You’ve just been told that your doctor wants you to have a biopsy of your prostate to rule out prostate cancer. What exactly is a biopsy and how is it done?

A biopsy is a test that allow your doctor to remove a small amount of tissue from the prostate and send it to a lab for testing. A needle biopsy is - as the name implies - done with a needle rather than with surgery.

Click on the TV screen below to watch a quick video explaining how a prostate needle biopsy is done. Just scroll down a bit when you get to the video page:

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Image: iStock.com

Being told how to do something and knowing we should do something are completely different from actually doing something. The perfect example of this is how we use our body to lift things. How many of you actually bend at the knees to lift anything off the floor - even a pencil?

Now, there’s a video you can watch that can help you understand.

We’ve all heard about folks who have thrown out their backs picking up a box. And most of us have received the advice, “Lift with your knees!” at one time or another. You can imagine how important it is to adhere to the rules of good posture if you’re a weight lifter. Good posture and maintaining strength in the center of the body are two golden rules of proper weight training. Join our experts as they discuss the principles of proper posture and “core strength.”

Just click on the TV screen below to watch the video:

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Image: iStock

Who’d have thought that a vitamin could cause so much controversy? Certainly not Bayer, the makers of One A Day vitamins.

According to the Bayer website, “One A Day^® Men’s Health Formula is a complete multivitamin plus key nutrients to support a healthy heart, and Selenium to support a healthy prostate.*”

But, if you notice the asterix (star) at the end of the statement and you look further down on the website, you see:

*This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

So, is this a true claim or isn’t it? A non-profit group, Center for Science in the Public Interest, says it isn’t and is threatening to file a law suit against the makers of the vitamin.

According to the CNN article, Group threatens suit over vitamins’ anti-cancer claims, there is little evidence to support Bayers’ claims:

The center isn’t acting alone and has the support of  researchers and medical professionals from the Harvard School of Public Health, American Cancer Society and University of Illinois at Chicago Division of Pathology Research. The authors of the article wrote:

A seven-year, $118 million study funded by the National Institutes of Health found last year that selenium does not prevent prostate cancer in healthy men, the center said.

The Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial involving 35,000 U.S. and Canadian men was halted in October when researchers determined that selenium was not protecting the men from prostate cancer and may have been causing diabetes in some of them.

The study was financed by the federal government and was one of the largest ever on this subject.

Bayer refuses to back down on its claims. What do you think the outcome will be?

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Image: Bayer

Erectile dysfunction is something that many men experience but few like to admit to. But, if you don’t admit to it, you can’t get help. For some men, this may mean taking medications like Viagra, for others, it may mean using mechanical help, like penile pumps.

“Also known as an “inflatable penile prosthesis”, the penile pump is a remarkable device which can restore the possibility of intercourse to men suffering from severe sexual dysfunction. Not to be confused with a penile enlargement, the penile pump is a completely internal mechanism which allows a man to have a full erection at any time — without planning ahead, as is necessary with other treatments.”

Click on the TV screen below to watch the actual surgery as expert surgeon Francois Eid talks about the process:

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Image: iStock

Men’s Health Week starts today with a reality check on testicular cancer. Do you check yourself?

Most people think of 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong when they hear of testicular cancer. And, while the cyclist is the best known face of the disease, it is increasing in incidence, especially among younger men. It’s the most common solid tumor found in men in their late twenties and early thirties.

Other well-known men who had testicular cancer:

• Comedian Tom Green
• Runner Steve Scott
• Newsman Bob Losure
• Football player Brian Piccolo
• Football player Dan Turk
• Football player Josh Bidwell
• Football player Louie Aguiar
• Baseball player John Kruk
• Baseball player Mike Lowell
• Golfer Todd Barranger
• Guitarist Peter DiStefano

As you can see, it touches all walks of life.

Just as women do breast self examinations, men should do testicular self examinations. Here is some information at Lance Armstrong’s site and at this one: how to do the self examination.

While doctors don’t really know the risk factors involved in developing testicular cancer, some links are being found. For example:

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Beginning tomorrow, June 15, 2009, it’s Men’s Health Week, according to the Men’s Health Network.

According to their website:

Men’s Health Is A Family Issue

To quote Congressman Bill Richardson (Congressional Record, H3905-H3906, May 24, 1994):

• “Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.”

While I truly believe that more emphasis needs to be put on men getting healthcare when they need it, I do have an issue with some aspects of men and their health.

I have seen and heard, all too often, stories of men who won’t go see a doctor when they need to have something checked. I know of women who have begged their husband or partner to go to the doctor, to the hospital. I know men who have steadfastly refused until they became so ill that it’s no longer their decision and their wife or partner arranges for the care.

