Archive for November, 2006

Vitamin E for Middle Aged Men?

It appears that the relatively cheap and easily accessible vitamin, vitamin E, may have some fairly significant health and preventive benefits for middle aged men who take it, especially middle aged men who also happen to smoke. 

Vitamin E is a very good vitamin as we know, for overall health, and has been known to have some sort of heart protective abilities and is also known for being a good skin care vitamin for both men and women. 

You do have to be careful with vitamin E though, as too much of it can be toxic to the system since it is not a vitamin that we “pee out” daily, rather it can be stored in the organs and become toxic if too much is taken. 

The newest studies on the vitamin show that it may actually help prevent death from cancer and heart disease in the middle age demographic of men who also smoke.  The study was done with almost 30,000 men, so it’s nothing to laugh at, since the number of subjects is substantial and the study was done very credibly. 

It shows that the men who had higher levels of vitamin E in their blood had a lower death rate if they had cancer or heart disease over a specified period of time during which the study was conducted. 

The vitamin is also known as alpha tocopherol (yes, you’ve probably seen this in your multivitamin, that’s what I thought too), and it is known as a very potent antioxidant which is often added to multivitamin supplements for men. 

Antioxidants are now being hailed as excellent heart health protectors and overall life quality enhancers and longevity promoters.  Not only that, vitamin E also has an enhancing effect on the health and functionality of the blood vessels, helping to strengthen and tone them. 

Overall, I’d say vitamin E is something you would want to make sure you have in your vitamin or health supplement, at any rate. 

African Condom Use on the Rise

In the Aids stricken country of Africa, lobbyists have been pushing for increased condom use amongst both men and women to help curb the horrible spread of the AIDS disease, or HIV virus, which seems to be spreading like wildfire over there. 

The change is reportedly mostly with young African women, who have reported that they use more condoms more often with their sex partners, due to an increased awareness of the HIV virus and what it can do, especially since the impoverished nation cannot care adequately for it’s people who are stricken with the life threatening disease. 

Here in America, people are living longer and longer with the “scary” disease, thanks to many new medications and treatments that are available, like AZT.  Shoot, we barely even hear about AIDS any more, so that should tell you that the outlook for AIDS patients is better and it is no longer a death sentence to be diagnosed with it. 

However, in Africa, where medication is sparse and only really available to those that can afford it, AIDS almost alwas progresses to the final stages, and then to death, so officials have been scrambling trying to promote AIDS awareness and safe sex.

The concern was that African men, and women especially since they made up the majority of the infected (women tend to be more easily infected with the virus), were not quickly changing their sexual habits in response to the threat of the disease, so the increased condom use is welcome news. 

Men’s Health Issues

This is strictly my personal opinion, but I think the two major health issues that a man can improve almost immediately in his life are diet and exercise.  Diet and exercise are the leading factors that, when they are lacking or severely lacking in quality or quantity, can cause not only sexual issues, but serious heart issues and other related complications.

If we can reduce our fat and sodium intake, and also concentrate on just eating less generally, we can curb the lieklihood of developing diabetes, heart problems, high blood pressure, immobility due to arthritis and muscle pain, and a slew of other common issues that affect men as they get older – ooh I forgot to mention a biggie in men’s health – prostate health. 

There are great prostate health supplements available today, as well as multivitamins for men and other herbal and vitamin-packed supplements that men can take to help promote health and longevity, but what good are they if we are not getting any physical activity, and stuffing our faces with fattening, greasy, salty and sugar foods?

Some of the basics of men’s health are:

1.) Moderate exercise, including stretching and cardio at least 3-4 times a week is a must to remain mobile and in fighting shape.  Eliptical machines, treadmills, and other exercise equipment can be used to help your achieve your fitness goals. Not only that, exercise dramatically improves depression and anxiety in men and women. 

2.)  Moderate your eating habits.  If you want a sugary or salty snack, search for sugar free or reduced sodium options that don’t inundate your body with too much sodium or sugar, and upset the delicate balance your body is meant to pursue.  Increased veggies and decreased meat is always an excellent way to promote prostate and heart health.

