You're Teaching My Child What? (15 page)

Microfold cells (“M cells”) are abundant in a healthy human rectum.
⁶²
Like Langerhans cells in the cervix, M cells are watchdogs that identify foreign particles and shuttle them over to HQ for management by the body's defense system. An M cell
wants
to attract microbes, so its surface is sticky.
⁶³
When observed with electron microscopy, M cells appear to reach out, engulf a pathogen, and bring it into the cell in a pocket.
⁶⁴
The pocket moves to the other end of the M cell, to immune cells that process the microbe and determine the appropriate response: ignore it or rally against it.

Along comes HIV. It subverts the system, turning M cells into an express lane for invasion. The virus is packaged, transported, and handed over to immune cells that are one and the same as the target cells the virus must reach to cause disease. So M cells facilitate the virus's job; they Fed Ex HIV directly to a lymphocyte—delivery takes ten minutes.
⁶⁵
,
⁶⁶

Remember Dr. Jacobs's talk to the Board of Education: feces are packed with organisms that can cause disease. The normal gastrointestinal tract, in fact, has the highest recorded bacterial cell density of any microbial ecosystem.
⁶⁷
So a host of other bugs, not only HIV, can gain entry to the body via the M cell shuttle: cholera, shigella, salmonella, and E. coli.
⁶⁸
No wonder the cell has been called “a potential Achilles heel” in the GI system's barrier to infection.
⁶⁹

There are no M cells in the vagina. This is not to say transmission of HIV cannot happen there—it can. But for infection to occur, there must be some weakening of the system—an infection like HPV or herpes, an open sore, trauma, cancerous cells.

As former Surgeon General Koop told the nation, “Condoms provide some protection, but anal intercourse is simply too dangerous to
practice.” That's also the message my friend John Potterat told his two sons, his daughter, and their friends.

John has been called “one of the country's leading epidemiologists”;
⁷⁰
he was Director of STD/AIDS Programs in Colorado Springs, CO, for almost thirty years, and has authored, as of this writing, 177 scholarly publications about STDs and HIV/AIDS. Before his kids became sexually active, he told them: The anus is an exit, not an entrance.
⁷¹
This is not the Bible, he said; this is science. The anal lining is only one cell thick, there are M cells everywhere, there is no lubrication, so tissue microtears are common, and access to the blood stream is easy. Unlike the vagina, nature put a tight sphincter at the entrance of the anus. It's there for a reason: Keep out!

Few parents are STD experts like John P., but your kids deserve the same insider wisdom as his. Go ahead, tell them: The rectum is an exit, not an entrance. Because you can be sure they won't be hearing that in sex ed class.

Dr. Jacobs is trying to keep the oath she took upon graduating from medical school: to prevent disease whenever she can. But her politically incorrect message isn't welcome, and she's worked, on her own dime, to get life-saving facts to students. If their priority was disease prevention, the Board of Education wouldn't limit Dr. Jacobs' talk to two minutes—they'd give her an entire day. Instead of being ignored, she'd be given her own national radio show, to share her wisdom and experience with the entire country. Instead of legal battles, she'd be publicly honored. It's a sad state of affairs when, due to political correctness and social agendas, a professional with wisdom, experience, and passion must wage war to be heard.

Why promote the untruth that anal and vaginal intercourse are alike? What's behind the notion of “generic” intercourse? It's the preposterous
belief that males and females are the same, and their unions are equivalent. It's another example of the indoctrination of children with radical social agendas.

Parents must grasp what's happening in the classroom. The truth of biology—anal sex is too dangerous—is squelched, because it contradicts the ideology of “anything goes—no judgments allowed.” As always, when it's health versus sexual freedom, freedom prevails. Kids are encouraged to explore their sexuality, and told precisely how; with the experts' blessings, they go out and play in traffic. Instead of straight talk and hard science, there's a lesson like “Protect Yourself” and discussion of homophobia.
All's well
, goes this thinking,
if kids use latex and there's no name-calling in the halls
.

And then we wonder why, after twenty-five years, HIV is still going strong.