Are the women really helping them? Or are they enabling the men to behave the way they do? Is it really a woman’s role to worry and beg their male partners to take care of themselves? Or is this some sort of power trip that some men play?

I have a feeling that many of the men who read this blog are already men who are taking care of their health. After all, they’re on-line looking for information and reading what’s available. But what about those who don’t? Those who live with what I call the “ostrich syndrome,” putting their head in the sand and ignoring it all?

Men, what do you think about what I say? Am I way off base? If so, please help me understand. It’s hard to watch a close friend go through this with her partner. He had to be close to death before he agreed to be seen. After being sick for over a year. That’s just so not right.

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Image: Newscom.com

Longer treatment is better than shorter term treatment when it comes to locally advanced prostate cancer, say results of a study that was published in yesterday’s issue of New England Journal of Medicine . This study backed up findings of a similar study published earlier this year. Locally advance prostate cancer is cancer where the tumor has grown (advanced) but is still contained within the prostate gland.

Researchers followed 970 patients with locally advanced prostated cancer who were given radiation treatment combined with drugs to suppress androgen hormones such as testosterone and dihydrotestosterone. Half the group took the medications for 6 months while the other half continued for another 2 and a half years after.

In the group that took the medications for only 6 months, 47 men died of prostate cancer, but in the same period, only 28 died in the longer term treatment group.

There are still many questions regarding the treatment, including if the benefit lasts for longer. The treatment isn’t without side effects though - they include hot flashes, lower sex drive and reduced sexual activity.

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Image: MorgeFile.com

Parkinson’s disease is considered an “old man’s disease” to many people. It happens more often to men than women and usually they’re heading towards their senior years, if they’re not there already. This image was shattered when actor Michael J. Fox was diagnosed with this old man’s disease in 1991, at the ripe old age of of 30. Today is Micheal’s birthday - he’s 48 years old today.

The most common thing we think about with Parkinson’s disease is the shaking. There’s more to this disease than that and here is a video that will help you understand what exactly the disease is. Just click on the TV screen below to watch it.

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Images: Bauer Griffin and iStock

Insomnia can be more than just a nuisance that makes it hard to get through the day; it may also contribute to a higher risk for mortality. A study of 1,741 people was presented today at a conference of sleep specialists: SLEEP 2009, the 23rd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. Researchers found that men who have insomnia and get fewer than six hours of sleep per night were at highest risk of dying, more so than women (19.6% for men versus 10.3% for women).

This was a long-term study that followed men for about 14 years and women for about 10.

It’s important to understand that the two (insomnia and less than 6 hours per night) are the point of the study. Many men get less than 6 hours per night because of lifestyle or other situations (crying babies, noisy environment, etc). However, continuously getting less than 6 hours of sleep per night can have serious health effects as well.

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Image: Stock.xchng

Hair: curly, thick, long, thin, gray, brown - all types of hair does different things for different people. But what about those who don’t have any? Or those who are in the process of losing it?

Some men accept their balding scalps graciously and as a matter of course. Some even speed up the process, figuring if they’ve lost most of their hair, they may as well shave off the rest. Others fight it every step of the way, from growing it long and combing it over, to poofing it up as much as they can, to give the illusion of more hair. And, of course, there are the men who spend money on hair pieces, plugs, surgery and many different kinds of potions guaranteed to help regrow your hair.

But what is male pattern baldness?

Everyone who has hair loses it every day. You can see that in the hairbrush in your bathroom or on the shower floor after you’ve washed your hair. It’s estimated that we lose about 10,000 strands every day - after it’s been in your head for about five years or so.

Again, for most of us, the hairs are replaced and the cycle continues. For men with male pattern baldness, this doesn’t happen. The hairs fall out and aren’t replaced, which causes a gradual loss of overall hair. Usually, it begins at the temple (receding hairline) or at the very top (crown) of the head.

Doctors don’t know exactly why men lose hair in this manner, but it is genetic as it isn’t common in women. Testosterone, the “male” hormone, does play a role by combing with an enzyme, which then weakens the hair.

It’s important to understand that male pattern baldness isn’t the same thing as the baldness experienced by people who have an illness that causes hair loss, called alopecia. As well, hair loss from other causes, like chemotherapy, are much more sudden, with clumps of hair coming out.

If you’re concerned about your hair loss, the best thing you can do is speak with your doctor to be sure that it is simply male pattern baldness and if so, to see if there is anything that can be done.

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Images: Stock.xchng