CDC: More Teens Using Emergency Contraception

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It appears teens are using emergency contraception.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report says among sexually-active females 15 to 19-years-old, 22 percent used emergency contraception at least once in their lives.

That’s up from eight percent in 2002.

The Food and Drug Administration approved Plan B one-step as a nonprescription drug for women who have a potential to bear children in 2013.

This ruling meant teens could purchase it over the counter without a prescription.

The team notes it’s too early to know whether the FDA ruling played a role in the rise in teen use of emergency contraception.

The rise in emergency contraception use is likely contributing to the decline in teen births, but it’s not clear how much of an impact it has.
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The number of teens having sex has dropped dramatically over the last 25 years.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention researchers say 44 percent of girls and 47 percent of boys between 15 and 19 had sexual intercourse at least once from 2011 to 2013.

That’s down from 51 percent of girls and 60 percent of boys in 1988.

The drop is most likely due to the AIDS epidemic and the cultural shift resulting from increased awareness of sexually transmitted diseases.

Study authors found other evidence that teens have become more responsible when it comes to sex including that four out of five teens now use a contraceptive method when they first have sex.
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Eating junk food may cause a drug-like addiction.

Canadian researchers divided rats into three groups adjusting their diet accordingly.

One group had a low-fat diet, the second was high in monounsaturated fats, and third were fed foods higher in saturated fats.

After eight weeks, the rats all had similar body weights, but those on the saturated fat diet had less of a reaction to the dopamine in their system.

Essentially they got less pleasure from eating and tried to overcompensate by eating more fatty food.

Study authors say the brain responds in a similar way to drugs since both trigger a release of dopamine in our bodies.

People become less sensitive to its effects and compensate by having more.