Men’s Health

Testosterone may make men likely to get the flu, study finds

Just in time for flu season’s peak, science may have figured out a reason why some men make wimpy, needy patients compared to women when it comes to infectious diseases.

A report released today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) links testosterone levels with response to flu vaccine, showing that, as a group, men with higher levels of the male hormone are more likely to have weak, or no response to a flu vaccine, meaning that their bodies don’t mount a strong defense.

In short, they have weaker immune systems than do women, leaving them more vulnerable to severe infections.

“Men are suffering!” Mark M. Davis, the Avery Family Professor of Immunology at Stanford University School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, told NBC News. “They aren’t as resistant. Women are superior. There’s no way around it.”

Science has known for some time that there are gender differences between the immune systems of men and women, differences that can have profound impacts for health and medicine.

For example, while women tend to develop a more robust immune reaction to infection, that strength comes with a cost. Women are much more likely to suffer from autoimmune diseases like lupus, and they are more likely than men to develop Alzheimer’s disease. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to have severe cases of viral, bacterial and parasitic infections.

What mechanisms underlay this phenomenon has been somewhat mysterious. The study released today might help tease apart some of that mystery.

The multinational team from Stanford, France, and the University of North Carolina took blood from 54 women and 37 men of different ages, then studied a variety of immune system proteins and cells using complex systems to detect gene expression. Then they gave flu vaccines to these people and checked for any changes in these parameters. Sure enough, men, as a group, had a more muted response to the vaccine.

Thirty-three women and 10 men responded to the vaccine for the seasonal H3N2 flu strain. Twenty women and 24 men did not respond. (The remaining participants weren’t included due to incomplete or flawed results.)

“Lots of male non-responders had high levels of testosterone,” Davis explained, “while the men with lower testosterone levels had roughly equal responses to females. The high-T men were crappy responders.”

When the team completed the complicated genetic analysis, it found that genes involved with lipid (fats) metabolism – such as the manufacture of cholesterol by the liver – were powerfully associated with response to the vaccine. The more strongly those genes were expressed, and the higher the testosterone, the weaker the response to the vaccine.

To Carol Colton, a Duke University Medical Center professor of neurology who studies the interaction of hormones and the immune system, especially their effects on brain diseases, “that makes perfect sense” because our bodies make estrogen and testosterone from cholesterol, a lipid. The differences between men and women, she explained “are inherent, right down to the gene level.”

Why would evolution instill such differences? Davis speculated – and Colton heartily agreed – that higher testosterone in men is anti-inflammatory and aids the healing of injuries and wounds. Males of most species are more likely than females to suffer trauma. “If you’re in a battle, having lots of testosterone is wonderful,” Colton said.

“So you take a hit to your resistance to infectious disease,” Davis said, “but you gain in case of trauma.”

Davis said he hoped studies like this one would help inform scientists and physicians as new immune-therapies, like cancer vaccines, are developed. “There’s been some neglect in this area,” he said, “that I hope our study, and others, will help to correct.”

And for those who got the flu vaccine but still get sick, a prescription antiviral therapy can lessen symptoms and shorten the duration of the virus, if taken within 48 hours.

Source: FCN

Scientists create ‘robotic’ sperm to fight infertility

Researchers in Germany say they have created remote-controlled sperm that could be used to help with fertilization.

These “spermbots” are made by catching sperm cells in nanotubes and fabricating them onto a wafer or “chip.” The tubes are narrower at one end and guided by a magnet to the egg, increasing a patient’s chance of getting pregnant.

How are they doing this?
The method for this technology, is simply using the tail of the sperm to do the electrical work then using a magnetic field to direct the sperm. Think of it like a compass needle aligning with the Earth’s magnetic field. It is far easier to control a single cell (like the sperm) that propels itself through fluid with its whip-like tail.

Until now, researchers had only managed to persuade groups of cells to cooperate, with the help of mathematical measurements over a distance and magnetic fields. To create the “spermbots,” the research team builds the nanotubes from using iron and titanium nanoparticles. They then add the tubes to fluid containing sperm. The nanotubes are designed with one end of each tube slightly narrower than the other. The sperm that swims into the wider end becomes trapped, headfirst, with their whip-like tail propelling it toward the egg.

