Men’s Health

Stephanie Watson

Recognizing the “unusual” signs of depression

Stephanie Watson, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch
Depressed woman

People tend to think that the telltale sign of depression is sadness—a pervasive down, dragging feeling that won’t let up, day after day. But depression often manifests itself as something else entirely—like aches and pains or memory lapses. These “unusual” symptoms are actually quite common. They can mask depression—and delay an important diagnosis—especially in older people, who often display their depression in ways other than sadness. These include trouble sleeping, lack of energy, fatigue, trouble concentrating or remembering, loss of appetite, and aches and pains that don’t go away. If you have one or more of these symptoms that can’t be traced to an illness or ailment, a frank talk with a trusted doctor about the possibility of depression might be a good step forward.

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Patrick J. Skerrett

High-dose vitamin C linked to kidney stones in men

Patrick J. Skerrett, Executive Editor, Harvard Health
Citrus fruits

File this under “if a little bit is good, a lot isn’t necessarily better:” taking high-dose vitamin C appears to double a man’s risk of developing painful kidney stones. In an article published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine, Swedish researchers detail a connection between kidney stone formation and vitamin C supplements among more than 23,000 Swedish men. Over an 11-year period, about 2% of the men developed kidney stones. Men who reported taking vitamin C supplements were twice as likely to have experienced the misery of kidney stones. Use of a standard multivitamin didn’t seem to up the risk. Many people believe that extra vitamin C can prevent colds, supercharge the immune system, detoxify the body, protect the heart, fight cancer, and more. To date, though, the evidence doesn’t support claims that extra vitamin C is helpful. If high-dose vitamin C doesn’t improve health, then any hazard from it, even a small one, is too much.

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Harvey B. Simon, M.D.

Biking and sex—avoid the vicious cycle

Harvey B. Simon, M.D., Editor, Harvard Health
Couple riding bicycles

Bicycling is a terrific way to get from one place to another. It’s also an excellent form of exercise. Some men and women avoid bicycling, though, because they worry that it may damage their reproductive organs and harm their sexual function. This mainly happens to people who cycle a lot. And it isn’t inevitable. One problem is the design of many bicycle seats, which put pressure on the perineum, a region of the body that runs from the anus to the sex organs. It contains the nerves and arteries that supply the penis in men and the clitoris and labia in women. You don’t have to give up biking to preserve your sexual function. Take a few simple precautions, like picking a wider seat, and shifting your position and taking breaks during long rides. These precautions will ensure that your passion for exercise doesn’t interfere with your passion in the bedroom.

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Daniel Pendick

Harvard expert urges caution for use of new prostate cancer test

Daniel Pendick, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch
Man getting blood drawn

The FDA has approved a new kind of PSA test for prostate cancer that its maker claims can help doctors do a better job of telling the difference between prostate cancer and less worrisome conditions such as prostate infection or benign prostate enlargement. The test, called the Prostate Health Index (PHI), should become available in the U.S. later this summer. The PHI combines measurements of three kinds of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced by the prostate gland. In theory, the combination could help reduce the number of men who undergo prostate biopsies when their PSA levels are slightly above normal, in the 4 to 10 nanogram per milliliter range. But doctors must take care not to allow use of the PHI test to worsen the existing overdiagnosis and overtreatment of low-risk cancers, according to Dr. Marc B. Garnick, an expert in prostate cancer at Harvard Medical School and editor in chief of HarvardProstateKnowledge.org.

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William Kormos, M.D.

5 tips for celebrating Men’s Health Week

William Kormos, M.D., Editor in Chief, Harvard Men's Health Watch
UglyTie-33053

The run-up to Father’s Day should be about more than ties, golf balls, and deciding what to grill on Sunday. Health should also be on the agenda. Men’s Health Week was created by the U.S. Congress in 1994 to boost awareness of men’s health and ways to improve it. It’s a good time for men to contemplate their vigor, fitness, and overall health—and then do something about it. Here are five things you can you do to improve your health. 1) Get moving. 2) Get checked for colorectal cancer. 3) Know your blood pressure. 4) Cut back on sodium in your diet. 5) Don’t ignore warning signs. This week, give yourself the gift of good health. And keep it going beyond Father’s Day.