Man Upset Over Penis Transplant Mails Bomb to Surgeon

This seemed like an extreme attempt to gain revenge for a penis implant surgery gone wrong.  A Bloomfield Ohio man apparently was upset with the surgeon who did some sort of penis-fixing surgery on him (presumably some sort of corrective or penile enlarging surgery), reportedly mailed the surgeon a bomb in a parcel.

The good news is, the guy must have had a stroke of conscience, because he did end up calling authorities and telling them what he had done, so they were able to intercept the package with the bomb in it and divert a possible tragedy.

The man was only in his twenties, and the exact surgery he got on his penis was not mentioned, although I would assume it was some sort of penile enhancement surgery from the sounds of it. 

Women’s Orgasms Harder to Achieve Than Thought?

I read an interesting article in a woman’s magazine recently that basically spelled out why so many women find it a lot harder than a man to reach orgasm when they are actually having sex, versus being stimulated otherwise. 

Many women have reported that they find it difficult to achieve a full orgasm form simply engaging in sexual intercourse, and the reason for this very well may lie in the fact that the primary part of the body that stimulates a woman to have an orgasm, the clitoris, is not really stimulated during the typical missionary style sex as it would be during foreplay or self stimulation. 

Not only that, but the G-spot, that magic spot that is inside the vaginal walls, and about the size of two fingers put together in width, is not easily reached during your typical sexual session either.  In fact, only about thirty percent of women report having orgasms during sex on a regular basis. 

That number can be increased by doing sex positions that make you closer to your partner, say if you are propped up against a wall and she is on top, there will be more friction provided on the clitoris, which will stimulate your partner more readily and bring her to orgasm. 

Another good position is the woman on top, so she can adequately place herself over the man, making it so that her clitoris is stimulated while the sex is going on.  Or the woman or man can also manually stimulate the clitoris with their fingers during sexual intercourse, which will help things along. 

There is actually couple’s therapy which many find helpful in getting their sex life back to sizzling.  It’s true for every couple, with time, the newness of sex fades, and for some reason it becomes challenging for both partners to think of new and exciting ways to stimulate eachother. 

Another cool thing you two can do is purchase pheromone therapies for one another, these have been shown to help increase sexual arousal at a more subconscious level, leading to more touching and physical interaction.  There are pheromones to attract a woman that might do just the trick.  If nothing else, they are a great “toy”. 

Free Viagra?

Apparently a little remote town in Brazil has been giving away free Viagra to the townspeople in a program called “Happy Penis” instituted by the mayor, in an effort to help the elderly in his town spice up their sex lives, and walk with a little more pep in their step from the male sexual enhancement drug.

The mayor made the program available to men 60 years of age and older, which is the age group where men start to have a hard time getting and maintaining an erection.  The one thing the mayor probably didn’t bargain for though was one of the side effects of a  sexually active elderly population : Men started having affairs on their wives.

To curtail this sort of behavior, which of course is frowned upon since it was supposed to be understood the men used the sexual enhancement product to spice up their lives with their partners meaning wives, the mayor decided the program would be tweeked a bit.  Instead of handing the viagra out to the men, they decided to hand it out instead to the men’s wives so that it would only be used the way it was meant to. 

I think this is a great story, if you’re a proponent of sexual enhancement aids for the elderly.  Only thing is, there was no mention of physical checkups to make sure these elderly men were healthy and ready to take such a serious drug, which has been shown to have potentially disastrous effects on those with existing heart conditions or weaknesses of the heart. 

Viagra elevates the blood flow and this can be dangerous to men with certain conditions.  I’m sure precautions were taken though.  I guess I’m just being a stick in the mud, since I’m a proponent of viagra alternatives ! 

Getting Hitched and Educated May be Key to Male Longevity

Well, I’m not sure if you’ve ever read this theory/hypothesis before, that married people tend to be happier, but it appears that marriage can not only benefit your overall happiness and mental attitude, but it may also be a key part of longevity.  Marriage and education, that is.

A study done that was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a strong relationship between longer lives in men and marriage and education.  Married men with or without children, who also had higher education levels tended to outlive men who were less educated and unmarried.

The study concludes some very interesting things.  One is that men who are married in the middle part of their life may be healthier, but not necessarily healthier in their old age, but they consistently outlived the other group of men. 

