No pregnancies and no STDs: why you must use condoms

We list the top 5 reasons why you must wear a condom during sex – and abstain if you run out of your normal supply.

Sex is great, isn’t it? It’s even better when you can perform sex without any anxiety weighing you down. You would get stressed out during sex if you were tired, or afraid of contracting a sexually transmitted disease from a new sexual partner, or terrified of getting your partner pregnant.

Why rob yourself of some great sex with these worries? Just use a condom – and here are 5 great reasons to do so.

1. To protect against STDs and STIs. Condoms create an essential barrier against bodily fluids exchanged during sex. Thus, if the bodily fluids between the sexual partners do not come in contact with each other, there is no chance of one infected partner spreading an infection to the other. Condoms prevent the spread of minor infections like thrush and major ones like HIV equally well.
2. To prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Couples who do not like to use condoms perform complex calculations to prevent pregnancy from unprotected sex. They time their ‘sex days’ basis the woman’s ovulation cycles, the number of days since her last period, the expected date of her next period, etc. Why not simplify matters and just use a condom instead? You can have sex whenever you want without having to worry about an unplanned pregnancy.
3. There are no side effects on using them. Unlike contraceptive pills that cause weight gain, headaches and nausea, condoms come with zero side effects. You just have to slip it on an erect penis and let it do its job. Once you are done, simply throw it away! You will not face any health problems on using a condom.
4. They can enhance the sexual experience. Most people mistakenly believe that condoms diminish their sexual pleasure. In fact, modern day condoms are designed to heighten the experience – they are lubricated, ribbed and dotted for maximum pleasure. Plus, they are super thin as well, to provide as natural a feel as possible, while being super strong so that they don’t tear during the act.
5. You don’t need prescriptions for condoms. While other methods of contraception for both men and women require a doctor’s prescription – and sometimes, even a surgical procedure – no such limitation exists with a condom. Just be sure to buy the right size.

Paediatric Surgeons Renew Attack on Heart Problems in Babies

Indian paediatric care has been progressing by leaps and bounds in the last 45 years of its practice as a branch of medicine in India. Constantly, one hears of miracles being performed by doctors in various parts of the country, saving the lives of thousands of children facing problems at birth that need critical attention without delay. Recently Bangalore has emerged as a rapidly developing medical hub with visitors flocking here from all over India and abroad for treatment.

Parents Take Heart, Medical Help is at Hand

In the recent past, Bangalore has taken the lead in healthcare with the highest number of cardiac surgeries being performed in the city. Of these, 30% were paediatric cardiac surgeries. There are 1.5 to 2 lakh children born in India with congenital heart problems and diseases. In fact, heart disease in newborns is more common than Down’s syndrome but unlike Down’s syndrome, congenital heart disease rarely makes it to an expectant parent’s list of worries due to low awareness. According to paediatric surgeons in Bangalore, 90% of the heart problems in children are curable with timely intervention. An additional deciding factor is that the cost of treatment in North India is roughly 30% more than it is here. 

It’s not just Indians who are flocking to Bangalore in search of a paediatric surgeon. The city has become a hub for medical tourism, a recent trend that attracts people from developed countries come to destinations like India in search of quality treatment at the fraction of what it would cost them back home. At present, the city sees the maximum number of patients coming in from the Gulf countries for treatment. Similarly, the cost of treatment in Bangalore is approximately 10% easier on the pocket than in Singapore, Europe and the US.

In the period between 2014 and 2016, there were 88,020 patients from abroad in the city for treatment. As far back as 2007, there were almost seven lakh medical tourists in Bangalore from the US alone seeking specialized medical help in state-of-the-art facilities. There were patients from Bangladesh, Iraq, Yemen, Maldives, Oman, Mauritius, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria and Indonesia. What drives these patients to the city is a diverse range of medical needs including general surgery or specialized procedures such as joint replacement surgery, neurosurgery and more complex tertiary procedures such as paediatric cardiac surgery and organ transplants.