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HEALTHY SEX. . . AND KEEPING IT THAT WAY by

HEALTHY SEX. . . AND KEEPING IT THAT WAY

By

Pub Date: April 25th, 1983
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Healthy sex today means avoidance and early treatment of the growing number of sexual infections--and this exhaustive, well-organized guide is the best help available to that end. Lumiere (Lenox Hill and Doctors Hospital, N.Y.) and Cook (sex-therapist/ educator and author of Second Lire) are relaxed and matter-of-fact. ""We're all nice. And clean. And careful. And if that were worth a whole lot in the sexually active climate of the 1980s, there would be many fewer sexually-transmitted diseases around."" What is worth a lot is knowledge: the infections that exist, how they're transmitted, how they can be avoided, and, most importantly, how they tan be treated (""Nothing is nothing and nothing just goes away""). The spread of these diseases (10 million new cases a year) leads into sexual etiquette. No matter what the relationship (close is harder), all sexual partners must be told when any kind of infection is diagnosed, because their health and occasionally their life is at stake; to case the disclosure, Lumiere and Cook provide tips on bringing the subject up and following through. For aid in telling when something is amiss, ""body maps"" are included for men and women, along with symptom charts and descriptions of disease by category (bacterial, viral, etc.); the infections covered range from the all-too-well-known syphilis and herpes to more obscure diseases (intestinal infections, hepatitis) and nuisance-level disorders like scabies and jock itch. There are separate sections for women, men, gay men (who surfer a distinct, often severe constellation of disorders), and teenagers (with special advice on where to get help). A strong emphasis on self-responsibility rounds out the work. The most comprehensive and up-to-date advice to be had right now (the picture has changed since Corsaro and Korzeniowsky's worthy STD, of 1980); an agreeable book, too, on a disagreeable subject.