Testicular cancer is of special concern to men who are in their twenties and thirties, since it grabs them the most statistically for unknown reasons, except that it may be due to hormone levels at these younger ages.  This means that men, not just younger men though in the prime of their life but all men because all are susceptible to testicular cancer, should be performing TSE, or testicle self exams on themselves at least once a month, which should be hard seeing how some men can barely keep their hands off their balls for a day or two.

What are the signs of testicular cancer?  Well, you should be aware of any sort of change in size of your testicles, meaning you should become familiar with what they look like and feel like when you are touching them, and if this changes or there becomes a larger discrepancy in shape or size between your family jewels than you have noticed before, then you should go visit a doctor to rule out the possibility of testicular cancer and to put your mind at rest. 

Remember how Lance Arsmtrong got this at such a young age?  It just goes to show that even the healthiest young men can get this type of cancer, and usually the treatment is to eliminate the testicle that is cancerous, but don’t worry, this usually does not affect your sex life or ability to have sex, as we have discussed earlier this year in a post on whether losing one of your testes affects your ability to get an erection or orgasm. 

Other things you should be aware to look for in the gonads, is for any lumps or bumps that were not there before, it may even be painless, but believe me, this is cause for a doctor’s visit as it is one of the signs of testicular cancer.  You also want to look for any dull aches in the groin area, or any accumulation of blood or fluid in the groin or penis area, all of which can be potential symptoms for testicular cancer. 

So guys, take matters into your ownd hands - literally, because this type of cancer is nothing to laugh at, and can strike men at ages when the last thing on their minds is cancer, after all, that’s a disease that usually comes with age, especially if it’s related to reproductive organs, but in this case you have to be aware of it at a very early age. 

Men may be more prone to the deterioration and atrophy of the brain that occurs commonly before full blown alzheimers, the disease that depletes the memory in older men and women, studies are now showing, leading them to question why it is women’s brains seem to be a little more resilient to pre-alzheimers dementia. 

Not only are the numbers going up substantially for people who are going to soon have alzheimers, but they have gone up so substantially among the baby boomers generation that scientists are calling for more research to determine why the alarming increase in this generation particularly, or at least why the increase at this time, since the numbers have skyrocketed with basically no explanation as to why, particularly in the male population, which is of course alarming to men. 

They are working on various treatments to help slow the mental decline that comes with aging and the alzheimers disease, and among them one is particularly interesting because it comes in a spray form that is sprayed up the nose, and is showing promise as a product that may slow the brain’s deterioration and memory loss when used regularly.

Also, a natural way to slow memory loss and make sure you stay moving around as a senior on your own, is to remain active and socially active as well.  Physical activity has recently been proven to slow down the aging process of the brain, and even to help dramatically slow the atrophy of the brain in both male and female patients who have alzheimers or are suffering from the dementia that precedes alzheimers.  More and more news will be coming out about memory loss since much of the population is aging now, and because it is a primary concern since memory is one of our most precious assets, and it is what makes us who we are, and how our views and opinions are formed in life. 

Penile chafing is actually a fairly common problem.  It can happen if a guy is having sex frequently, or even from doing - ehem, his own pleasure seeking a bit too often, or it can just happen like it happens to skin anywhere else on the body, from irritation or sensitivity. 

It can also happen from various sexual lubricants that are used, for example I believe one of the ones that leads to this if it is overused, especially in guys with sensitive penis skin, is the warming sexual liquids, like KY warming and other similar ones that either have cinnamon and other skin irritants in them, or contain ingredients that warm when they are rubbed or touched. 

Those are typicallly used as female sexual enhancement rubs, but they often come in contact with the penis upon penetration and the friction combined with the heating can irritate some guy’s skin.  That’s just my opinion though, there’s really no published research on that or anything (and why would there be). 

What you need to do if you’ve rubbed the skin raw on the penis is, first of all, take a breather from sexual activity until the chafed spot is healed.  This can be tough, but believe me, it can be painful if it starts getting rubbed so much that it gets raw and starts to bleed or otherwise ooze other liquid out of it.  When it gets to that stage, it requires an even longer healing process, so you want to try to avoid that stage all together if possible. 

Now, as far as what you can do, you will need to take care of the chafing on your penis by putting some sort of soothing ointment on it, you can even use one with antibiotics in it like Neosporin or other similar anitbiotic ointments to prevent it getting infected.  There are some homeopathic ointments that may also be used, but it’s difficul to say what may irritate some guys more and what may work as an ample soother.  Aloe may work on some guys but may irritate others. 

My preference is to just stick to a light layer of Neosporin, so that it keeps the wound moist and doesn’t allow it to just peel and get raw again. Also the anitbiotic action will prevent any sort of infection which is an added benefit, and may even help speed the healing process.

