Men's Health Archive

Men with mild-to-moderate symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia can try a conservative approach called watchful waiting. Behavior changes can help control symptoms. If these don't work, a discussion with a doctor about drugs or surgery is in order.

Replace refined carbs with vegetable fats to slow early stage cancer from progressing to a more lethal form.

Over the years, evidence has accumulated that men who eat a heart-healthy diet and exercise regularly have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer. But recent findings from the Harvard-based Health Professionals Follow-up Study suggest even after a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, healthy eating can help stack the odds in his favor.

What if men approached their health at midlife the same way that financial experts advise them to plan for retirement? Some of the same rules apply: take a close look at where things stand now, and then take steps to protect your future. Midlife is a good time to lower health risks and invest for long-term health benefits.

How? First, acknowledge what you can't control. Then put your energies into changing what you can — for the better.

Complications from prostate biopsies are common but usually not severe, a study in Urology reveals. Participants in the study had biopsies to look for cancer after an abnormal rectal exam or prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. In a biopsy, a fine needle punches quickly through the rectal wall to remove a tiny sample of prostate tissue for examination under a microscope. Doctors took 12, 18, or 24 samples per participant. Typical problems from biopsy include pain, soreness, and infections. A more serious complication, which may lead to hospital admission, is acute urinary retention, in which a man is temporarily unable to drain his bladder.

Here is what the study found:

• 40% of the men experienced a complication.

• The complication rate was as high as 57% in men with 24-sample biopsies.

• Only 1.2% of the men required hospital admission.

• 9.1% ended up visiting an emergency room.

• 6.7% developed acute urinary retention.

Prostate needle biopsy is the only way to diagnose prostate cancer, regardless of PSA test results. The complication rate would vary with the general health of the men involved.

In many men diagnosed with prostate cancer, the cancer cells grow so slowly that they never break free of the gland, spread to distant sites, and pose a serious risk to health and longevity. Instead of embarking on immediate treatment, a growing number of men choose active surveillance, in which doctors monitor low-risk cancers closely and consider treatment only when the disease appears to make threatening moves toward growing and spreading. A new Harvard study shows that the aggressiveness of prostate cancer at diagnosis remains stable over time for most men. If confirmed, then prompt treatment can be reserved for the cancers most likely to pose a threat, while men with slow-growing, benign prostate cancer—which is unlikely to cause problems in a man’s lifetime—can reasonably choose active surveillance.

Erectile dysfunction (ED), once shrouded in secrecy, is now in the spotlight, thanks to high-profile advertisements for drugs like Cialis, Viagra, Levitra, and Stendra. But despite this greater awareness of ED, many men — and women — don't really know much about this condition. Here are four things to know about ED.

1. ED is often the result of diseases or conditions that become more common with age. It can also be a side effect of the medications used to treat them. Other possible causes of ED include prostate surgery, stress, relationship problems, and depression.
2. Other age-related factors besides disease can also affect a man's ability to have an erection — for example, with age, tissues become less elastic and nerve communication slows. But even these factors don't explain many cases of ED.
3. Cardiovascular disease is a common cause of ED. Clogged arteries (atherosclerosis) affect not only the blood vessels of the heart, but those throughout the body as well. In fact, in up to 30% of men who see their doctors about ED, the condition is the first hint that they have cardiovascular disease.
4. Intriguing findings from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study suggest there may be a natural ebb and flow to ED — that is, for some men, trouble with erections may occur, last for a significant amount of time, and then partly or fully disappear without treatment.

Regardless of the cause, ED often can be effectively addressed. For some men, simply losing weight and exercising more may help. Others may need medications, and there are other options available as well. Given the variety of therapies available, the possibility of finding the right solution is greater than ever.

The omega-3 fats in fish have been linked to all sorts of health benefits, including protection against prostate cancer. But for the second time in two years, researchers have found a link between high levels of omega-3 fats in the blood and prostate cancer. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle men with high levels of omega-3 fats were 43% more likely to have been diagnosed with prostate cancer than men with low levels. The finding were published online in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Consider alternative therapies for chronic pelvic pain.

Prostatitis means pain and swelling near the prostate gland. If the cause is a bacterial infection, antibiotics can often clear up the problem. But for 90% or more of men with pain near the prostate, it isn't that simple. The pain and soreness is more widespread, affecting the groin, genitals, and area behind the scrotum. Some men even develop nausea and other flu-like symptoms. Doctors call it chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS).

It is sometimes misdiagnosed as bacterial prostatitis and treated (unsuccessfully) with antibiotics. Doctors can offer no cure that works reliably in all men. "It's a tough problem because there's just not a lot out there," says Dr. Michael O'Leary, professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and a urologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

The radioactive element radium has been used to treat cancer since soon after its discovery in 1898 by Marie Curie and her husband, Pierre. And it’s still finding new uses—a recently approved form of radium, radium-223 (Xofigo), is now being used to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones. Researchers say that Xofigo addresses “an unmet need” in men with this type of prostate cancer, since current therapies don’t work very well against it.