What is the future of this technology?
If this technology works, you will start to see the use of this method being applied to all fields of medicine. For example, chemotherapy works by stopping or slowing the growth of cancer cells, which grow and divide quickly. However, this can harm healthy cells that separate quickly, such as those that line your mouth and intestines. During chemotherapy treatment the patient will typically suffer from damaged healthy cells which can cause serious side effects.

How will this help improve chemotherapy treatment?
With this cutting-edge technology, doctors will be able to deliver chemotherapy and guide the treatment to the specific target. While in the process, eliminating organs and cells from being over exposed to toxicity from the chemotherapy agent. Overall, this method will give physicians and patients a less toxic form of cancer treatment and protect their healthy cells from being over exposed or even killed off.

Source: viral news chart

Teenagers ‘think slim cigarettes are safer’ says report

Young teenagers rate slimline cigarettes as stylish, feminine and possibly safer than regular brands, say researchers.

Thinner cigarettes were generally seen as weaker, more palatable, and less harmful by a focus group of 15-year-olds from Glasgow.

In fact, some super-slim brands contain more dangerous tobacco chemicals than their bulkier counterparts, according to the study authors.

Teenagers were most attracted to slim and super-slim cigarettes with white filters and decorative features, describing them as “classy” and “nicer”, said Cancer Research UK.

In contrast one long brown cigarettes was viewed as particularly harmful and labelled “disgusting”, “really, really strong”, and “old fashioned”.

The researchers asked 48 teenage boys and girls about eight cigarette brands that differed in length, diameter, colour, and design.

Professor Gerard Hastings, Cancer Research UK’s social marketing expert at the University of Stirling and one of the study authors, said: “Our research confirms previous studies that both the pack and the product are powerful marketing tools in the hands of the tobacco industry which it is using to recruit a new generation of smokers. It’s time policy makers moved to standardise both.”

Co-author Allison Ford, also from the University of Stirling, said: “This important study reveals for the first time that adolescents associate slim and decorative cigarettes with glamour and coolness, rating them as a cleaner, milder and safer smoke.

“It is incredibly worrying to hear that adolescents believe that a stylishly designed cigarette gives a softer option.”

Cancer Research UK is campaigning for plain standardised packaging of cigarettes and has launched an online film accusing the tobacco industry of encouraging children to smoke.

The study found that teenagers thought white tips and longer cigarettes portrayed a cleaner, feminine image reminiscent of glamorous female stars from old movies. The image softened perceptions that smoking was harmful, said the scientists.

Cigarettes with white tips were also associated with menthol, which was perceived as weaker and less harmful.

In their paper, published in the European Journal of Public Health, the researchers wrote: “The slimmer diameters of these cigarettes communicated weaker tasting and less harmful-looking cigarettes. This was closely linked to appeal as thinness implied a more pleasant and palatable smoke for young smokers.

“This exploratory study provides some support that standardising cigarette appearance could reduce the appeal of cigarettes in adolescents and reduce the opportunity for stick design to mislead young smokers in terms of harm.”

Mumsnet chief executive and co-founder Justine Roberts, who supports the campaign, said: “Very few parenting issues are completely black and white, but nobody wants their child to start smoking. Standardised packs may not be a silver bullet, but Mumsnet users are clear that they’d be very happy to see them as part of a range of measures to discourage children from getting hooked.”

Harpal Kumar, Cancer Research UK’s chief executive, said: “This research once again highlights how the tobacco industry exploits any opportunity to lure young smokers to secure a profitable future.

“The evidence shows children are attracted to glitzy, slickly-designed cigarettes and packs and every year more than 207,000 UK children between 11 and 15 start smoking. We are urging the Government to introduce standardised packaging to discourage these children from starting this life-threatening habit and to prioritise children’s health over tobacco company profits.”

The House of Lords will debate standardising cigarette packaging over the next few weeks.

Source: The Independent

 

Young men have unrecognized eating disorders

Eating disorders are most often associated with young women, but a new study suggests young men can also become obsessed with their appearance and go to extremes to enhance their bodies.

The problem can resemble a traditional eating disorder or involve use of drugs and supplements, according to U.S. researchers, and it tends to go along with depression, binge drinking and recreational drugs.

