Surgical treatments and procedures Archive

Advertisements and celebrity endorsements claim that by raising testosterone levels with testosterone replacement therapy (TRT), men can boost their sex drive and feel more robust. While TRT can help improve some physical, sexual, and mental health symptoms associated with low testosterone levels, it may not work for everyone, and despite the miracle claims, TRT cannot make older men feel 30 years younger.

Many factors can increase heart rate from the normal pace of 60 to 100 beats per minute. Lifestyle choices and certain medications can raise heart rate, as can serious conditions. When an elevated heart rate is joined by urgent symptoms, seek immediate care.

Summertime activities often trigger foot pain from overuse or the lack of support in shoes. To prepare feet for summer, it helps to get shoes or sandals with good support and seek physical therapy to strengthen foot muscles. People who expect to be walking on a beach barefoot can give their feet a little practice and time to adapt by wearing slightly less supportive shoes at home, and then shoes with even less support. It's also a good idea to learn about ways to relieve foot pain if it strikes, such as foot baths, topical medications, and foot massage.

People younger than 65 with a bicuspid aortic valve who develop aortic stenosis may need open heart surgery to replace the valve. A less invasive procedure isn't possible for several reasons, including challenges related to the valve anatomy.

Antidepressants are used to treat chronic pain even in people who do not have depression. A 2023 study found that serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors were the most effective and treated the largest number of pain conditions.

Otherwise healthy men treated with prescription drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction had a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, or death from heart-related causes.

Prehabilitation, or prehab, involves a wide range of steps to take before surgery to maximize recovery afterward. Prehab components include nutritional support, strength and fitness, blood sugar control, medication management, smoking cessation, pain management, and delirium prevention. Research suggests prehab can increase the odds people will heal faster, experience fewer complications, and recover more smoothly over all.

By age 75, about half of all Americans develop at least one cataract, a cloudy area in the eye's lens that can make it harder to read, do handiwork, golf, or drive. Stopgap measures—such as using brighter lights, avoiding nighttime driving, or wearing tinted glasses to reduce glare—can delay the need for cataract surgery. Cataract surgery has evolved to offer a variety of artificial lens options to replace the natural lens removed. Most lenses can reduce the need for glasses or contact lenses. People should check their health insurance coverage since most advanced lenses aren't covered.

Ovarian cancer, which claims about 13,000 lives each year, is hard to detect in early stages. Recent guidance from professional groups recommends removing fallopian tubes to help prevent ovarian cancer if women are undergoing gynecologic surgery and are finished with childbearing.

Coronary artery calcium scans tend to be quite accurate. Unlike some other imaging tests, the results are unlikely to be either falsely negative or falsely positive because the results are literally black and white (the calcium shows up as white on the scan).