Contraception and birth control Archive

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Q. Do men have to worry about bone health, and if so, what are the best exercises to keep my bones strong?

A. Most men have the advantage of continuing to produce bone-protecting testosterone throughout life. But the level of the male hormone declines with age and therefore may not be sufficient to keep bones strong as a man hits his later years.

Men weighing treatment options for intermediate- or high-risk cancer that is still localized to the prostate can face a tricky question. A standard approach in these cases is to give radiation to the prostate along with drugs that block testosterone, a hormone that makes the cancer cells grow faster. For how long should this hormone […]

Biomarkers are molecular signatures of both normal and abnormal processes in the body. Here is a more formal definition proposed by a "definitions" working group associated with the National Institutes of Health: "A characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biologic processes, pathogenic processes, or pharmacological responses to a therapeutic intervention."

Proteins, fragments of proteins, enzymes, DNA, the RNA molecules that "read" DNA—they all can serve as biomarkers. Blood is an ideal source material because it's easy to collect and examine, but biomarkers can also be found in other body fluids, like urine, and in tissue itself. Biomarkers can inform decisions before, during, and after treatment.

Statins and other drugs that lessen cardiovascular disease risk by lowering blood lipids rank among the world’s most prescribed medications. And for the men who take them, accumulating evidence has for years pointed to another added benefit: a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. Now researchers are reporting that long-term statin use (more than 10 […]

There's a lot you can do to improve your outcome if you're taking an active surveillance approach to your diagnosis.

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About 90% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer have the localized kind, which means the cancer is confined to the prostate gland. And for many, a reasonable approach is active surveillance, in which men choose to monitor their cancer instead of going straight into invasive treatments, such as surgery or radiation therapy.

Active surveillance includes a doctor visit about every six months, most often with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal exam.

Research we're watching

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Anti-inflammatory medications may play a role in ovarian cancer risk. A study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that taking low-dose aspirin regularly appears to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 23%. However, long-term heavy use of ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve), and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) seems to increase risk.

The study, published online October 4 by JAMA Oncology, looked at data on more than 200,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II. Among the group studied, 1,054 women went on to develop ovarian cancer. Researchers then looked at what type of medications the women took on a regular basis. They found that women who took at least 10 doses of NSAIDs a week for multiple years had an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Women who took low-dose aspirin regularly seemed to have a reduced risk — but the same was not true among women who took a standard-dose aspirin.

These conditions are associated with a higher risk.

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Most men are familiar with the common strategies to reduce their heart disease risk: keep cholesterol in check, manage high blood pressure, follow a heart-healthy diet, and perform regular exercise. But there may be other preventive steps you can take.

"Some age-related conditions can further increase your risk without you knowing it, which is why it's important to be mindful about all aspects of your health," says Dr. Michael Gavin, a cardiologist with Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Fortunately, once they are recognized, these other risk factors can be addressed and managed."