Have a drink or two – but not four. Middle-aged men who routinely drink four or more drinks per day are twice as likely to be diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer. That’s the fast-growing kind that is more likely to metastasize and cause death, according to researchers from Seattle’s Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who conducted a study appearing in the journal Cancer. On the other hand, study author Alan Kristal says two drinks or fewer a day are associated with better heart health. The key is moderation. Learn more …
Archive for the ‘Just for Guys’ Category
Heavy Drinking Boosts Prostate Cancer Risk
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009Male Fertility: Be In the Know
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009
For every seven couples in the U.S. who blithely toss aside their birth control and dive into pregnancy, there’s one couple that struggles to conceive. And about half the time, male factors are involved. But despite the fact that almost 4 million American men struggle with infertility, information and support can seem scarce.
“This is a large, silent disease,” says Paul Turek, M.D., director of The Turek Clinic in San Francisco and former chair of the department of urology at UCSF. He explains that because men just aren’t as proactive about their health as women, male factor infertility often goes untreated. “We don’t feel like infertility is a disease like other diseases, where everyone should get evaluated if they have it,” Turek says.
Beyond the Baby
A variety of issues can cause fertility problems in men – from medical issues like sexually transmitted diseases or cancer, to lifestyle issues like hot tubs and smoking, to environmental issues like exposure to radiation. Many of these are treatable, allowing couples to finally start a family. But infertility treatment can be more than that.
“It’s a window into men’s health,” says Turek, “A critical window. I see the baby as the way to get the man in for care.” Turek explains that often men who are otherwise healthy simply don’t go to the doctor. He has seen patients in his office at age 35 who were unaware they had a serious health problem (like dangerously high blood pressure) because they hadn’t been in for a checkup since childhood. Read on …
Health Tip – Keep That Laptop Off Your Lap
Monday, June 15th, 2009
If you’re a guy who wants to be fertile, that is. Parking that laptop across your legs tops the list of behaviors that could impact your ability to become a dad, according to reproductive specialist Suzanne Kavic, M.D., of Loyola University. Heat generated from laptops can impact sperm production, so put it on a desk or table to keep things cool. Other “hot” items on the list to avoid: hot tubs, briefs, caffeine, smoking, drugs, excessive alcohol use and stress. Learn more …
From the Wire – Stay Healthy At Work, Stay Home When Sick
Wednesday, June 10th, 2009
If you often go to work when you’re sick (it even has a name, “presenteeism”) you’ll also be out sick more often, says a study of more than 5,000 workers in this month’s Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. Swedish researchers found that workers who came to work sick 5 days or more during the year were about twice as likely to be out sick more than 30 days during the following 12 months. Experts say the findings support the idea that taking time off to rest when you’re ill keeps you healthier, and that employers’ attempts to decrease work absences could actually backfire on them (and you). Learn more …
From the Wire: New-And-Improved Prostate Cancer Screening In the Works
Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009
A new blood test intended to reduce the number of false positives in men being screened for prostate cancer is 90% effective when combined with the existing PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test, say researchers from the Dana-Farber Cancer Insitute. The PSA test alone is only 60-70% accurate, requiring many men to have painful follow-up biopsies, two-thirds of which turn out to be unnecessary. The new six-gene blood test, in a recent study of 484 men, proved more accurate than PSA alone, and even better when combined with PSA, leading researchers to plan a larger trial in the near future. Until then, PSA alone remains the best test for diagnosing prostate cancer. Learn more …
Love Your Man? Know His Numbers!
Thursday, May 28th, 2009
The Men's Health Network says wear blue in June: www.wearblueformen.com.
June is National Men’s Health Month, and it’s coming right up. The government’s Office On Women’s Health tells us that men are more likely than women to lead unhealthy lifestyles, but less likely to visit their doctor for checkups – which probably isn’t news to you. Help your guy be healthier with a gentle nudge to make that yearly appointment, and by encouraging him to “know his numbers.”
BMI – 18.5-24.9
Body Mass Index is a measure of body fat based on your height and weight. Anything between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal weight. A BMI of 30 or greater is considered obese. And obesity increases risk of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and some cancers.
Cholesterol – Less than 200 mg/dL
If he’s 35 or older, he should also have a blood test to check his cholesterol yearly. The goal is less than 200 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) total cholesterol, less than 100 mg/dL LDL (bad) cholesterol, and less than 150 mg/dL of triglycerides (fat in the blood).
Let the numbers get too high, and they increase risk of heart disease.
Blood Pressure – 120/80 or lower
A reading of 140/90 or higher is considered high blood pressure. Men with high blood pressure or high cholesterol should also be tested for diabetes. High blood pressure can damage the blood vessels, increasing risk of stroke, kidney failure, heart disease and heart attack.
Interestingly, there isn’t yet a government office on men’s health. But there’s lots of great men’s health information available through the Office On Women’s Health, www.womenshealth.gov/mens. Another fantastic source for information on men’s health is The Men’s Health Network. They have a free “e-male” newsletter, resource lists, events, and a host of other goodies at www.menshealthnetwork.org.
Hey Guys: Get B-Ball Fit
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The playoffs are underway, and for all of you with basketball fever, here are some exercises from the American College of Sports Medicine to help keep you fit, flexible, and on the ball.
