Lately, there has been much news and controversy surrounding gay marriage and whether or not a state will choose to recognize this type of union. Politicians, church leaders, movie and television stars and bloggers have all risen up to either strongly support or fight legalizing gay marriage. Bans on gay marriage may also be causing other unforeseen health problems, according to a new study out of Emory University. Economists there have determined that these bans could also be responsible for an increase in HIV infection rates.

Data from this study has demonstrated that a ban on same-sex marriage raises the rate of HIV infection by four cases for every 100,000 people. This study is the first of its kind as it centers on the impact made on HIV infection rates as determined by society’s tolerance of homosexuals in the United States. Hugo Mialon, one of the economists working on the study states, “We found the effects of tolerance for gays on HIV to be statistically significant and robust – they hold up under a range of empirical models.” Andrew Francis, another economist on the study points at California’s recent decision by their Supreme Court to continue with a ban on same-sex marriage, “Laws on gay marriage are in flux and under debate. It’s a hot issue, and we are hoping that policymakers will take our findings into account.”

The data for the research was garnered from the General Social Survey. The GSS is a survey that has been distributed to the American population for the past forty years and has kept data on American attitudes towards various issues. Data from the GSS has shown that from the 1970s to the 1990s, Americans grew more tolerant of homosexuals, causing the HIV infection rate to go down one case for every 100,000 people; however, laws that have banned gay marriage has caused the HIV infection rate to go up four cases for every 100,000 people. Mialon states, “Intolerance is deadly. Bans on gay marriage codify intolerance, causing more gay people to shift to underground sexual behaviors that carry more risk.”

Mialon and Francis recently received an award for a paper they wrote last year (published in March 2008) that analyzed penalties people receive for transmitting HIV. The American Law and Economics Review named their paper the outstanding paper of the year. They utilized a game theory model to show that some state laws that deal with the transmission of HIV have not been very efficient at keeping HIV from spreading. One example they noted was the state of Georgia. Here, if a patient with HIV does not tell his or her sexual partner that they are HIV positive before engaging in sexual relations, it could be considered a felony which could be punishable with up to 30 years of time served in prison. In this case, it does not matter if the infected person practices safe sex (with condoms) or if the non-infected partner does not get infected. If, however, the infected person does not know they are HIV positive and they happen to transmit HIV to their partner, the law does not apply.

Here’s some news that may cause an uproar amongst women who have opted for the birth control shot. Recent research out of the University of Texas Medical Branch, also known as UTMB, has determined that women who use this type of birth control (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate, or DMPA, in case anybody was wondering) have consistently gained both fat and pounds over a three year period. Women using the shot have been found to average a total of 11 pounds gained with their body fat creeping up close to three and a half percent over that time span.

This news, however, gets better or worse depending on actions the women took after using the shot. If a woman chose to change to contraception that is nonhormonal, then she tended to lose the body fat and weight she had gained with the shot (approximately 4 pounds in a two year span); however, if a women chose to change to an oral contraception, she was more likely to gain an extra four pounds in that same span of time. Research showed that the number of pounds gained was directly related to how long a woman used DMPA as a contraceptive.

Results from this study were published in the March issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. DMPA is a contraceptive that women get injected with four times a year. Currently, there are over two million American women that use DMPA, almost a quarter of them being teenaged girls. Many women opt for DMPA because it is highly effective, is less expensive than other forms of birth control and only needs to be done four times a year, as opposed to daily like a pill. Abbey Berenson, M.D., the lead author of the study and a professor at UTMB in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology states, “Women and their doctors should factor in this new data when choosing the most appropriate birth control method. One concern is DMPA’s link to increased abdominal fat, a known component of metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes.”

The study which ranged over a three year span had over 700 female participants ranging in age from 16 to 33 who utilized one of three birth control methods (DMPA, nonhormonal contraception or oral contraception). For those participants who utilized DMPA and then decided to stop during the trial, there was an additionally follow up of two years. As the study progressed, the participants were measured for body weight and body composition and factors like consumed calories, race, age and cardiovascular exercise were all considered in the data. Amongst the three groups, those who used DMPA as birth control were two times more likely to become obese in the three years that followed. Berenson states, “The findings are worrisome; however, more research is needed to determine if DMPA use directly contributes to obesity-related conditions and puts patients’ overall health at risk.” The results of this study will help doctors and physicians be better able to advise women how various forms of contraception may affect their body, especially concerning weight gain.

A recent study out of the University of Vigo has shown that Spanish females between the ages of 14 and 24 tend to utilize condoms more than boys of the same age when engaging in vaginal sex, but less when engaging in oral and anal sexual behavior. University of Vigo researchers often perform these studies on the sexual behavior of Spanish teenagers and young adults in order to see how sexual behaviors change over the years. These researchers study the use of condoms and their relation to sexually transmitted diseases and risky sexual activities.

This study was published in the journal Gaceta Sanitaria and had over 2,100 male and female participants between the ages of 14 and 24. The particpants came from the regions of Madrid, Andalusia and Galicia. The participants were placed into two separate groups based on ages. One group was comprised of adolescnents between the ages of 14 and 18 and the second group was comprised of young adults between the ages of 19 and 24.

Jose Maria Falide, a researcher from the Galician university and the lead author of the research states, “The results show that condom use among young Spanish males and females has more to do with preventing unwanted pregnancies than with preventing infection with sexually-transmitted diseases, because they are used more during vaginal sex than oral or anal sex.”

One notable difference when it came to the usage of condoms was based on gender and various sexual activities. For example, females were more prone to use condoms when engaging in vaginal sex, while males were prone to use them when engaging in oral or anal sex. Falide adds that “although girls are very concerned about the risk of unwanted pregnancies, they don’t have the same perception of risk in relation to sexually-transmitted diseases, and this gives them a false sense of security when they become involved in a monogamous relationship.”

Another difference in condom use was associated with the age of the particpant. A surprising finding of the research showed that those in the adolescent group tended to use condoms more than those in the young adult group. The researchers speculate that as the youngsters grow older, they tend to become involved in longer-lasting relationships which causes them to change their use of contraceptives. For example, a young adult female in a monogamous long-lasting relationship may choose to use hormonal methods of birth control, as opposed to condoms, to prevent pregnancies. Falide states, “Among young people, the fear of an unwanted pregnancy makes them take greater protective measures. However, as people get older, they become more relaxed in the use of prophylactic methods, and use other methods more, such as the Pill.”

This was not entirely surprisng to the researchers of the study. It is very common for those who have fewer sexual partners to believe they have a lower sexual risk. Falide states, “It must be made clear that, in today’s society, a monogamous relationship is not a sufficient guarantee of safety. We must raise the perception of vulnerability among stable couples. Preventive health strategies must focus on the use of condoms, not only to prevent pregnancy, but also as a means of preventing sexually-transmitted diseases.”