A brilliant man has recently died of pancreatic cancer, and he is one who, I admit, I had not known about before he died just this past Friday after outliving Doctor’s prognosis from his returned pancreatic cancer, which is one of the most deadly because of it’s difficulty in treating and the specific organ that it attacks, which is vital to the cleaning of our whole system. 

His name is Randy Pausch, and he’s a tall, fun loving guy who died an untimely death at the age of 47 - too young, especially for such an enthusiastic, inspiring, kind and gentle person who really knew how to talk to people, to inspire them, to encourage them to reach their goals, and to not be afraid to chase the dreams they’ve had since childhoo, and most importantly to not be swayed by such an increasingly pessimistic world.  I liked one part of his speech, where he talks about pissing matches, and how important it is to get out of a “pissing match” as quickly as one can, because all they are in fact, is unproductive and all “ego”. 

His “last lecture” became a Youtube sensation, and it was really focused around going for your dreams, and not being afraid to achieve them, and especially not to let the negative attitudes of others get you down.  He also spoke at length about the barriers you will achieve when going for your dreams, and that only those that truly want to achieve their dreams and the best life possible for them and their families, will end up achieving them. 

May you rest in peace Randy, for I am another one who has been inspired after watching your famous last lecture, as millions of others are, and I’m refreshed to see that someone is out there encouraging others to go for what they want in a kind and ethical way, something that is seriously lacking in today’s dog eat dog world.  Randy will be sorely missed by his wife Jai and their three children. 

We’ve long known that there is a direct link between aging in women and men and the subsequent decline in both’s fertility - meaning they both do not have as much baby-making power in their sperm and eggs, respectively, as they did when they were younger.  Further, the quality of the sperm and eggs declines as we age, paving the way for potential complications and genetic weaknesses in the resultant baby if we have babies when we are older and the quality is lower, not the mention the likelihood of pregnancy complications goes up.

While researchers had always known that women have a harder time conceiving as they age, the impact that the man’s sperm has on that conception is much larger than was once thought, meaning the guy’s sperm contributes equally to the likelihood of conception, and the fact that an older man may be trying to impregnate a woman has a very large effect on whether that will be a successful pregnancy.

The idea from this research is that men over 40 begin to see a dwindling in the quality of their sperm, and not only that, there may also be a higher likelihood of a miscarriage in the woman they impregnate if they get pregnant from a man who is over 40 years old, so we are more likely to see more complications not only if the woman is older, but also if the man is older.

While the number of miscarriages was about the same for women who were over 40, the amount went up significantly higher if both the women and her parter were older, since the man’s sperm also contributes to the pregnancy and the successful full term of that pregnancy, and miscarriages were seen much more often when the man was significantly older, showing the importance of not only the age of the eggs, but also on the age of the sperm.

Tantra has it’s basis in Buddhism and Hindu religions, and is a state of sexual pleasure and ecstasy that is supposed to transcend the boundaries of sex as we know and create feelings that are of a spiritual nature, not just purely physical sexual pleasure, but actually a spiritual experience where one may even see visions, lights, or momentary feelings of euphoria that feel “otherworldly”.  Gee, no wonder why so many people buy the Kama Sutra and seek out the ways of the Tantra when it comes to having more meaningful sex with their partners.

Sex, in the tantric meaning of it, is a means of transcending one’s self, of having a spiritual experience, and the purpose of sex is liberation, procreation and pleasure, and is a means to get into closer touch with our spiritual side and the spirit side of the world.  Tantric sex takes place after lengthy purification rituals, and is a sort of uniting of the female and male energies.

Not only does tantric sex elevate both individuals to new, unknown forms of ecstasy and euphoria, but they also do not believe in the “frictional” type of sex that we traditionally associate with the male orgasm and male sexual enhancement of the orgasmic feeling, but rather the couple locks in a still embrace for long moments as they both feel the sensations coursing through their bodies. 

As I watch lots of old couples get on famously, and er, not so famously, as in those ones that seem to constantly pick eachother apart and insult eachother in front of others or try to bring the other guy  down, I always wonder to myself, gosh if they act this way to eachother day in and day out, how do they ever want to have sex with eachother? 

So, I tried a little experiment, I’ve been with my girlfriend now for several years, we are not married, but sometimes we can bicker as though we are, and you can tell we are a “seasoned” couple by the way we interact with eachother.  We treat eachother very well, but there always comes a time in any relationship where the honeymoon is over and people start acting like, well, themselves. 

They start farting in front of eachother, letting eachother know what they really think of that awful morning breath, and heck, sometimes the gloves even come off and the insults start to fly, hopefully only to made up for later with a great session of sex of making out, if there is such a thing after you’ve been with someone that long.  My little experiment involved making a point of it to complement my partner every day, with one sincere, heartfelt compliment, and not withholding it like I might usually. 

