Hospital patients may have better survival odds and a lower likelihood of serious complications that require repeat admissions when they’re treated by female physicians, a new study suggests. For the study, researchers examined data on about 777,000 people covered by Medicare, the U.S. health program for people 65 and older, who were hospitalized between 2016 and 2019. They were all treated by hospitalists who specialized in providing care and coordinating treatments for people who are recovering from serious illnesses and injuries. Both male and female patients had better survival odds and lower rates of repeat admissions within 30 days of leaving the hospital when they received care from female physicians, according to study results published in the Annals of Internal Medicine .e60dc2a1-f33c-4a05-9b50-8e3e8e597629e57a4c8a-5e0c-4f6b-bbb5-990c73193440 While the study wasn’t designed to prove whether or how female physicians might provide better care than their male counterparts, it’s possible that this was due to differences in how female doctors practice medicine, says the senior study author Yusuke Tsugawa, MD, PhD , an associate professor of medicine at the University of California in Los Angeles. Female Doctors May Be Better at Communication “We think that better adherence to clinical guidelines and better communication by female physicians may have led to lower readmission rates for patients treated by female physicians,” Dr. Tsugawa says. Female patients had an 8.15 percent mortality rate with female doctors, compared with 8.38 percent with male doctors, a difference the researchers reported as clinically meaningful. Male patients also had better survival odds with female physicians — a 10.15 percent mortality rate versus 10.23 percent with male doctors — but this difference was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance. The trend with readmissions, or repeat hospitalizations within 30 days of discharge, was similar, the study found. Female patients had a 15.51 percent readmission rate with female physicians, compared with 16.01 percent with male doctors, a difference that was clinically significant. Male patients had readmission rates of 15.65 percent with female physicians and 15.87 percent with male doctors, a difference that was too small to rule out the possibility that it was due to chance. This doesn’t necessarily mean that female doctors guarantee better patient outcomes, Tsugawa says. “We don’t think patients should choose female physicians over male physicians, because there is wider variation among physicians of the same gender than between female and male physicians,” Tsugawa says. “It is important to take into account multiple factors about physicians, such as their clinical experience and training, your prior experience with them, and how they communicate with you, rather than physicians’ gender.” Caregiving Is a Gendered Role — but Everyone Can Learn to Do It Better These differences in how doctors interact with patients aren’t something innate that female and male doctors are born with, or without — they’re learned behaviors that might be possible to change if medical schools focus more on teaching skills like listening and empathy, says Patricia Davidson, PhD, RN , the dean emerita of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and vice chancellor and president of the University of Wollongong in Australia. “Gender is socially constructed, and in women provides greater permission to undertake the ‘caregiving’ role, which is more likely ascribed to the feminized role of other health professionals such as nurses, social workers, and dietitians,” says Dr. Davidson, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “Female physicians were likely more attentive to nonmedical factors such as accessing social support and social services, and greater listening to identify predictors of adverse outcomes, such as social isolation, inability to access services, and issues driving adherence with medical therapies.” What the findings really underscore is that patients’ outcomes depend at least in part on physicians’ people skills, says Krisda Chaiyachati, MD, MPH , an adjunct assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine in Philadelphia, who wasn’t involved in the new study. “The scientific evidence that attentive listening and spending time with patients can be lifesaving is growing,” Dr. Chaiyachati says. “If, on average, female physicians are indeed better at both, then maybe how they connect with patients is a critical innate characteristic that affects whether patients live or die.”

Are you and your partner neglecting sex play? Learn how to add it back into your routine to boost your bond in and out of the bedroom. While “quickies” can be fun and spontaneous, skipping foreplay means missing out on a great way to connect emotionally and physically. According to Pepper Schwartz, PhD, a sexual health expert and researcher at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, foreplay is critical, elemental, and necessary.

Foreplay, also known as “outercourse,” is any sexual activity that occurs before intercourse. There is no single way to engage in foreplay, as it can mean different things to different people. It can involve kissing, caressing, cuddling, flirty texting or talking, massage, and oral sex. If you like it a little rough, biting, pinching, scratching, and spanking can be a turn-on. The goal is to increase sexual excitement, which can help prepare the body for intercourse. Foreplay is sometimes thought of as a warm-up for sex, but it doesn’t necessarily have to lead to intercourse. Some couples find foreplay itself to be sexually fulfilling as a main event.

The benefits of foreplay include lubrication of the vagina, an extended erection, and the prevention of premature ejaculation for people with penises. The female body pulls the uterus up when aroused, lengthening the vagina. This process, called uterine tenting, creates a pool area for semen, which is part of the reproductive sophistication of our machinery, according to Dr. Schwartz. As those muscles relax, the nerve endings start to get stimulated, paving the way for a more pleasurable experience. Research involving married couples has found that 1 to 10 minutes of foreplay was associated with 40% of women achieving orgasm during sex. That percentage rose to 50 with 12 to 20 minutes of foreplay and 60 with more than 20 minutes of foreplay.