“The results of our studies would suggest we need to be thinking more broadly about eating disorders and consider males as well,” Alison Field, the study’s lead author, said. She is an associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Classical eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, in which a person refuses to eat, and bulimia nervosa, in which someone binge-eats then purges through vomiting or laxative use.

“For a lot of males, what they’re striving for is different than females,” Field said. “They’re probably engaged in something different than purging.”

It has been estimated that one in every 10 cases of an eating disorder occurs in men.

For the new study, Field and her colleagues used survey responses collected between 1999 and 2011 to see what concerns teenage boys had about their bodies.

Field’s team also wanted to know if eating disorders were tied to later unhealthy behaviours, such as drug and alcohol use.

The surveys were answered every one to three years by 5,527 boys who were between ages 12 and 18 at the start of the study in 1999.

The researchers found that 31 per cent of the teens had – at some point – binged on food or purged.

About nine per cent reported a high level of concern with their body’s muscularity and about two per cent were both concerned about muscularity and had used some type of supplement, growth hormone derivative or anabolic steroid to enhance it.

Use of those products rose to about eight per cent when the researchers looked just at 16- to 22-year-olds.

“The results from this study would suggest that males who are extremely concerned about their physiques are doing or using things that may or may not be healthy,” Field said.

“There are a whole range of products available online that we don’t know if they’re healthy or not,” she said. “We know when a lot of them are tested, they’re not what they’re marketed to be.”

Those young men who used enhancement products were also more likely than their peers to binge drink and use drugs, the researchers found.

In her mind, Field said the behaviour of those young men could be the male equivalent of binge-and-purge disorders, because they’re using the products to alter their bodies.

About six per cent of the young men surveyed said that in addition to muscularity, they were also concerned about their thinness.

Overall, though, young men were more likely to be focused on muscularity and that concern increased with age.

Between two per cent and three per cent were concerned only about their thinness. Those young men were more likely to develop symptoms of depression later on.

“We think about a lot of disorders and diseases that look different in males than females,” Field said. “This is another example and we need to remember that.”

“These are not likely to be healthy behaviours,” Dr. Evelyn Attia said. She is a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York.

“The overwhelming number of people – often young men – who are thinking about needing to change their body by using some of these supplements is certainly something the family should know about and we as clinicians should be aware of,” Attia, who was not involved in the new study, said.

She added that those behaviours and the use of those supplements should be tracked for future research. At this point, she said, it’s hard to say whether these behaviours are truly eating disorders.

Field said it would be unrealistic to expect young men and women not to be concerned about their weight or their bodies, but for some it’s all they’re concerned about.

“The images these teens are seeing of models don’t even look like that,” Field said. “They’ve been airbrushed and shaded … so everyone believes they have unbelievable definition in their abs and arms.”

The new research appeared in JAMA Pediatrics. The authors note that the survey’s respondents were mostly white and middle class, which may limit the study’s relevance to other populations.

Field suggested that doctors and parents should be aware of their patients’ or children’s attempts to change their bodies to make sure it’s being done for the right reasons and in a healthy way.

“It’s a good time to have that conversation,” she said.

Source: the globe and mail

No real proof bacon can hurt sperm, so let your sex life sizzle

When news hit recently that eating bacon may be bad for your sperm, we were bummed. (After all, Men’s Health editors love bacon.)

But after digging into the actual research, we realized our BLTs (and swimmers) are probably safe — for now.

First, some background: Researchers at Harvard University recruited men who were having trouble getting their wives pregnant, then asked them questions about their diets. The guys who ate between 2.5 and 19.5 servings of processed red meat a week — including bacon, hot dogs, burgers and lunch meats such as bologna — had significantly more damaged sperm than men who ate less than that amount.

While the scientists can’t explain the link, they did rule out some of the dietary factors associated with eating processed red meats. “Neither total fat intake nor animal fat explained the sperm damage,” says study author Myriam Afeiche, Ph.D. (These 15 Facts You Didn’t Know about Your Penis will keep your member healthy and happy.)

In fact, because the survey couldn’t pin down a reason why eating bacon cheeseburgers correlated with sperm damage, you probably shouldn’t worry about your gonads just yet. “The results of this research are good for raising questions, but not providing answers,” says Alan Aragon, M.S., Men’s Health’s nutrition adviser.

