QUESTION: Can long continued use of spray deodorants cause cancer of the armpits?
ANSWER: At first, I thought your letter was a put-on. In fact, that might have been your intention but, nevertheless, you raise an interesting question. Certainly there has been no epidemic of cancer of the axilla or armpit. But spray deodorants have not been in use for very long. Cigarette smoking causes cancer of the lungs but it takes about 20 years for it to develop. We don’t yet have 20 years experience with spray deodorants.
If this is a major concern in your life, I suggest that daily bathing obviates the need for deodorants. Spray deodorants are an invention largely of Madison Avenue but daily bathing is not. In Africa, those who live near rivers and lakes go to the water’s edge at dusk each day to scrub themselves and watch the sunset.
Communal bathing is an event very different from our solitary bath or shower. The Romans knew all about that and the Japanese do today. Perhaps people sing in the shower to give the illusion of company. If you have a large bathtub or shower, consider inviting a friend to join you. Screen out those undesirables who have infectious hepatitis (which possibly could be transmitted in a bathtub), or, more commonly, those who might bitch about the water being either too hot or too cold.
QUESTION: I am a woman 26 with much experience. The only way I have ever reached a climax is to get in a swimming pool or the sea or a bathtub with the water under 60 degrees F. and kick fast.
Then I can reach a climax once, get out, wait 5-10 minutes, reach it again better and if the water is REAL cold reach it up to 4 times.
I first feel the cold in my ankles. There is no thoughts that go with it. What’s this’?
ANSWER: I thought the smudges on your letter were from water but wasn’t certain until after reading it. Many women experience sexual pleasure or can even reach a climax merely by rubbing the thighs together. All female orgasms are achieved by clitoral stimulation, directly or indirectly. In “Human Sexual Response,” Masters and Johnson record the result of their pioneering research in the physiology of sex. Hundreds of individuals, prostitutes and university professors, their wives and lovers, volunteered for the experiments. All varieties of sexual acts were carefully recorded on color movie film and tape recorder. An ingenious transparent penis was designed which contained a movie lens, thus allowing the researchers to record changes in the color of the vagina during intercourse and orgasm.
The female subject could alter the speed, position and depth of thrust of the penis-lens. Masters and Johnson proved that the difference between clitoral and vagina orgasms is a myth.
This myth was popularized by Freud who after all had failings like any other mortal. Unfortunately, his followers, now become disciples, quote his words as if they were the pronouncements of an infallible almighty god. The Freudian Churches are called Analytic Institutes (in all the United States there are but 1600 psychoanalysts who treat at any one time perhaps 2,000 people).
QUESTION: My favorite tripping buddy had had headaches, earaches, postnasal drips and sore throats for the past 8-10 months. He has been tested for all sorts of pollens and food ‘allergies with all tests negative. Allergy pills and/or abstinence from marijuana relieves the symptoms. Are there any reported instances of allergy to marijuana?
ANSWER! You bet your sweet kilo there are. Reports in the medical literature indicate that bronchitis asthma and allergic pneumonia can follow the inhalation of marijuana smoke. The surprising thing is that this particular allergy is relatively uncommon, or otherwise antihistamine manufacturers and allergists would work themselves to death. Your friend ought to report this allergy to the student health ‘service at the university he attends. They will be interested in using his case for research purposes.
Dr. Schoenfield welcomes your questions. Write to him care of the Fifth Estate.