Men's Health Archive

Is brain damage an inevitable consequence of American football, an avoidable risk of it, or neither? An editorial published yesterday in the medical journal BMJ poses those provocative questions. Chad Asplund, director of sports medicine at Georgia Regents University, and Thomas Best, professor and chair of sports medicine at Ohio State University, offer an overview of the unresolved connection between playing football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a type of gradually worsening brain damage caused by repeated mild brain injuries or concussions. The big question is whether playing football causes chronic traumatic encephalopathy or whether some people who play football already at higher risk for developing it. The Football Players Health Study at Harvard University hopes to provide a solid answer to that and other health issues that affect professional football players.

Be skeptical and get the big picture from multiple sources.

When you need to find a hospital or medical center to have non-emergency surgery or a diagnostic procedure, you often have a choice—assuming you clear it with your insurance provider. How do you figure out the best place to go?

Many men consider taking a daily low-dose aspirin to reduce the chance of having a heart attack or stroke. You should do so only if the chance of being helped outweighs the chance of triggering unwanted bleeding, since aspirin interferes with normal clotting. But about one in 10 men who take protective aspirin may not really qualify, according to a national study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Experts recommend that aspirin might be considered in someone whose chance of experiencing a cardiovascular problem is at least 6% in the next 10 years. At that tipping point, the chance of being helped is great enough to justify the risk of unwanted bleeding.

Q. What are the most effective treatments for premature ejaculation? Do erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra help with this problem?

A. Premature ejaculation, usually defined as ejaculation within one minute of starting intercourse, is initially treated with behavioral techniques to delay climax. This includes the squeeze technique, which involves applying pressure just behind the head of the penis when ejaculation approaches and maintaining pressure until the
sensation passes. However, in many men, this doesn't prevent ejaculation.

Simple strategies can help you regain control.

As men age, the simple act of urinating can get complicated. Prostate surgery often leaves men vulnerable to leakage when they cough, sneeze, or just rise from a chair. Or the bladder may become impatient, suddenly demanding that you find a bathroom right now. "Thousands of years ago, it was not as much of an issue," observes Dr. Anurag Das, a urologist at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "There were lots of trees, and you could just find one and go."

But tricky bladders can be whipped into shape. The first step is a careful assessment of what triggers those difficult moments. Then your doctor can suggest helpful strategies and possibly medication to improve urinary control.

Just as regular exercise has a host of health benefits for the body, staying mentally active appears to preserve memory and general sharpness. But for getting a good night's sleep, light workouts for both body and brain may be best, according to a study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The study focused on 72 people, ages 67 to 79, who reported poor sleep as well as declining mental sharpness. They were assigned at random to do either strenuous aerobic exercise or a gentler stretching routine, paired with either watching educational DVDs (followed by short quizzes) or engaging in more demanding computer-based brain training.

Low bone strength, or osteoporosis, is not just a women's problem, but some men may not receive the level of scrutiny they should for the condition, suggests a study at one hospital in The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery.

Doctors reviewed five years of medical records of 95 men and 344 women, all over age 50, who were treated for wrist fractures at Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Breaking a bone is a possible sign osteoporosis, and some guidelines suggest bone density testing for people 50 and older after a fracture.