Jan.17,2011
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Semen allergy suspected in rare post-orgasm illness
Allergy is hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system according to wikipedia.People could be allergic to anything like certain food,medicines pollens etc.Reactions ranges from mild such as runny nose to life threatening like anaphylaxis.The article below talks about men who felt unwell after ejaculating. Probably they've blamed it on exhaustion before.But read on to know a probable explanation and a possible cure to the problem.On the other hand women who suffers from itchiness,redness and pain in their genital areas should not always blame it on bacterial and yeast infections.If you've been given medications for infections but the symptoms did not disappear then talk to your doctor. The symptoms could be allergic reaction to sperm.Read the related articles below:
A mysterious syndrome in which men come down with a flu-like illness after an orgasm may be caused by an allergy to semen, Dutch scientists said on Monday.
Men with the condition, known as post orgasmic illness syndrome or POIS and documented in medical journals since 2002, get flu-like symptoms such as feverishness, runny nose, extreme fatigue and burning eyes immediately after they ejaculate. Symptoms can last for up to week.
Marcel Waldinger, a professor of sexual psychopharmacology at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, published two studies in the Journal of Sexual Medicine which suggest that men with POIS have an allergy to their own semen, and that a treatment known as hyposensitization therapy can help reduce its impact.
"These results are a very important breakthrough in the research of this syndrome," Waldinger said in a telephone interview. He said the findings "contradict the idea that the complaints have a psychological cause" and show that an auto-allergic reaction to semen is the most likely cause.
Although it has been documented in scientific papers since 2002, post orgasmic illness syndrome is largely unknown among family doctors and experts say many men who suffer the condition feel ashamed about it and confused about what is wrong.
Waldinger said while the syndrome is probably rare, it is likely that many men who suffer with it do not know it is a recognized condition and so do not come forward to doctors.
For these studies, Waldinger and colleagues analyzed 45 Dutch men who were diagnosed with the illness.
"They didn't feel ill when they masturbated without ejaculating, but as soon as the semen came from the testes...after that they became ill, sometimes within just a few minutes," Waldinger said.
Thirty-three of them agreed to undergo a standard skin-prick allergy test using a diluted form of their own semen. Of those, 29, or 88 percent, had a positive skin reaction indicating an auto-immune response, or allergic reaction.
In a second study in the same journal, Waldinger's team decided to try treating two of the volunteers with hyposensitization therapy -- a well-known technique for treating allergies, also called allergen immunotherapy, which repeatedly exposes the body to small but gradually increasing amounts of the allergen over several years.
In the POIS therapy, the men were given skin injections containing their own semen, at first in an extremely dilute form, and then in gradually less diluted forms. The study's results showed that after one and three years respectively, the men showed a significant reduction in their POIS symptoms.
"It's a very slow process. It is used for all sorts of allergies and can sometimes take up to 5 years," Waldinger said. In the light of the first results, his team have now started several more POIS patients on hyposensitization therapy.- Yahoo News(Editing by Ben Hirschler and Peter Graff)
Semen Allergy- A Closer Look And How It Is Treated
By: Gen Wright
Why Are There People Who Are Allergic to Semen?
Semen is made up of proteins, and there are certain people who are allergic to this protein. The specific protein is not yet identified since semen is made up of various types of protein. Scientists have not isolated yet the specific protein responsible for causing semen allergy. The body's immune system response to this protein is by producing antibodies, and the mechanism involve is similar to that of people who have seasonal allergies.
What Happens When One Has Semen Allergy?
Usually, during sexual intercourse, an individual may be in contact with semen. You would know if you are suffering from semen allergy by its signs. It usually starts with a localized response like pain, redness, swelling, and a burning sensation that will usually last from minutes to hours. It usually affects the outer vaginal area, around the labia majora, and the perineum. Sometimes pain and swelling can be felt in the inner portion of the vagina. Women who have experienced the localized symptoms reported that the pain feels like 10,000 needles have been injected in the area simultaneously. Semen allergy, just like other allergies, is an immune system response.
In worst cases, a systemic response may be inhibited by the patients. They may have difficulty in breathing, hives or urticaria, and swelling of the body's soft tissues. Anaphylactic shock may result, and the patient may be unconscious after. Localized responses may also accompany systemic responses at the same time.
