Semen "flu" you believe?

[Ash007]

Men can be allergic to their own semen it seems.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/science/semen-flu-found-to-be-an-allergy-20110119-19wpn.html

Semen 'flu' found to be an allergy
Thomas Maugh
January 20, 2011
LOS ANGELES: Some men seem to be allergic to their own semen, developing a mysterious flu-like illness after they have ejaculated, Dutch researchers say.

The condition, known as post-orgasmic illness syndrome or POIS, has been documented since 2002. Symptoms include feverishness, runny nose, extreme fatigue and burning eyes, which can last for up to a week.

Some doctors had suggested the disorder was psychosomatic, but Marcel Waldinger, a professor of sexual psychopharmacology at Utrecht University, and colleagues demonstrated in two papers in The Journal of Sexual Medicine that the syndrome was allergic in nature and that it might be possible to desensitise men to the problem.

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Dr Waldinger and his colleagues studied 45 men with POIS. Thirty-three agreed to undergo a standard skin allergy test using a diluted form of their own semen; 29 of the 33, or 88 per cent, showed a positive allergic reaction, indicating an autoimmune response.

It is not clear, however, why they exhibited a response to the semen only when it was released from the testicles.

''They didn't feel ill when they masturbated without ejaculating,'' Dr Waldinger said. ''But as soon as the semen came from the testes … they became ill, sometimes within a few minutes.''

In a second study in the journal, Dr Waldinger used what is known as hyposensitisation therapy on two of the men, injecting them with steadily stronger solutions of their semen. The team found that after one and three years, the men showed significantly less POIS symptoms.

Los Angeles Times