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Daniel Pendick

A new option for orgasm problems in men

Daniel Pendick, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch
Man and woman in bed

One sex-related problem that men are sometimes reluctant to talk about—and doctors are unlikely to ask about—is called anorgasmia. It’s the inability to reach a climax during usual sexual activity. Until now, there hasn’t been much in the way of medication that can help. Researchers from Baylor College of Medicine are reporting that a drug called cabergoline (Dostinex, generic) restored half of men with anorgasmia to normal orgasm. Cabergoline raises the amount of prolactin in the bloodstream. In the Baylor study, 50 of 72 men with anorgasmia said their orgasms improved after taking 0.5 milligrams of cabergoline twice a week for an average of 10 months.

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Daniel Pendick

Breast cancer in men: uncommon, but catching it early is vital

Daniel Pendick, Executive Editor, Harvard Men's Health Watch
Pink-blue-breast-cancer-ribbon

Breast cancer isn’t just a woman’s disease. Men can get it, too—about 1% of breast cancer is diagnosed in men. Since few men know that, they often fail to recognize its earliest signs and end up seeing a doctor later in the process than women do. The result: Men face treatment for larger and more advanced tumors, and their cancer is more likely to have spread to other parts of the body. The largest study to date on outcomes in men with breast cancer indicates that the five-year survival rate for women with breast cancer was 83%, compared to 74% for men. Even men diagnosed with early stage breast cancer still fared worse than women, although the gap closed for men and women diagnosed with later-stage disease. Since breast cancer in men isn’t often on doctors’ radar screens, men should be aware and check themselves.

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Marc B. Garnick, M.D.

PSA screening for prostate cancer: a doctor’s perspective

Marc B. Garnick, M.D., Editor in Chief, HarvardProstateKnowledge.org
PSA-test-pad

Yesterday’s announcement that men should not get routine PSA tests to check for hidden prostate cancer is sure to spark controversy for months to come. But the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) made the right decision. On the surface, rejecting the use of a simple blood test that can detect cancer in its early and still-treatable stage sounds foolish. Cynics have been saying it is the handiwork of a group concerned more about health-care rationing and cutting costs than about health. The decision is wise, not foolish, and will improve men’s health, not harm it. The word “cancer” usually brings to mind images of a fast-growing cluster of cells that, without aggressive treatment, will invade other parts of the body, damage health, and potentially kill. That certainly describes many cancers. But not most prostate cancers. Most of the time, prostate cancer is sloth-like. It tends to grow slowly and remain confined to the prostate gland, with many men never knowing during their entire lives that a cancer was present. These slow-growing prostate cancers cause no symptoms and never threaten health or longevity. That means many men with prostate “cancer” never need treatment.

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Patrick J. Skerrett

Panel says “no” to routine prostate cancer testing

Patrick J. Skerrett, Executive Editor, Harvard Health
Walnut

A simple blood test to check seemingly healthy men for hidden prostate cancer does more harm than good and shouldn’t be part of routine medical care. That’s the long-awaited final recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. About half of men over age 40 get this test as part of a regular checkup. It measures the amount of a protein called prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, in the bloodstream. An above-normal PSA level can signal hidden prostate cancer. But it can also be a sign of prostate infection, an enlarged prostate, and other problems. Hunting for hidden disease in the absence of any outward signs or symptoms is called screening. The task force says that for every 1,000 men who have routine PSA tests, 0 to 1 deaths from prostate cancer will be prevented. But that is offset by 3 serious cardiovascular deaths due to treatment, along with 47 men who will live with treatment-related erectile dysfunction or incontinence.

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Robert Shmerling, M.D.

New study won’t end debate on PSA test for prostate cancer

Robert Shmerling, M.D., Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publications

A large study from Europe does little to resolve the controversy over whether men should have a simple blood test to look for hidden prostate cancer. In the study, the number of deaths over the course of the 11-year study were the same in men tested for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) and in men who didn’t have the test. Because prostate cancer usually grows very slowly, detecting it in an older man generally isn’t helpful. Some men live with the side effects of treatment—notably impotence and incontinence—for a cancer that would have had no effect on the length or quality of their lives. This study and others suggest that we rethink the widespread use of PSA testing, especially the yearly screening that is common in the United States.

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