For how we live.
Taken as prescribed, oral PrEP cuts the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99%, the CDC says. But randomised trials measured 44% to 86% — because the protection depends almost entirely on taking it.
Pulling out is better than no method but among the least reliable in common use: US data put its first-year failure at 20%. Pre-ejaculatory fluid carried motile sperm in a substantial minority of men studied.
A short course of a first-line antibiotic clears most uncomplicated UTIs. Five-day nitrofurantoin beat single-dose fosfomycin (70% vs 58% resolution), and two-thirds of women recovered on ibuprofen alone.
Cochrane reviews rate anti-inflammatory painkillers a very effective treatment for menstrual cramps, roughly doubling the odds of good pain relief. Exercise helps too, but on lower-quality evidence.
US guidelines recommend routine chlamydia and gonorrhea screening for sexually active women under 25 and older women at higher risk. Self-collected swabs match clinician-collected ones closely.
A Cochrane review found women doing pelvic floor muscle training were eight times more likely to report their stress incontinence cured than untreated women — with the strongest evidence for that one condition.
A Cochrane review of 50 trials found cranberry products lower UTI risk in women with recurrent infections and in children, but no benefit in the elderly, in pregnancy, or in bladder-emptying problems.