Men's Health Archive

On call

Q. I know that erectile dysfunction can be a common side effect of blood pressure medications, but can they also lower my sex drive?

A. Sexual issues are a side effect of many medications, including ones prescribed to lower blood pressure. You're correct that erectile dysfunction (ED) is mentioned most frequently. But blood pressure medicines also can decrease sexual drive or make it more difficult to reach orgasm.

People attempting to conceive through in vitro fertilization may face the question of what to do with extra embryos, especially if they reach a point where they feel their family is complete.

At some time in his life, nearly every man gets exercised about sex. And as many men get older, they wonder if sex is a good form of exercise or if it's too strenuous for the heart. These questions may sound like locker room banter, but they are actually quite important — and they have solid scientific answers.

Treadmill vs. mattress

To evaluate the cardiovascular effects of sexual activity, researchers monitored volunteers while they walked on a treadmill in the lab and during private sexual activity at home. In addition to 13 women, the volunteers included 19 men with an average age of 55. About three-quarters of the men were married, and nearly 70% had some form of cardiovascular disease; 53% were taking beta blockers. Despite their cardiac histories, the men reported exercising about four times a week, and they reported having sexual activity about six times a month on average.

Racial differences have long been evident in prostate cancer statistics. In particular, African American men are diagnosed with prostate cancer more often than white men, and they’re also nearly twice as likely to die of the disease. But new research also shows that African American men who receive the most advanced treatments for late-stage prostate […]

Men with advanced prostate cancer are typically treated with drugs that prevent the body from making or using testosterone. A hormone (or an androgen, as it’s known), testosterone drives prostate cancer cells to grow faster, so shutting it down is essential to keeping the illness in check. About 600,000 men with advanced prostate cancer in […]

On call

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.