Semen & Skin
As for semen being good for skin, it is an interesting claim. I have not heard any actual scientific discussion on this, but I do know that semen cotains a good quantity of zinc. Zinc is an ingredient in many commercial skin lotions and dandruff shampoos and is very good for the skin. It therefore stands to reason that semen could be used as a kind of natural "zinc cream". Food for thought. 209.217.75.162 20:14, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Hi there. I've split the text into section headings. I've also added a section on nutrition. See the link that I added for source information on this.
Also, I think that zinc should be listed in the composition of semen. I will leave it up to others decretion to make this edit. 209.217.75.162 09:20, 21 Jul 2004 (UTC)
Sperm in semen could be carrier of exogenous (viral) DNA into offspring. Originally the scienctific paper was scorned, but stood firm, and has been accepted in vitro fertilization procedure with limited application as of now.
Sperm cells and foreign DNA: a controversial relation.
Bioessays. 1998 Nov;20(11):955-64. Review.
Bulky DNA adducts in human sperm: relationship with fertility, semen quality, smoking, and environmental factors.
Mutat Res. 2003 May 9;537(1):53-65.
Interaction of exogenous DNA with the nuclear matrix of live spermatozoa.
Mol Reprod Dev. 2000 Jun;56(S2):235-237.
//www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=2720785
Indiana Nik03:22, Jan 20, 2005 UTC
It should be noted that the Mutation Research paper listed above ("Bulky DNA adducts...") addresses a different issue - the experiments it describes do not relate to viral DNA and spermatozoa. Abstraktn 06:53, 20 Jan 2005 (UTC)
P0lyglot (and others), I have been searching around for references to semen's supposed benefit to skin and I have come up short. I asked a professional nurse and she immediately refuted the claim.
I have restructured this document somewhat to move these claims into a separate paragraph. sunbeam60 00:14, 2004 Jan 19 (UTC)
are there historical references that semen is good for the skin? Xah P0lyglut 01:07, 2003 Dec 12 (UTC)
Improvements
This article could be fleshed out, but I don't know enough to attempt it myself. Things I noticed that are missing:
- explanation of the composition of semen (why is there fructose and salt in semen? Does it feed the sperm somehow?)
- the properties of semen and how that might help to get a woman pregnant, and how long can the sperm survive outside the man's body, what in semen helps this?
- are there more cultural beliefs about the properties of semen that could be added? That paragraph is interesting, but could be longer.
- and what historical beliefs did we have about semen? Fabiform 22:42, 20 Jan 2004 (UTC)
I have been adding some information with the aim of giving some depth to the scientific content of the article. There's a lot more that can be added, for example I agree with Fabiform that the reason(s) for particular constituents is worth discussing.
At the moment I'm not satisfied that the article as a whole reads well enough... Abstraktn 08:30, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)
Pregnancy
I think that specifying a 'successful' sterilization is necessary. I was under the impression that in rare cases for example after a vasectomy, a man's body can fix the snip and become fertile again. Aren't men checked every few years to make sure they're still sterile? (I haven't googled on any of this; this is just from my memory, so correct me if I'm wrong of course!) Fabiform 22:49, 20 Jan 2004 (UTC)
I didn't remove "successful". Evercat 22:52, 20 Jan 2004 (UTC)
- No you didn't. Sorry. (I confused myself when I saw 'sucessful' highlighted in red because it'd been changed) I see you just corrected my spelling in two places. I must remember to spellcheck. Thanks for following in my wake and picking up the pieces. ;) Fabiform
I changed the section under pregnancy, where it said a woman could get pregnant "at any time." Contrary to what our sex ed teachers would have us believe, this absolutely is not the case. There is a 1-2 day period in which an egg can be fertilized, and sperm can live in the female tract for up to 5 days. So even the best odds are a week-long period each cycle in which a women can become pregnant.
Taste
I noticed that someone added a section on taste. Are there any actual references to back this up, or this just vandalism? 64.26.167.34 22:51, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- i took the following from the article
==Taste==
Although some people find the taste of semen objectionable, it can be improved if the man consumes more fruit, less meat, and avoids alcohol and tobacco. [[Asparagus]] should definitely be avoided.
The article needs something about taste but not this. If anyone can find some decent sources about this that would be great.
The bellman 23:03, 2005 Jan 6 (UTC)
- I've heard from several reliable sources that fruit, meat and other foods do play a role in taste, and I'm not talking anecdotal evidence here. Off the top of my head, I can only remember one definite source: Sue Johanson's show. I don't remember the episode number or anything, but if someone has the time to dig through her archives, go nuts. If I recall correctly, she also mentioned something about a drug one could take to alter the taste. --LuciferBlack 14:55, Jan 8, 2005 (UTC)
The smell of semen is characteristic of strongly basic amines:putrescine, spermine, spermidine and cadaverine. The idea of offensive taste of semen regarding men who eat meat may have some scienctific basis as meat contains large amount of lysine and arginine (basic amino acids) which are the starting point for more stongly amines putrescine, cadaverine, spermine, etc. Indiana Nik 03:08, Jan 20, 2005 (UTC)
Semen and transmission of disease
The disputed connection between HIV and AIDS is highly controversial. A more in-depth discussion of the conventional and alternate hypotheses is better suited to another page - the information included here could be merged with the "Alternate Theories" section of the AIDS page. Abstraktn 00:31, 23 Dec 2004 (UTC)
- Connection between HIV and AIDS are for the most part scientifically proven and I see no evidence to suggest that the opposite view is in anyway becoming more mainstream. Therefore I will be removing the passage regarding this which is the way it should stay until someone else can respond with evidence that proves that this viewpoint is becoming more mainstream in any substaintial amount. wwahammy
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