Study says women can use sense of smell to tell what’s on guys’ minds
Women can smell what’s on your mind, a recent study suggests. Researchers at Rice University say that women can tell the difference between a sexual smell and a regular smell. To come to this conclusion, researchers rounded up a group of 20 women and 20 men. They collected sweat samples from the men and had the women smell them. To do this, they asked the men not to wear anything scented for a couple of days. That included deodorant and cologne. The men then placed a pad under their armpits that collected their sweat. The men wore one pad while doing sexual things, such as watching pornography.
Then, they switched it out for a dry pad when they were not doing sexual things. This way, researchers had a “sexual” sweat and a “nonsexual” sweat. Then, the women smelled the pads, while hooked up to a machine that recorded their brain waves. Depending on which pads they were sniffing, researchers found the women’s brains responded very differently. The sexual smell activated a certain part of their brains that the nonsexual smell did not activate. The sexual smell triggered the right fusiform cortex and the right orbitofrontal cortex. These areas relate to emotion, smell and social response. The nonsexual smells did not activate these portions of the brain, though, researchers found. The study, which was published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggests that the findings indicate humans can interact on chemical signals.
Sexual activity increases likelihood of prostate cancer, study suggests
If you’re young and sexually active, there may be greater things to worry about than STDs. A recent survey found that young men who are very sexually active are much more likely to develop prostate cancer than men who aren’t as active sexually. The UK study surveyed more than 800 men about their sexual history. They found that the more men who were in their 20s and 30s masturbated and had sex, the greater their chance for prostate cancer was.
Researchers said that this phenomenon only occurred in younger men. By the time men reach their 40s, sexual activity doesn’t heavily influence men’s chances of developing prostate cancer, they said. The University of Nottingham looked at about 840 men, about half of whom had prostate cancer before they turned 60. The others were used as controls in the experiment and did not have prostate cancer. Researchers took into account the participants complete sexual history from their 20s on. They were asked how many sexual partners they had, how often they masturbated, how often they engaged in sexual activities and if they had any STDs.
The study’s authors noted that hormones played heavily into the development of prostate cancer, so they wanted to examine hormonal upbringing. Their results broke ground in a rather untraversed area of study regarding prostate cancer. Having at least six female partners, for example, increased men’s risk of prostate cancer by about 8 percent. There was also about an 8 percent increased risk for prostate cancer in men who were the most sexually active compared to those who were not. However, the differences started to wane with age. By their 40s, researchers found few sexual links to prostate cancer.
More men doing yoga than ever before, survey says.
Usually when men and yoga are mentioned in the same sentence, there is something about “watching” and “women” in that sentence. However, a new study may suggest otherwise. A study by the Yoga Journal suggests that men are starting to do more and more yoga. The study says that about 16.5 million men now practice yoga, about 700,000 more than last year. That total represents a roughly 300 percent increase since 2004, the study said.
Men in stressful jobs have more strokes than women do in similar jobs
If work’s got you stressed out, you might want to chill out. A recent study drew a link between stressful work situations and strokes in Japanese men. Researchers at the University of Occupational and Environmental Health in Japan looked at more than 6,500 Japanese people and looked at their stress levels and work conditions. All of the participants were under the age of 65. The study is a long-ranging one. It started with a series of interviews and physical exams from 1992 and 1995. Then, for the next dozen years, the participants were contacted through interviews for checkups on their status.
Results showed men had the highest risk of job-related stroke. An equal number of men and women participated in the study. However, about 90 men had a stroke during the study’s lifetime and only about 55 women had a stroke. Researchers divided the participants into groups depending on the stressfulness of their jobs. In high-stress jobs, 28 men and 15 women had strokes. In low stress job, 23 men and 15 women suffered strokes. The authors took into consideration the participants over general health history, such as smoking and alcohol consumption, and compensated for these things. Even after doing so, researchers weren’t exactly sure why men suffered more strokes than women in stressful jobs. One of the suggestive explanations is men’s inability to adapt to stressful situations.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association says if men have just the right amount of estrogen, their heart health can improve. Too little or too much estrogen, though, can prove to be damaging. For the study, researchers looked at men who had heart failure and analyzed their vital signs.