That also means there’s no clear connection between processed meat and the infertility the couples in the study were suffering from. “(The researchers) were only looking at one measure of sperm health — not whether it prevents someone from getting pregnant,” says Men’s Health’s urology adviser Larry Lipshultz, M.D.

Until we know more, here’s what you can do: “Keep processed meat to a max of 20 percent of your weekly meat intake,” Aragon advises. So if you eat three 4-ounce servings of meat a day, you can eat up to 4 servings of bacon each week. And stock up on more seafood: The study found that guys who ate the most salmon, tuna fish, and bluefish had 34 percent more total sperm. (For more foods that strengthen your swimmers,

Source: nbc news

Too Much Sitting increases Risk of Colon Polyps in Men

Men who are more sedentary face a higher risk of recurring colon polyps, according to a new study, even if these men break up their downtime with bouts of recreational activities such as walking, jogging or golf.

This suggests that extended inactivity is itself a risk factor for noncancerous colon polyps, benign tumors that can give rise to colorectal cancer, the researchers said.

Known as “colorectal adenomas,” these polyps typically can be removed after being identified during a colorectal cancer screening, such as a colonoscopy.

The recurrence of such polyps, however, seems to be greater among men (but not women) who are relatively less active. The researchers looked at activity levels among more than 1,700 men and women, and found that the more leisurely the men’s lifestyle, the greater their risk for precancerous polyps.

Men who spent 11 or more hours a day in seated endeavors — such as writing or reading — were 45 percent more likely to develop polyps than those who spent less than seven hours a day engaged in sedentary behavior.

The study, funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. National Cancer Institute, was schedule for presentation this week at the annual cancer-prevention conference of the American Association for Cancer Research, held in Oxon Hill, Md.

“Sedentary behavior is emerging as a risk factor for poor health,” study author Christine Sardo Molmenti, a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of epidemiology at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, said in a conference news release.

“Even among those who fulfill daily recommendations for physical activity, lengthy periods of sedentary behavior have been associated with early morbidity and mortality, leading to the ‘active couch potato’ paradigm,” Sardo Molmenti said.

Because this study is being presented at a medical meeting, the data and conclusions should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Although the study found an association between sedentary behavior and increased risk of colon polyps in men, it did not prove a cause-and-effect relationship. The authors said no protective link has been established between being more active and having a lower risk for colorectal cancer.

“Given the substantial increase in risk of [colon polyp] recurrence we observed for men with the highest sedentary time, we believe it would be beneficial to see ‘reduce prolonged sitting time’ added to the list of public-health recommendations currently in place for health promotion and disease prevention,” Sardo Molmenti said.

Source:

DIY sperm test: Male fertility kit on sale in UK for the first time

Sperm Check, an over-the-counter male fertility test, will force men to shoulder more of the burden when problems arise in conceiving naturally, experts say

A merchandise which makes it possible for guys to examine their sperm depend at house in ten minutes has long gone on sale in Britain for the 1st time. The male fertility test, called Sperm Check and developed to seem like a pregnancy test, can be acquired over-the-counter and expenses &pound30.

Some who work in reproductive well being and partnership therapy have welcomed the launch, stating it will power men and women to recognize that male infertility is a key explanation why some partners are not able to conceive in a natural way.

But other individuals have recommended Sperm Check could direct to friction in interactions, with males feeling emasculated if their companion asks them to carry out the test.

Ray Lopez, main executive of Sperm Check, instructed The Mail on Sunday:

With this test we can really assist couples struggling from infertility. A lot of the time, the female is the 1 who is burdened with discovering out what is mistaken, but the actuality of the scenario is that in 40 to sixty for every cent of situations, male aspect infertility is to blame.

Consumers of Sperm Check blend semen with a specific answer and area six drops of the liquid on a reader gadget, which assessments for SP-10, a protein only located in experienced sperm. If there are far more than twenty million sperm for each millimeter in the sample the Entire world Globe Overall health Organization benchmark for fertility, which an estimated ninety for every cent of men are above the test will show two red lines.

If the sperm depend is reduce, only one particular line will be displayed. Males who uncover they have a minimal sperm count are suggested to seek advice from their doctor. A minimal rely in alone does not rule out the likelihood of conceiving kids normally but will influence a few chances of carrying out so.

