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Anxiety trait linked to post-operative pain in men following total knee replacement

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:14:13 +0000

Increased pain following surgery has long been linked to anxiety and “catastrophizing,” an extreme response to stress.
A new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) concluded men with anxiety traits – a high level of anxiety unrelated to a stressful event – had higher post-operative pain ratings resulting in longer hospital stays. Women generally reported higher post-operative pain levels than men, and women were consistently less satisfied with pain control.

Brachytherapy for prostate cancer may zap fertility

admin — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:08:02 +0000

A small study at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada finds radioactive “seeds” that are sometimes used to treat early prostate cancer may do widespread damage to the DNA in a man’s sperm. The damage, researchers say, would seem to be enough to make a man infertile. And they should be aware of that going into treatment.

Known as brachytherapy radioactive seeds therapy is less likely to cause erectile dysfunction than either traditional external radiation or surgical removal of the prostate gland — two other treatment options for prostate cancer.

A new screening method for prostate cancer

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:47:07 +0000

A new study by NYU Langone Medical Center and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shows novel PSA velocity (PSAV) risk count testing may provide a more effective way for physicians to screen men for clinically significant prostate cancer.

The new PSAV risk count screening works by monitoring fluctuations in PSA levels over time to analyze a man’s risk of prostate cancer, instead of relying on just one PSA test result to assign prostate cancer risk. The risk count is calculated by counting the number of times in a row that the PSA level in the blood increases by 0.4 ng/mL.

The new study is published online by the British Journal of Urology International on February 1, 2012.

Erectile dysfunction could signal serious disease

admin — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:46:32 +0000

Diabetes can cause erectile dysfunction (ED), which can lead to an even more serious condition, experts have warned.

People with diabetes are at greater risk of developing atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. The condition is caused by a build-up of plaque on the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrition to the heart. This plaque can restrict blood flow and poor blood flow is the number one cause of ED.

Two urine-based biomarkers were found to correlate with indicators of aggressive prostate cancer

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:47:47 +0000

A recent study at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center indicates that two investigational urine-based biomarkers are associated with prostate cancers that are likely to be aggressive and potentially life-threatening among men who take a “watchful waiting,” or active-surveillance approach to manage their disease.

Ultimately, these markers may lead to the development of a urine test that could complement prostate biopsy for predicting disease aggressiveness and progression.

Concern on a prostate-cancer therapy

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:47:23 +0000

A warning to men considering a pricey new treatment for prostate cancer called proton therapy: Research suggests it might have more side effects than traditional radiation does.

A study of Medicare records found that men treated with proton beams later had one-third more bowel problems, such as bleeding and blockages, than men given conventional radiation.

Exercise may offer a prostate cancer-specific benefit

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:09:12 +0000

A new study at the University of California, San Francisco, suggests vigorous exercise causes changes in some 180 prostate genes among men with early stage prostate cancer. According to researchers, are included genes known to suppress tumor growth and repair DNA, which might mean that exercise could prevent or delay progression of the disease.

The finding is very important for cancer patients undergoing “active surveillance” - also known as “watchful waiting” - rather than active treatment.

Study Compares 3 Common Prostate Cancer Treatments

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:07:43 +0000

A recent study at at the Cleveland clinic compares 3 common prostate cancer treatments: external beam radiation, surgery and brachytherapy. Experts have found external beam radiation therapy to be more toxic and expensive than either surgery or brachytherapy.

The findings were to be presented Tuesday at a meeting in San Francisco, hosted in part by the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and focused on prostate cancer.

Male sex hormone makes people less cooperative and more egocentric

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:03:48 +0000

Researchers have revealed that too much testosterone can make people overvalue our own opinions and blind us to other people’s views, it makes people act less cooperatively and more egocentrically.

The study has shown that in fact testosterone also affects people decisions, by making them more egotistical. Most of the time, this allows people to seek the best solution to a problem, but sometimes, too much testosterone can help blind them to other people’s views. This can be very significant when we are talking about a dominant individual trying to assert his or her opinion in, say, a jury

Prostate cancer risk halved for subfertile men

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:52:17 +0000

The growth of the prostate gland depends on circulating androgens and intracellular steroid signalling pathways. The effects of androgens are mediated through the androgen receptor (AR), a nuclear transcription factor encoded by the AR gene. The common polymorphisms, CAG and GGN repeats, in exon 1 of this gene have been implicated as possible risk factors.

Variation in CAG repeat length had been associated with a number of andrological disorders, whereas very little was known about the GGN repeat when the work for this thesis was started.

A recent study hypothesized that variation in GGN length may modulate AR activity, and hence the individual susceptibility to male reproductive tract disorders. The investigators also assessed the relationship between male subfertility-dependent childlessness and prostate cancer (PCa) risk in a nested case-control study to test the hypothesis that subfertile men are at lower risk of developing PCa than fertile men, since they are frequently hypogonadal secondary to testicular dysfunction.

The study concluded subfertile involuntarily childless men are at an approximately 50% lower risk of being diagnosed with PCa than are fathers of at least one biological child. On the other hand, variants in a number of genes may play a role in linking male subfertility with reduced PCa risk through their associations with impaired reproductive function