Basketball Squats: Place the ball behind your back at your belt line, sandwiched between you and the wall. Step forward 12 inches, keeping your feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight, squat down until your knees reach a 90-degree angle. Then, extend your legs to return to the upright position. Repeat. (Strengthens quadriceps, hamstrings and gluteal muscles.)
Coach’s Crunch: Sit on your bottom, with your feet on the floor. Lean back at approximately a 30-45-degree angle. Hold a basketball at arm’s length in front of your chest. Suck your stomach in, tightening your abdominal muscles. Rotate to one side, pause, then rotate to the other side, touching the ball to the floor on each side. Repeat. (Strengthens core muscles, including obliques, lower back and middle abdominals.)
Basketball Blasts: Lying on your back with knees bent, hold the basketball against your chest with both hands. Perform a standard crunch, lifting shoulder blades off the floor and keeping your chin tucked in toward your chest to protect your neck. Repeat (Works abdominal muscles.)
All-Star Twist: Perform back-to-back partner passes to improve coordination. Stand back-to-back with a partner, and turn at the same time to the same side (your right, partner’s left), passing the ball back and forth. Repeat on opposite sides. (Works obliques.)
Basketball Bend: Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, holding a basketball straight overhead. Keeping the back straight, slowly bend to one side. Repeat on each side. (Enhances lower back flexibility.)
Get the kids into the act. Step into your local Toys ‘R’ Us store to find the “NBA Fit” display, featuring sporting goods and NBA gear to let kids see how they measure up to their favorite players.
Hey Guys: Got Sperm?
Thursday, May 14th, 2009
If you’re hoping not, because you’ve had a vasectomy, there’s a new tool to help you be sure. SpermCheck Vasectomy, an at-home test kit developed in conjunction with the University of Virginia Health System, can help make the necessary post-surgical monitoring much easier. The vasectomy failure rate in the U.S. is about one in every 238, so experts recommend testing to make sure the operation has done its job.
Up to now, though, that meant a (possibly embarrassing) trip to the doctor’s office. As many as 35% of men don’t make it to their first follow-up, and 70% miss their second, according to a report from the British Journal of Urology. Now those men can skip the checkup and monitor themselves.
SpermCheck looks and is used much like a home pregnancy test. Men just place a few drops of semen in the well of the test device, and receive a result in 10 minutes. The test measures levels of SP-10, a protein discovered at University of Virginia that is present in sperm. It is the only FDA-approved test for monitoring sperm after vasectomy. A two-test kit is available for $39.99 at www.contravac.com, and kits are expected to be in drug stores by the end of the year.
A companion product, SpermCheck Fertility, targets men who are trying to conceive. With nearly 15% of couples having difficulty, and nearly 40% of infertility due to male factors, this test allows men to determine whether their sperm production is a possible cause. Finished with clinical trials and awaiting FDA approval, SpermCheck Fertility is expected to be available in the coming months.
Another product in development, SpermCheck Contraception, is being used in trials to evaluate the effectiveness of a new contraceptive drug for men, and will be sold along with the drug if it becomes available.
For information, visit www.contravac.com.
Guy Talk: Talking About Your Prostate
Thursday, May 7th, 2009
On the lookout for men’s health issues to discuss, I stumbled across a wonderful column called “Man to Man,” written by Harvey B. Simon, M.D., of Harvard Medical School. Simon is founding editor of the Harvard Men’s Health Watch newsletter and author of six consumer health books, so when he says that “The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to screen for prostate cancer is the most important issue in men’s health,” I tend to believe him.
A bit of background: The test has always been controversial because it can’t tell the difference between slow-growing, harmless prostate cancers and aggressive tumors that could be deadly. As Simon summarizes the question: “Does PSA screening save lives by allowing doctors to treat aggressive cancers early, or does it harm men who would never die from the disease by subjecting them to the side-effects of surgery, radiation and/or hormone therapy?” If you’re a man age 50 or older (common age for PSA testing), here’s a question you would like answered. Read on …
Guy Talk: For Healthy Hearts, Eat Fatty Fish
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
Conventional wisdom says that fatty foods are bad for your heart – unless they’re fatty fish. That’s because fish with lots of fat and oil contains omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown to lower triglycerides (fat in your blood), and reduce blood pressure and heart rate.
Researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard this week released results of a study showing that, among almost 40,000 men, those who ate fatty fish once a week were 12% less likely to develop heart failure during the five years they were followed than those who ate none. That’s good news if you happen to like salmon, herring, mackerel or whitefish, which packs a nice omega-3 punch. Results were even more dramatic among men who took fish oil supplements. Just 0.36 grams of marine omega-3 fatty acid (fish oil) supplements a day produced a 33% reduction in heart failure risk.
The American Heart Association currently recommends that men eat fish twice a week, and this study would seem to reinforce that guideline. And as we head into warm weather, cold poached salmon or salmon on the backyard grill really hits the spot.
Here’s a link to my family’s favorite salmon recipe from Epicurious.com, Poached Salmon With Lemon Mayonnaise. (Note: I’ve been known to skip the step where you reduce the poaching liquid, and just make the mayonnaise with the lemon and herbs.) Just poach it on up in the cool of the morning, or the night before, and all you have to do to serve dinner is open the refrigerator and toss up a salad.
