Men who have benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH; aka enlarged prostate) who are looking for a treatment option that is effective and does not involve drugs or major surgery may want to consider prostate artery embolization (PAE). A report on the benefits of prostate artery embolization for enlarged prostate was presented at the Society of Interventional…
When a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer and surgery is proposed as an option, the decision to move forward should be made only after the patient and his loved ones, along with his medical team, have fully evaluated all of the pros and cons, short-term and long-term side effects, postsurgical needs, and prognosis while…
What is the lowdown on cholesterol? Your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, also known as “bad” cholesterol, causes plaque to build up in your arteries, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, and heart attacks. That is why it is important to take measures to lower your cholesterol. Nobody enjoys being restricted to a bland diet,…
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects approximately 3 million people in the United States, and if you are among them and are male, you should know this: researchers have noted a relationship between IBD and prostate cancer in men. Here’s what experts know thus far. IBD and prostate cancer Past research has shown that people who…
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced it will fast-track the new prostate cancer drug Alpharadin. Fast-tracking a drug speeds up its approval process by around six months. Alpharadin got the green light because recent clinical trial results showed the drug improved overall survival in men with hormone therapy resistant prostate cancer and symptoms…
A PSA test is the main tool doctors use to help men check on their prostate health. But although the PSA test can be very helpful, it is not a perfect test. Many things can temporarily raise PSA levels, causing unnecessary alarm. Currently, the medical community has not reached a consensus on which PSA levels are “safe,” “suspicious,” or…
A recent study was undertaken to determine whether selenium has the ability to prevent prostate cancer in men who have high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, or HG-PIN, a specific risk factor for prostate cancer. Results of the earlier SELECT study found that selenium therapy does not prevent prostate cancer in men in general, but it was…
Knowing your risk for disease can help you take steps to lower your chance of getting ill. With men, they often avoid worrying about their health until they are diagnosed with a problem. Women are better at prevention, which is why it is important to know if your husband is at risk for prostate cancer…
When your spouse, partner, father, or other important adult male in your life won’t go to see a doctor, what can a concerned woman do? If you find yourself in this situation, you are not alone. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, men are 24…
Going bald prematurely (androgenetic alopecia or male pattern baldness) is disturbing enough for many men, but now researchers say they have confirmed that losing your hair puts you at higher risk for developing an enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Both premature balding and BPH have something in common: a hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). Androgenetic alopecia,…
Estrogen for prostate cancer treatment is not a new therapy, but researchers have suggested a different way to give the treatment: patches. Use of estrogen patches may prove to be a safer and more cost-effective way to administer hormone therapy for prostate cancer. How estrogen for prostate cancer treatment works Estrogen is one form of…
Getting help for incontinence, if you are man, may make you feel a bit uneasy. But you are not alone: urinary incontinence affects more than 2 million men in the United States. So you have lots of company when getting help for incontinence. Urinary incontinence is not a disease but a symptom of a urinary…
Devices and products for incontinence are among the many ways men can manage urine leakage and other urinary incontinence symptoms. Various devices and products for incontinence are available both over the counter and through healthcare providers. These devices and products can be used along with medications and behavioral therapies as part of any treatment program…
Men who elect to undergo robotic prostatectomy rather than the standard open prostatectomy or laparoscopic prostatectomy can expect the procedure to be significantly more costly but also safer. A study in the Journal of Urology notes that men who had robotic prostatectomy had a lower risk of needing a blood transfusion or dying, and enjoyed…
Both elite athletes and non-elite individuals who are routinely physically active tend to use over-the-counter anti-inflammatory drugs to help manage muscle pain and inflammation. There can be a tendency to take these drugs in excess, especially since they are often viewed as safe since they are not available by prescription. A Swedish study examined the…
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to treat and also a challenge to detect early. That’s why development of a new technique to screen for early development of pancreatic cancer is so exciting, as well as the fact that investigators who used the technique were able to identify the cancer 100% of…
Cryosurgery (also known as cryoablation and cryotherapy) for prostate cancer, a procedure that delivers a gas to the tumor and freezes the cancer cells while limiting the damage to healthy tissue, is an effective treatment for men who have localized prostate cancer. That’s the conclusion of researchers at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk. The…
There are a number of things that can cause male pelvic pain. It can be challenging to narrow down the source of discomfort, but one of the most common types of male pelvic pain that affects about 50% of men at some point in their lives is prostatitis. There are several types of prostatitis. Some…
You might assume that, upon diagnosis of a malignant tumor, your immediate reaction would be to run screaming to the nearest clinic, demanding its immediate removal at any cost – and while historically, this reaction would be typical, this attitude is fast changing. As counter-intuitive as it may seem, up to 50% of men diagnosed…
Do you have high cholesterol? Then take Lipitor or another statin drug—or at least that’s what the drug commercials, pharmaceutical companies, and many doctors will tell you. Apparently 20 million Americans have been listening, because that’s how many people took some type of statin in 2011, according to IMS Health, making Lipitor the highest selling…
