Should Men Take Testosterone?
Many men take testosterone because they think it will help them to function better sexually, increase muscle strength, raise bone density, and improve mood, behavior, and mental function. As of May 2022, the only FDA-approved indication for men to take testosterone is having low testosterone levels. Testosterone has not been approved for age-related drops in testosterone, and there is significant concern that testosterone use is associated with increased plaques in the arteries leading to the heart.
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.
Head Injuries Increase Risk for Impotence
A study of more than 3,400 former National Football League players, average age 52, found that those who had had a concussion were at increased risk for low testosterone and erectile dysfunction, regardless how young or old they were.
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.
Impotence Often Precedes a Heart Attack
Impotence often precedes a heart attack by three to five years. A review of the scientific literature found that men who are impotent have a 59 percent increased risk for heart attacks, a 34 percent increased risk for a stroke, and a 33 percent increased risk for dying from any cause. One study showed that impotent men were twice as likely to develop heart disease.
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.
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 chances of suffering a heart attack, and the more hair he loses, the more likely he is to suffer a heart attack (1).
Men with male pattern baldness have higher than...
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 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.
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.
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 have a one third lower risk overall of dying from certain cancers after age 65 (JAMA Oncology, March 27, 2015). Fitness was measured by their ability to keep on running...
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.
Testosterone for Older Men
Medical journals have reported trials that examine the benefits and harms of taking testosterone for men over 65 with low blood levels of testosterone (less than 275 ng/dL). At 12 study sites across the country, a total of 790 participants were given testosterone gel or a placebo applied daily to the skin.
Testosterone Warnings
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires makers of prescription testosterone products to have a label stating that taking testosterone may cause heart attacks, strokes and death, and it is approved only for men who have low testosterone levels due to disorders of the testicles, pituitary gland, or brain,
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.
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.
Lifestyle After Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
It looks more and more as if prostate cancer is a metabolic disease that is influenced by your lifestyle. Extensive research has failed to show association between infections and prostate cancer risk, but following a healthful diet and lifestyle has been associated with reduced risk for the aggressive type of prostate cancer that can spread and kill.
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.
Night-Time Urination May Be Caused by Excess Salt
One in three North American adults have to get up to urinate more than twice a night, and a study presented at the European Society of Urology shows that the most common cause may be taking in too much salt.
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.
Baldness
Several years ago I reported that the present treatment for male-pattern baldness is not very effective and that male pattern baldness may be caused by insulin resistance, and that a diet high in sugar and flour may cause irreversible hair loss.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Risk Factors for Prostate Cancer
Several studies show that a high-plant diet such as a Mediterranean diet is associated with reduced risk for the type of prostate cancer than can kill you, and if you already have prostate cancer, that diet is associated with reduced chance of dying from that disease.
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.
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.
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.
