Duncan Cross is a well-written patient blog that offers health-related commentary through the eyes of a chronically ill patient.

Sex is a topic often ignored by physicians, especially when discussing the side effect profiles of many medications:

In my experience, doctors ignored my romantic life unless I specifically complained about it – and it’s hard to talk about . . . it’s pretty cruel to a) give a twenty-something male a drug that cripples his libido b) without telling him it will do so, and c) keep him on the drug indefinitely.

How about the hospital environment? Many patients may be too sick to think about it, but that’s not always the case:

I don’t know of any place less hospitable – ha! – to human normalcy than the hospital. In the hospital, people are deprived of privacy, mobility, adequate nutrition – all sorts of basic human capabilities, including opportunities for sexual satisfaction. The irony is that although I often felt somewhat better in the hospital – that is, more capable of getting up and moving around, eating better, having sex – the place itself made these activities incredibly difficult.

Unique insight on a rarely discussed topic.

topics: hospital, sex