If you want more action in bed, you have to let your partner know what you want. But talking about sex can be easier said than done for some. Dr. Lyndsey Harper, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Texas A&M School of Medicine in Bryan, Texas, recommends two sentence starters to try when expressing sexual desire to your partner: “I want you to…” and “It feels so good when you…”. If it makes you more comfortable, you can bring up your sexual needs outside of the bedroom. If you don’t know how to bring it up, she suggests starting the conversation with something like, “Our sex life is really important, and I’d love for us to feel open talking about things. Would it be okay for me to share with you some things I like?”

Communication comfort is closely linked to trust. To experience true intimacy and fun foreplay, trusting each other is essential, especially since our needs constantly change. Couples who find it difficult to communicate about their desires should consider seeing a couple’s counselor or sex therapist who can help them navigate these discussions.

Foreplay is just play. Couples can engage in it however they want. According to Dr. Harper, it generally takes about 20 minutes of arousal for women to become fully lubricated and ready for penetrative sex. However, it is best to abolish the idea of “foreplay” and the “main event” of penetrative sex and work together with your partner to create a fun and intimate sexual life where everyone’s needs are met.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual-health/sexual-foreplay.aspx

The post Hospital Deaths and Complication Rates Are Lower With Female Doctors appeared first on Secretly Sexy.

Foreplay is just play. Couples can engage in it however they want. According to Dr. Harper, it generally takes about 20 minutes of arousal for women to become fully lubricated and ready for penetrative sex. However, it is best to abolish the idea of “foreplay” and the “main event” of penetrative sex and work together with your partner to create a fun and intimate sexual life where everyone’s needs are met.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual-health/sexual-foreplay.aspx

The post Hospital Deaths and Complication Rates Are Lower With Female Doctors appeared first on Secretly Sexy.

Are you and your partner neglecting sex play? Learn how to add it back into your routine to boost your bond in and out of the bedroom. While "quickies" can be fun and spontaneous, skipping foreplay means missing out on a great way to connect emotionally and physically. According to Pepper Schwartz, PhD, a sexual health expert and researcher at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, foreplay is critical, elemental, and necessary. Foreplay, also known as "outercourse," is any sexual activity that occurs before intercourse. There is no single way to engage in foreplay, as it can mean different things to different people. It can involve kissing, caressing, cuddling, flirty texting or talking, massage, and oral sex. If you like it a little rough, biting, pinching, scratching, and spanking can be a turn-on. The goal is to increase sexual excitement, which can help prepare the body for intercourse. Foreplay is sometimes thought of as a warm-up for sex, but it doesn't necessarily have to lead to intercourse. Some couples find foreplay itself to be sexually fulfilling as a main event. The benefits of foreplay include lubrication of the vagina, an extended erection, and the prevention of premature ejaculation for people with penises. The female body pulls the uterus up when aroused, lengthening the vagina. This process, called uterine tenting, creates a pool area for semen, which is part of the reproductive sophistication of our machinery, according to Dr. Schwartz. As those muscles relax, the nerve endings start to get stimulated, paving the way for a more pleasurable experience. Research involving married couples has found that 1 to 10 minutes of foreplay was associated with 40% of women achieving orgasm during sex. That percentage rose to 50 with 12 to 20 minutes of foreplay and 60 with more than 20 minutes of foreplay. If you want more action in bed, you have to let your partner know what you want. But talking about sex can be easier said than done for some. Dr. Lyndsey Harper, a clinical assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Texas A&M School of Medicine in Bryan, Texas, recommends two sentence starters to try when expressing sexual desire to your partner: "I want you to..." and "It feels so good when you...". If it makes you more comfortable, you can bring up your sexual needs outside of the bedroom. If you don't know how to bring it up, she suggests starting the conversation with something like, "Our sex life is really important, and I'd love for us to feel open talking about things. Would it be okay for me to share with you some things I like?" Communication comfort is closely linked to trust. To experience true intimacy and fun foreplay, trusting each other is essential, especially since our needs constantly change. Couples who find it difficult to communicate about their desires should consider seeing a couple's counselor or sex therapist who can help them navigate these discussions.

Foreplay is just play. Couples can engage in it however they want. According to Dr. Harper, it generally takes about 20 minutes of arousal for women to become fully lubricated and ready for penetrative sex. However, it is best to abolish the idea of "foreplay" and the "main event" of penetrative sex and work together with your partner to create a fun and intimate sexual life where everyone's needs are met.

https://www.everydayhealth.com/sexual-health/sexual-foreplay.aspx

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