body facts for U little girls & gals

I had to write a paper about sexual health and I found this info in one of the brochures from the office of Sexual Health & Violence Prevention. I thought this would be interesting to post. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the people who read this didn't have any idea about this stuff, but anyways... enjoy!


WOMEN

* A woman after age 65 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing cardio-vascular disease.
* A woman's breasts contain 15-20 milk tubes.
* A woman becomes more intoxicated than a man on the same amount of alcohol, even when they weigh the same, because women have less body fluid and more body fat than men.

* Most pregnancy tests work by detecting human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). This chemical is only present in the urine when a woman is pregnant.
* The vagina is a self-cleaning organ. Douching is unnecessary.
* During pregnancy, the uterus grows 200 times bigger. It is normally about the size of a fist.
* A female has about 2 million eggs at birth, 1 million at puberty, and less than 200,000 at menopause.

* Ovaries look like firm, slightly flattened hard-boiled eggs, and are the size of an almond.
* Throughout history, breasts have been flattened or emphasized according to the fashion of the day.
* Mittelschmerz, or "middle pain" is the discomfort some women feel when they ovulate.
* A woman's ability to breastfeed is not related to the size of her breasts. Most women have about the same amount of milk-producing tissue.

* The Greeks told tales of the Amazon's female warriors who cut off one breast so they could shoot their arrows more effectively.
* A tampon or diaphragm cannot get lost inside the body. The vagina is a dead-end passageway, except for the tiny cervical opening.
* Osteoporosis is most common in Caucasian women. Their lifetime risk of a hip fracture is 15%.
* As many as 70-90% of women experience premenstrual symptoms (PMS), usually between ages 25 and 45.

* The 4-inch journey of the female egg down the fallopian tube into the uterus takes about 4 days.
* Migrane headaches, caused by rapid swelling and narrowing of blood vessels in the brain, occur in women about 4 times as often as in men.
* Estrogen, the female sex hormone, may be used to treat breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men.
* Sperm can survive for 3 or more days in a woman's reproductive tract. A woman could have intercourse on Saturday, ovulate on Sunday, and get pregnant on Monday.

MEN


* Orgasm and ejaculation do not always occur at the same time.
* The heads of 2 billion sperm could be placed in the hull of a grain of rice, with room to spare.
* 1 Teaspoon: The average amount of semen emitted at one ejaculation.
* Sperm travel at about 3 centimeters per minute. After ejaculation, they take 2-5 minutes to reach the female's fallopian tubes, where fertilization usually occurs.

* Men's hormone levels fluctuate just as women's do. Testosterone levels are lowest around 8 pm and highest around 4 am. Overall levels are lower in spring and higher in fall.
* Males develop their secondary teeth at a later age than females.
* Up to 50% of men are affected by premature ejaculation at some time in their lives.
* The scrotum maintains a temperature 4-7 degrees cooler than the rest of the body, because a low temperature is necessary for the formation of healthy sperm.

* Sperm with a "Y" chromosome, which determines the male gender, are lighter and swim faster than sperm with an "X" chromosome, which determines the female gender. So about 105 boys are born for ever 100 girls.
* The life expenctancy of men continues to be an average of 7 years less than women, despite advances in medical technology and research.
* 2% of men at age 40 and 25% of men over 65 experience occasional impotence.
* In ancient Greek and Roman cultures, the penis was thought to ward off evil spirits.
* It takes 60-70 days for a sperm to be producted and reach maturity.

* Some middle-aged and older men experience a buildup of fibrous plaque in the sheath of the penis, which makes sexual intercourse difficult or impossible. In some cases, surgical removal of the plaque is required.
* 1 out of 5 men eventually develop osteoporosis.
* 1 in 4 hips and 1 in 7 spinal fractures occur in men.
* If the 1,000 tiny tubules of the testis, where sperm are produced, were placed end to end, they would measure 750 feet.

* Times of rapid eye movement (REM) during sleep regularly correspond with penile erections.
* 300 million: The approximate number of sperm discharged during each ejaculation.
* 80% of men will eventually need treatment for prostate problems, according to the world health organization.
* The human male sperm count has plunged significantly since the 1930s. One Dutch study showed a 42 % drop since 1940.
* Testicular cancer-- the main cause of cancer deaths among men ages 20-35-- is 95% curable when caught early.

* Anything that blocks oxygen from the penile tissue, such as high blood pressure or smoking, can cause impotence.
* The existence of sperm was not known before the 17th century because they could not be seen with the naked eye.
* $9.5 billion: The amount American men spend per year on attempts to improve their attractiveness.
* Medications, recreational drugs (especially marijuana), and cigarette smoking can all decrease the number and mobility of sperm.

* There are approximately 16 feet of tiny coiled tubules inside each epididymis, the duct that carries sperm from the testicle to the urethra.

* It's not true that the larger the penis, the more sexual pleasure is enjoyed by the woman. This is referred to by Masters and Johnson as a "phallic phallacy."


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