Testosterone Replacement for Older Men?
As men age from 50 to 70, their testosterone levels drop more than 40 percent, causing them to become fatter, and less sexual, muscular and assertive and have smaller, weaker bones (7,11). Twenty percent of men aged 60-80 years have testosterone levels below the lower limit of normal.
Swollen Testicles: Varicoceles and Hydroceles
Research has shown that most cases of swollen testicles do not need to be corrected by surgery. Swollen, painless testicles are usually caused by varicoceles, large veins full of blood on the outside of the testicles; or hydroceles, a sac of fluid around the testicles. Less common causes include infection or a tumor.
MRIs Help to Reduce Prostate Biopsies
A study of 23,802 Swedish men found that getting an MRI before scheduling a prostate biopsy was associated with reduced proportion of men who received biopsies,, reduced biopsies in low-risk prostate cancers (Gleason score of 6 or lower) who usually are not treated, and increased detection of the number of men at high risk for prostate cancer (Gleason score greater than 6) who need immediate treatment
Prostate Cancer Treatments
I have been asked by hundreds of men who have been diagnosed with prostate cancer whether they should be treated with surgery or radiation, or just watch and wait. One study showed that men under 60 who are in excellent health and are destined to live long lives may benefit from early treatment (1). Six years later, 4.6 percent of men who had surgery had expired, compared to 8.9 percent of those who did not have surgery.
Fitness Prevents Impotence
A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine (August 2003) showed that lack of physical fitness is a major cause of impotence. Doctor Eric...
Male Hair Loss and Heart Attacks
A depressing study from Harvard School of Public Health showed that loss of hair on the top of the head markedly increases a man's...
Frequent Urination at Night
Several papers show that having to urinate frequently at night is often caused by low levels of antidiuretic hormone (1,2) and that taking that hormone can control this condition.
Lifestyle Changes to Treat and Prevent Prostate Cancer
Extensive data show that the typical western diet, obesity, and lack of exercise are associated with increased risk for prostate cancer. Recent studies now show that intense exercise and an anti-inflammatory diet help to reduce markers for prostate cancer progression in men who already have prostate cancer.
PSA Test for Prostate Cancer
Many doctors recommend that every man over 40 get a blood test called Prostate Specific Antigen to check for prostate cancer. Prostate Specific Antigen is made by prostate cells and is released into the bloodstream. Large prostates have more PSA, so a rise in PSA means that the gland is enlarging rapidly, which can be a sign of cancer or that the prostate is irritated by infection.
Taking Testosterone Increases Risk for Clots in Lungs
A study of 39,622 men who had blood clots in their veins shows that those who took testosterone (for legitimate medical reasons or not) suffered increased risk for forming potentially-fatal blood clots.
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
If you are a man who finds it difficult to start your stream, check with your doctor to see if you have an infection or a benign or cancerous enlargement of your prostate.
Impotence is a Major Risk Factor for Heart Attacks
A review of published studies shows that the world-wide incidence of inability to achieve an erection varies widely from three percent to 76.5 percent,...
Healthful Lifestyle Reduces Risk of Dying from Prostate Cancer
Almost all North American men will develop prostate cancer if they live long enough. However, fewer than five percent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will die from that disease and the 15-year survival rate is 96 percent.
Permanent Birth Control Methods: Vasectomy or Tubal Ligation?
Will a vasectomy increase risk of prostate cancer? Whether the husband gets a vasectomy or the wife gets a tubal ligation is usually decided by who has the strongest will. Vasectomies and tubal ligations are safe surgeries, but the operation on a man is a simple cutting under the skin in an office, while the operation on a woman requires going into her belly in an operating room. Over the long haul, they both are safe and effective in preventing pregnancies.
Testosterone to Prevent Heart Attacks?