Something like “I love when you do that”, or “you make me laugh”, or “you look beautiful today”.  Something that is meaningful and truthful, that you seem to just stop saying to the people you love for no good reason, when that “honeymoon” period is over.  And guess what?  The compliments made our sex life better.  I found that my partner was more willing and ready to jump in bed, felt more romantic and sexy, and also started to compliment me back, which made me feel sexy, wanted, and manly, and wanting to jump her bones. 

You see, men are not just about their penis and no feelings - they are moved by the same things women are, it’s just that women tend to hold grudges for things more than men and happen to take their grudges out in the bedroom by being unwilling for sexual intercourse, or not very enthused.  Bottom line is, you should be nice to and compliment your partner if you want a long lasting and satisfying sex life and years to come with a meaningful relationship and gratifying sex.  Then, who needs Viagra or Viagra alternatives when you have your very own natural libido enhancer for men?

There may be a newly discovered weapon in your arsenal against ED, or erectile dysfunction, that men are most likely going to like, at least those that enjoy sex, but I think that’s just about every one of us, right?  There is new research being conducted overseas that strongly suggests something that really may seem like common sense to most men, and most women.  At least it makes sense to me.

The suggestion is that a man should have sex more than once a week to help maintain what he’s got, in other words, to avoid getting ED and suffering the problems associated with this fairly common ailment.  They found that in groups of men who had sex less than once a week, ED was much more prominent, and the men who had sex more than once a week or several times a week tended to not suffer with ED as much, by a very large statistical gap too.

Researchers say that one of the best ways to avoid ED is to actually make sure you’re using that appendage as much as you can, and then it won’t stop getting used to it, or suffer stage fright of sorts when you go to use it again.  It’s almost like if you look at it like working out and your fitness routine, it’s the same sort of mentality, that if you ever stop doing it, your body quickly becomes accustomed to this and will stop remember how.

I’ve often wondered, there is always something that every one of us thought would be “cool” to experience in the sack, and it seems to be different for all of us, sometimes dramatically so.  So, it got me thinking, how and where to sexual fantasies originate from?  Are they spontaneous, or are they carefully culled from one’s life experiences, their childhood crushes, or a combination of factors?

Well, most likely, they do come from a combination of experiences.  Perhaps once you saw a movie where a couple has a scintillating romp on the beach or in some other fairly public place, and thought that the aspect of questionable privacy and even a little voyeurism would add a lot of excitement to the sexual interlude.  Or maybe you had a crush on a woman when you were a kid who wore some specific kind of clothing, and now you want to have your partner dress up similarly. 

Another scenario could be that you had a crush on someone who was in a certain profession, say a childhood teacher, or a nurse or something, hence your sexual fantasies as an adult may be somewhat nostalgiac in their quest for some sort of memory or a feeling that goes back to those young carefree days when you were just exploring your first feelings of sexuality. 

Another thing that sexual fantasies may be born of is overcoming some sort of a fear you’ve had, like the having sex in a fairly public place thing.  

Lots of people have fantasies about that, or of meeting a perfect stranger out in a bar and then taking them back and having a torrid one night stand, but they know how dangerous that is in real life and in these times, so they might want their lover to pose as a stranger and they do the role play thing and act like they are strangers so they can act out this “naughty” fantasy safely and without cheating on anyone.  Sexual fantasies definitely run the gammut when it comes to individual personalites and the paradigms that shape our lives and our ideas. 

A man from the UK is claiming that over the past ten years, he has slowly been turning into a woman against his will and through forces that he has not helped along in any way, ie hormone therapy.  The man who is now in his sixties has said that he began to slowly change about ten years ago and take on more feminine characteristics that are only normally associated with women, who have high levels of the female hormone estrogen. 

So, either he has an extreme sudden onset lack of the  male hormone testosterone, or he has a severe imbalance which allows the female hormone estrogen to take over, because that is what would typically cause the types of symptoms he has been experiencing over the past ten years, which include a softening of the skin, a diminishment of facial hair, and the slow growth of breasts, which is a womanly physical piece as we all know. 

Apparently doctors initially thought he was secretly taking hormones to gain the feminine characteristics until he adamantly denied this and firmed his statement that he does not want to become a woman, that he firmly wants to remain a man and wants medical help to reverse this slow feminization of his body for unknown reasons.

Doctors apparently have never come up against such a strange ailment, so they naturally did not know how to help the man and initially offered him a sex change when they thought that was his goal.  We’ve seen men grow breasts before because of hormonal imbalances, and it is currently a very embarrassing problem for many men who try everything to get the “man boobs” to go away, but this man is experiencing much more than just “man boobs”, he’s actually becoming a woman in many other ways, outwardly, and to his and his family’s dismay. 

My thoughts are that doctors may try some sort of testosterone therapy on the poor guy, to try to get his male dominant characteristics to take over again, but there may be more variable at play here that they need to address before just giving him hormone therapy, or some underlying disease of ailment that needs to be treated that is indirectly causing the hormone anomalie.