaviors of unprotected homosexual sex, bisexual sex, intravenous drug use, and having sex with intravenous drug users were the primary means for contracting HIV.  People needed reassurance that they would not catch HIV from doorknobs, shaking hands, or hugging someone with HIV.  People were afraid to let their kids go to school with HIV infected children or to work alongside adults with HIV.  Now I begin to hear various ideas that in one way or another minimize the risk of catching HIV and justify not using safe sex (condoms).  There is less HIV here than in urban areas, but it is not non-existent.  Where there is sexually transmitted disease, as there has been a recent increase in cases locally, there is the real risk of HIV.  If you have sex with someone you do not know well,  meaning you do not know how many people or what people they have had sex with, studies have shown you are exposing yourself to a human chain of 45 sexual contacts on average.  Would you trust that none of those 45 people have HIV?  Here are some of the current myths:

1.     “I heard that men can’t get HIV from women.”  Wrong.  It is less easily spread, but it happens.

2.     “My ex-boyfriend let another man have oral sex on him.  He says he can’t catch HIV that way.”  The ex-boyfriend may have low risk of having some of the other man’s body fluids in him, but what are the chances that is all that happened?  What are the chances the ex-boyfriend is lying?  When a story sounds fishy, protect yourself, protect yourself, protect yourself - emotionally as well as from HIV.

3.     “You can’t get HIV if the man doesn’t have orgasm (come).”  Is the man a kama sutra yoga master highly trained in controlling his body during passion?  No?  Then don’t believe this line, either.  He can’t tell if some fluid came out or not and neither can the woman or other man.

4.     “You  can’t get HIV from saliva.”  HIV can be found in saliva.  It is not readily spread from saliva.  But if we are talking about “French kissing,” who has been kissing whom?  If this was another tale of “I was only kissing him/her,” do you believe it?  Consider the teeth and gums.  If you or your partner (or their other partners, on and on times 45) bleed when you floss your teeth, could blood be “exchanged” along with saliva?  Take care of your teeth.  Know your partner.

5.     “There’s treatment for it now, so what’s the worry?”  The treatment costs thousands and thousands of dollars a year, involves taking 20-40 pills a  day, causes lots of side effects, must be taken lifelong, and does not always work.  That’s the worry.

6.     “If it’s your time to go, there’s nothing you can do about it.”  This phony fatalism is an excuse to pretend ignorance and avoid responsibility.  Preventive health measures work.  Immunizations save lives.  When more people wear seat belts, fewer people die in car accidents.  When people stop smoking, there is less lung cancer. Sure, everybody dies sometime.  Your choices determine if you are more or less likely to die before you turn forty, though.  Choice matters.  It matters not only for your own health, but whether you will pass on HIV to other people before you get sick.

HIV is still with us.  HIV makes the following questions matters of life and death,  “How much do you care about yourself?  How much do you care about or respect the person you are having sex with?”  If sex is simply recreation or sport to you, wear safety equipment.  If sex is making love, show love through concern for your lover’s health.  SAFE SEX LIMITS THE SPREAD OF HIV.  If there are other tales or myths floating about, please pass them on ASK DR. BAUGHAN                                       April 3, 1998

HIV MYTHS

The HIV pendulum is swinging.  Ten years ago, everyone was afraid of catching AIDS.  Education stressed that high risk behaviors of unprotected homosexual sex, bisexual sex, intravenous drug use, and having sex with intravenous drug users were the primary means for contracting HIV.  People needed reassurance that they would not catch HIV from doorknobs, shaking hands, or hugging someone with HIV.  People were afraid to let their kids go to school with HIV infected children or to work alongside adults with HIV.  Now I begin to hear various ideas that in one way or another minimize the risk of catching HIV and justify not using safe sex (condoms).  There is less HIV here than in urban areas, but it is not non-existent.  Where there is sexually transmitted disease, as there has been a recent increase in cases locally, there is the real risk of HIV.  If you have sex with someone you do not know well,  meaning you do not know how many people or what people they have had sex with, studies have shown you are exposing yourself to a human chain of 45 sexual contacts on average.  Would you trust that none of those 45 people have HIV?  Here are some of the current myths:

1.     “I heard that men can’t get HIV from women.”  Wrong.  It is less easily spread, but it happens.

2.     “My ex-boyfriend let another man have oral sex on him.  He says he can’t catch HIV that way.”  The ex-boyfriend may have low risk of having some of the other man’s body fluids in him, but what are the chances that is all that happened?  What are the chances the ex-boyfriend is lying?  When a story sounds fishy, protect yourself, protect yourself, protect yourself - emotionally as well as from HIV.

3.     “You can’t get HIV if the man doesn’t have orgasm (come).”  Is the man a kama sutra yoga master highly trained in controlling his body during passion?  No?  Then don’t believe this line, either.  He can’t tell if some fluid came out or not and neither can the woman or other man.

4.     “You  can’t get HIV from saliva.”  HIV can be found in saliva.  It is not readily spread from saliva.  But if we are talking about “French kissing,” who has been kissing whom?  If this was another tale of “I was only kissing him/her,” do you believe it?  Consider the teeth and gums.  If you or your partner (or their other partners, on and on times 45) bleed when you floss your teeth, could blood be “exchanged” along with saliva?  Take care of your teeth.  Know your partner.

5.     “There’s treatment for it now, so what’s the worry?”  The treatment costs thousands and thousands of dollars a year, involves taking 20-40 pills a  day, causes lots of side effects, must be taken lifelong, and does not always work.  That’s the worry.

6.     “If it’s your time to go, there’s nothing you can do about it.”  This phony fatalism is an excuse to pretend ignorance and avoid responsibility.  Preventive health measures work.  Immunizations save lives.  When more people wear seat belts, fewer people die in car accidents.  When people stop smoking, there is less lung cancer. Sure, everybody dies sometime.  Your choices determine if you are more or less likely to die before you turn forty, though.  Choice matters.  It matters not only for your own health, but whether you will pass on HIV to other people before you get sick.

HIV is still with us.  HIV makes the following questions matters of life and death,  “How much do you care about yourself?  How much do you care about or respect the person you are having sex with?”  If sex is simply recreation or sport to you, wear safety equipment.  If sex is making love, show love through concern for your lover’s health.  SAFE SEX LIMITS THE SPREAD OF HIV.  If there are other tales or myths floating about, please pass them on to me.  Misinformation can be fatal.