Also noted was that most likely due to socioeconomics, educated men tended to also be healthier, more focused on health, and live longer than men who were not educated or did not possess some sort of college degree.

Men still have higher mortality rates than women, and live an average of about 6 years less than women do, so some people (men of course) are taking the new focus on studies relating to men’s health very seriously, to help figure out why men die earlier on average, and what we can do to prevent this and live a longer, healthier life.  We can apparently start by getting married and getting educated!

Popular Prostate Drugs May Cause Eye Issues

It appears that a popular prostate drug that contains something called Alpha Blockers, may cause complications for surgeries in men with cataracts.  The problem can be rectified by the  man telling the doctor that he takes a prostate drug before the doctor operates on the eyes.

The problem results from an apparent link between taking an Alpha Blocker and a weakening of the part of the eye called the iris, or a muscle that is contained within the iris.  The iris is actually the part of the eye that gives our eyes it’s color.

Because of this weakening of a muscle within the iris, during a surgery to help correct cataracts, if there is any movement whatsoever, caused by this muscle which can kind of “flap” around, it very well may cause injury to the eye, since movement can cause the surgery to be a failure.

Prostate health drugs such as the popular Flomax are an example of such a drug where extra prudence may be in order for men getting surgeries on the eye, just to prevent any complications, it would always be a good idea to tell your doctor if you are on a prostate health supplement or prostate health drug, just to be on the safe side.

Your doctor should know of any extra cautions to be taken when you disclose this potentially vital information.

Stress Affects the Male Orgasm Too

It is commonly thought that women are the more “emotional” creatures when it comes to sex, and more importantly, when it comes to having an orgasm since women in general do tend to have more of a psychological connection to sex, whereas men are just more biologically driven to copulate. 

Well, as with everything else, this theory has changed, especially due to the changing sexual environment in this world, and perhaps even due to the fact that male testosterone levels have been steadily falling over the past ten to twenty years, as documented in a groundbreaking study recently (see a few posts ago).

Men are actually affected by stress and emotions when is comes to achieving orgasm as well, and as with women, when life is going smoothly and stress and depression or anxiety are kept at bay, it tends to be a lot easier for a man to achieve orgasm.

Some of the tips that can be taken from this fact are to make sure you keep open lines of communication with your sex partner, because they may need to know when you’re in the mood vs. when you’re only doing it to go through the motions.  Don’t make sex into something that is a “requirement”, this just adds more stress to the situation and makes it more difficult for you to achieve orgasm since the mood wasn’t even there in the first place.

Keep stress to a minimum by exercising.  People who don’t exercise may think that exercise is “stressing” or taxing, but it actually makes you ten times more relaxed in the long run, and i know for me at least working out takes the weight right off my shoulders (figuratively not literally of course), and makes me think clearly again. 

Plus, working out has a way of sexually recharging you like nothing else can.  It makes you feel powerful, and more virile.  See this stuff Deer Antler Plus if you want to have more orgasms naturally.

PSA Count Can Predict Cancer Death?

The PSA count is a measure taken by doctors from a man’s blood, to determine the levels of a certain protein that is made in the male body when the prostate gland is under attack – AKA prostate cancer.  This count is and has been used frequently, in the past as a predictor of prostate cancer and a screening test to make sure a guy does not have the fairly common male cancer, especially as he gets older, when prostate cancer risk is at its highest.

The PSA is a shortened version of the Prostate Specific antigen, and when the blood shows higher levels of this antigen, doctors know to probe further to see if prostate cancer is the culprit for the elevated levels of the blood protein.

This latest study in the field of prostate cancer, showed a statistical relationship between the likelihood of mortality in men with prostate cancer by what’s knows as the prostate velocity, or the rate at which the PSA count rises, and the men who lived had a lower “velocity” than the men that ended up dying from the disease.

Doctors usually suggest that men start to get PSA screenings when they are in their 40’s, which is when problems may start to happen with this tiny gland.  Difficulties in urination are one of the most common side effects that you may want to check out if you think you have an enlarged prostate.

There are supplements for prostate health which also may help to prolong the health and well being of the prostate gland in men, well into later ages when the prostate gland’s health can be compromised.  There are also dietary guidelines for prostate health and other lifestyle changes you can make to ensure you live with a healthy prostate, in our men’s health section.