A TWO YEAR STUDY containing over 1,200 volunteers from the length and breadth of the India who had their penises measured precisely, down to the last millimetre, has concluded that Indian men need smaller condoms made for them. Scientists even checked their sample was representative of India as a whole in terms of class, religion and urban and rural dwellers. The conclusion of all this scientific endeavour is that about 60% of Indian men have penises which are between three and five centimetres shorter than international standards used in condom manufacture.

This has led to a very high failure rate in the country (one in every five condoms fail, tear, fall off etc.) which presents quite a health problem, as well as an ego issue for the Men I’d guess. Smaller condoms are available in chemists, but it seems that Indian men are too embarrassed to ask for them.

As if that wasn’t problem enough, there seems to be a history in India of using condoms not for sex but for many other weird uses. Only 25% of condoms sold in India get used for sex. The rest get used as a tool in the making of saris, toys and bathroom slippers! The lubricant in the condoms make them a very handy gadget for sari weavers, who place the condoms on their thread spools to make the thread move faster through the sewing machines. The weavers are also using the lubricant to polish gold and silver threads in the cloth.

So – the condoms that are used are too big and keep falling off, and of those only 25% are used for sex. Given those odds it’s no surprise that the population is growing at such an exponential rate now is it?

I suppose this means that the next big thing over there will be penis extensions.

THE DEATH OF GREAT SEX is marriage; these days everyone is loosing their virginity earlier – oh and my other personal favourite – promiscuity is the reason for the upswing in sexually transmitted diseases.

These are just some of the common myths about sex which are being challenged by a new global report on the subject published in the UK this week. The study was published Wednesday as part of a series on sexual and reproductive health by the U.K. medical journal The Lancet.

Professor Kaye Wellings of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicines and her colleagues analysed data from 59 countries in order to produce the report and I think it may even be the first global study on the subject thus far.

Here’s some of the highlights to help shatter those long held illusions:-

Promiscuity & Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Researchers expected to find the most promiscuous behaviour in regions like Africa with the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases. That was not the case, as multiple partners were more commonly reported in industrialized countries where the incidence of such diseases was relatively low.

Loosing Your Virginity; The study also found that contrary to popular belief, sexual activity is not starting earlier. Nearly everywhere, men and women have their first sexual experiences in their late teens—from 15 to 19 years old—with generally younger ages for women than for men, especially in developing countries. That age is no younger than 10 years ago. Variations do exist however – in the United Kingdom, for example, men and women tend to lose their virginity at ages 16½ and 17½ respectively. In comparison, men and women in Indonesia waited until they were 24½ and 18½ respectively

Sex & Marriage; Researchers also found that married people have the most sex, reporting engaging in sexual activity in the previous four weeks more frequently than single people. There has also been a gradual shift to delay marriage, even in developing countries.

So – just when you thought you were safe in the knowledge that the world as we know it was going to hell in a hand basket, something new crops up to make you pay more attention and check your assumptions; and let’s face it – that’s always a good thing.

You can find more information on this global sex study over at The Lancet if you are interested.

A STUDY ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION by Dr Anthony Bogaert, of Brock University, Ontario, which is published today in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, draws conclusions which support pre-natal origin to sexual orientation development in men.

A man’s sexual orientation can be determined before he is born, according to this research which provides the strongest evidence yet of a biological basis for male homosexuality. Scientists in Canada have discovered that the probability of a man being gay rises significantly according to the number of elder brothers he has, but only when these brothers are true biological siblings.

This research furthers the argument that nature has a role to play in the development of sexual orientation, and not just nurture. The increased chance of homosexuality applied even where men had older full brothers who had been raised separately in a different home, offering further evidence for a biological effect.

The mechanism by which having older biological brothers affects male sexuality remains unknown, but the most popular theory is that it reflects the way a mother’s immune system reacts to carrying lots of male foetuses. As males have a Y chromosome and females do not, a mother’s body may be more likely to recognise a male foetus than a female one as foreign and generate a strong immune response. Other research has shown that this response can strengthen with each subsequent male pregnancy. This may affect the way that the brain develops sexually.

So there you have it… I’ve always said older brothers had a lot to answer for

IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME at this point. The race to find the world’s first volunteer for a full face transplant will get under way this week if a British hospital approves proposals for the procedure from an Irish plastic surgeon. There have been partial face transplants in the past, but no one has attempted a full face transplant yet, although Cork born Irish plastic surgeon Peter Butler has been trying to make this happen for over 14 years. It looks like his efforts are about to pay off for one lucky (and potentially Irish) patient.

Butler and his medical team at the Royal Free hospital in northwest London will meet its ethics board on Wednesday to seek approval for the controversial surgery. This is the last obstacle which must be passed before Butler will be allowed to proceed with the operation. Last December the ethics board, which regulates the Cork surgeon’s work, granted permission for Butler and his 30-strong team of researchers to identify a patient for the operation. The project was given a further boost last month when the board approved a consent process allowing Butler’s team to educate patients on the risks involved.

Butler is looking to hear from Irish volunteers for the operation. In particular he interviewed a list of folks back in 2003 but it was not possible to proceed any further at that point. Now that he looks likely to be given the green light this coming week, Butler is hoping to hear from those patients again as he will then be in a position to go the whole way and schedule the operation. If you or someone you know needs this type of surgery you can contact Butler at his website, Facetrust.com.

I didn’t realise we had such high profile surgeons in this country (or at least from this country, working in the UK), but it looks like this lad might just get to be first in the record books for this amazing surgical procedure. However this procedure is not without its risks and after effects. If you are squeemish then don’t read on but if you want to find out just how the hell they perform this minor mircale then the following paragraphs are for you…

In the operation, the facial tissue of the donor corpse from the hairline to the jawline must be removed, with its layer of fat, nerves and blood vessels within six to 12 hours of death, while in a nearby theatre the skin of the transplant patient is detached.

The blood vessels are clamped and the muscles and nerves left in place. If the patient’s body rejects the face, he or she will lose both their own and the new one. Even after a successful operation the recipient is unlikely to look much like the donor,which could be reassuring to the dead person’s family. But neither will they look like their old pre-traumatised self. Patients will also face a lifetime of taking immunosuppressant drugs.

G’wan the Irish

FEARS OF A HIDDEN AIDS EPIDEMIC in China are on the rise according to AIDS activists. Specifically, blood for transfusions in China is still not routinely tested for HIV/AIDS despite a legal requirement to do so. Political sensitivity and social stigma still surround AIDS in China, and the government’s slowness to acknowledge the epidemic contributed to its spread, especially in the central province of Henan, where in the 1990s millions sold blood to unsanitary clinics.

Last year, the government said it would severely punish those responsible for serious diseases transmitted by transfusions. The move followed several cases in which people were infected after receiving blood sold by HIV carriers; however there’s been no official statement about blood transfusions or the blood products-related AIDS epidemic.

There were about 25,000 deaths from AIDS across China in 2005. It is currently estimated by the Chinese government that approximately 650,000 people across the country are infected with AIDS. This number is significantly lower than previous estimates – fuelling suspicions that the government are trying to play it down. Consider that the UN was at one point estimating that by 2010 there could be between 10 and 15 million cases of HIV in China – and you get some idea of the potential gap between reality and what the governenment wants to believe.

Given the Chinese desire to promote and maintain censorship within their borders it is not exactly a surprise to learn they are potentially keeping their citizens in the dark about the spread and impact of AIDS in their own country, but what does surprise me is the potential size of the problem and how big it could become if not addressed. Wake up China, the world is watching.