We have no data to show that testosterone helps to prevent heart attacks in older men. In an effort to find out if taking testosterone could help to prevent heart attacks, doctors gave injections of testosterone to 45 men and placebo to 43 men for 40 weeks. Those treated with testosterone showed a reduction in the cardiac biomarker NT-proBNP, but no reduction in another biomarker, hs-cTnT.
High Blood Sugar Linked to Prostate Enlargement, Low Testosterone and Prostate Cancer
Metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes are characterized by high blood sugar, insulin, and triglycerides, low HDL and a fatty liver and obesity. Of 490 male adults, average age 58 years old, 37 percent with lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTS) had metabolic syndrome.
Warnings from Impotence
The same lifestyle factors and diseases that cause impotence also cause heart attacks. Many impotent men have no idea they are at high risk for a heart attack and cannot even name any of the six factors that put them at high risk for both impotence and heart attacks: smoking, overweight, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and lack of exercise.
Prostate Cancer and Heart Attacks Share Lifestyle Factors
A study of 90,494 U.S. veterans with prostate cancer found that more than half suffered from uncontrolled risk factors for heart attacks. Men who suffer from prostate cancer have a very high rate of heart attack risk factors and heart disease.
Plant-Based Diets Associated with Reduced Risk of Prostate Cancer Spreading
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the U.S. A study of 2062 men with an average age 65.0, diagnosed with localized prostate cancer and followed in 43 different urology practices, found that the men with cancer who ate the most plant-based foods had a 47 percent reduced chance of having their prostate cancer spread in 6.5 years, compared to men who ate the least plant-based foods
Mediterranean Diet Associated with Improved Sexuality in Men
A study of 21,469 U.S. male health professionals, ages 40 to 75, found that those who followed a Mediterranean diet had a markedly reduced rate of erectile dysfunction. The more closely they followed the dietary rules, the more likely they were to be able to achieve an erection.
Bent Penis: Peyronie’s Disease
Three of 100 men suffer from Peyronie's disease, a bending of the penis during erection. The penis contains balloons that fill with blood to cause an erection. These balloons can develop a scar that prevents them from expanding normally during an erection, causing the penis to bend toward the scar.
Testosterone Increases Heart Attack Risk
Researchers reviewed the medical records of 55,593 men who were given testosterone for low testosterone levels and/or sexual dysfunction and compared them to men...
Prostate Cancer Treatment Choices
A new study followed more than 1500 men with prostate cancer for ten years (New England Journal of Medicine, September 14, 2016). This is the first study to compare treatment with surgery or radiation to no treatment at all ("watchful waiting").
Premature Ejaculation
Premature ejaculation means that a man doesn't last as long as he wants to, regardless of time or strokes. Ninety percent of teenage boys suffer from this condition, while 90 percent of men over the age of 55 suffer from delayed ejaculation.
Preventing Prostate Cancer
High blood sugar levels, particularly fructose, turn on a man's immunity that is supposed to attack and kill invading germs. Instead his immunity attacks his own normal cells to damage the genetic DNA material and turn normal prostate cells into cancer cells.
More Benefits of Mid-Life Fitness for Men
A study that followed 13,000 men from 1971 to 2009 shows that men who keep a high level of fitness from their forties onward...
Prostate Cancer and Heart Attacks
Heart attacks are the main cause of death in men diagnosed with prostate cancer. More than 230,000 American men are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer each year. Because prostate cancer usually progresses so slowly, the more than three million living American men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer are at much higher risk for dying of heart attacks than they are of dying of their prostate cancer.
Male Infertility
Infection is the most common cause of male infertility and that standard tests for infertility often do not find the infection. When evaluating a male for infertility, doctors check sperm count and sperm mobility. If a man's ejaculate contains fewer than 50 million sperm, he is infertile, and the most common cause of reduced sperm count is infection.
Prostate Supplements Not What They Claim to Be
It should bother you that the nutritional supplement industry is unregulated because there is no way to tell what a supplement contains. Several different studies have shown that at least one third of nutritional supplements do not supply what is on the label.