I
MAGINE THIS: You've been faithfully married for years, you have two kids, and your wife's expecting. One day, you discover a bunch of reddish bumps in your groin. No big deal, you think—it's some sort of rash. But in a while, they really itch and sting. It hurts just to walk or sit down. You miss a day of work, wondering, what the heck is this? When the doctor says herpes, you explain that that's simply impossible. But in a few days the email arrives: your blood test is positive. Yes, you have genital herpes—a sexually transmitted disease. What are you thinking?

No need to imagine—you can hear about the entire ordeal from the unfortunate fellow who lived thru it. Check out the herpes support site
racoon.com
, his handle is learn2luv, and his first post is “New/Confused/Angry/Lied.”

Learn2luv can cope with the blisters, even though they are awful. It's his fury and confusion that got him unglued. All these years his
wife kept her infection a secret—and that really burns. For that pain, the doctor didn't have any pills. Whom can he talk to? Learn2luv went online, and spilled his heart out.

He had come to the right place. Members of the site replied within hours, and the online discussion about his situation—a small part of the 52,000 posts here—continued for days.

Source: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy 2007

Learn2luv was also reminded that his wife may have been misled by her doctor: she could have been told the virus is transmitted only during outbreaks:

Their input was helpful, but learn2luv felt terribly betrayed. He began to question his wife's fidelity in other matters. His marriage was in crisis.

From those who've been in learn2luv's shoes—or his wife's, came this advice:

Well said. Common sense tells us, and research confirms,
²
that aside from the ordeal of finding sores or warts on your privates, the diagnosis of one of the viral genital infections, usually herpes or HPV is
emotionally
traumatic.
It's the emotional repercussions that are difficult.
For most people, the anger and questions remain long after the blisters heal.

At New York University's STD Clinic, a positive diagnosis of herpes or HPV was often accompanied by feelings of shock, fear, anger, embarrassment, disgust, diminished self worth, and confusion and worry about the future. Nearly half—49 percent—of people with genital warts reported an adverse effect on their overall emotional state.
³
A New Zealand study of HPV showed 75 percent of patients experienced depression and anger at their initial diagnosis, and for one - third of these, the feelings persisted for years.
⁴
Other research indicates that episodic outbreaks of herpes—most people have at least three to four outbreaks per year
⁵
—can cause people to feel less sexually desirable, and reduce their enjoyment and frequency of sexual contact. It can cause a “major negative impact on quality of life,” greater than the impact of asthma or rheumatoid arthritis.
⁶

It's helpful to have the research, but you'd realize all this from simply looking at the handles people chose when they join STD support sites. For example, at
HPVsupport.com
, the names say it all. A sampling: HatingMyself, NoLuck, worried guy, verysad, givinguphope, scared2death, help-me18, tryingtobestrong, extraordinarilystressed, omg, tiredofthiscrap, FreakedAboutWarts, feelinscrewed, Praying-ForACure, and many more—there are 5300 members helping one another out here.

Research also confirms that learn2luv's marital turmoil is typical, and his wife's dilemma is common. To tell, or not to tell? That is the question, especially on the active forums of herpes and HPV online support sites. When you meet someone new, and it's going well, does he need to know? When you're in love and getting serious, will she bolt? On
racoon.com
, there are 809 topics discussed under the general heading “relationships”: Who do you tell?; Grieving, hurting, coming to acceptance; feel like a loser; the talk; first date . . . when to tell?; I'm panicking! What do I do?; Boyfriend worries each little twinge, he's getting it; guilt; telling him tomorrow, suggestions?; dropping the bomb!

It's harrowing to read these testaments filled with grief and fear. No doubt they are just the tip of the iceburg: for every learn2luv that turns to the Internet for support from strangers, how many others are out there suffering alone?

As parents, when we learn of dangers like these, we naturally hope that our kids will escape them. We trust that sexuality educators are telling it like it is, emphasizing how devastating—and lasting—the repercussions of an STD diagnosis can be—and how these horror stories can be avoided. After all, isn't protecting our kids the goal of sex education?