 

 

 

Mr Lopez stated the solution, which is to be shown in Boots alongside being pregnant and ovulation checks and is presently on sale in the US and Canada, is as good as a lab examination and precise in 98 for every cent of instances. But Alison Campbell, head of embryology at Care Fertility, a single of Britain’s most significant IVF clinics, stated the new merchandise could not inform end users how wholesome their sperm is and would nonetheless return a positive result for lifeless sperm.

She defined that an entire semen examination would have to be undertaken to check out regardless of whether sperm have been moving properly and the right condition to fertilize an egg. She included that the check gave no indicator if a males sperm depend was nearer to 20 million for each milliliter or zero if it arrived beneath the fertility benchmark.

There is no option to viewing a skilled, Ms Campbell explained. Silva Neves, a psychosexual and associations therapist primarily based in London, said he welcomed the items launch but stated its use could also introduce problems into a connection.

These times females still have a enormous volume of pressure in conditions of fertility and there is the assumption that if it doesn’t perform out it’s due to the fact of the female fairly than the couple, Mr Neves said.

I truly hope men do acquire this – but with new items, particularly items linked to sexuality, it sometimes will take a while for interest to decide up. It’s anything I can imagine recommending to partners if they did have fertility issues.

But he additional that men could really feel emasculated if they felt they ended up currently being blamed for a pair’s incapability to conceive a child in a natural way. Men will find all sorts of excuses if it arrives back with a minimal sperm count: it’s a new product, it’s not working effectively,” the therapist stated. Finding you’re infertile is like currently being castrated in standard psychological conditions.

When men and women listen to some thing they don’t want to hear, they become intense with themselves and frequently that aggression is projected onto somebody close to them, in this scenario their associate.  They may possibly say, you made me do this.

The typical sperm count per milliliter for a gentleman in his mid-30s is at present 50m, down from 74m in 1989. Medical experts recommend enhancements in diet plan, physical exercise and dropping excess weight for men making an attempt to improve their sperm depend. Keeping away from saunas and hot baths, and swapping restricted underwear for boxer shorts could also enjoy a position. Couples in which the male has severe fertility problems have a assortment of alternatives open to them, like synthetic insemination, which costs around &pound1,000, and IVF, which fees about &pound4,000 for every cycle.

Source:

Testosterone therapy may cut risk of cardiovascular diseases

A new study has suggested that testosterone treatment in hypogonadal (testosterone deficient) men restores normal lipid profiles and may reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

In this observational study, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), investigated the effects of testosterone treatment in 255 hypogonadal men between the ages of 33-69 and followed them for a period of five years.

They found that men treated with testosterone therapy experienced a gradual reduction of their total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides and increased high density lipoprotein.

“In addition to improving their cholesterol levels, we found that the testosterone treatment resulted in marked reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure as well, suggesting amelioration of hypertension,” lead author Abdulmaged M. Traish, MBA, PhD, professor of biochemistry and urology as well as Research Director of the Institute of Sexual Medicine at BUSM explained.

Traish found this treatment also reduced fasting blood glucose and hemoglobin A1c, a surrogate marker of hyperglycemia, suggesting that testosterone treatment may improve insulin sensitivity and hyperglycemic control.

It also reduced the levels of inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and markers of liver dysfunction such as alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase, suggesting reduction in the inflammation responses.

The study is published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

Source:

Breast cancer in men is on the rise

A study found that male breast cancer is on the rise, with a 25% increase over the 25 years from 1973 to 1988. But it’s still rare.

 
Researchers at the University of Texas M D Anderson Cancer Center report on the survey of the disease covering more than 2,500 cases. Sometimes the breasts can become quite large. This can be caused by medications, heavy alcohol use, weight gain, or marijuana use.
The researchers say it`s important that men should be more aware of possibility that they may get

breast cancer, the study shows the incidence of the disease is up from 0.86 to 1.08 cases per 100,000 men over the last 25 years. Also they compared with 380,000 cases of female patients. Male patients tended to be somewhat older than female patients when diagnosed with the disease. They were also more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage.

This is somewhat ironic, for it is easier to detect a breast tumor in a man.
But men may think that such tumors arise from a common benign condition. The medical term called gynecomastia (enlargement of both breast usually not called cancer)

The most common breast tumor among males is invasive ductal carcinoma, which accounts for 93.4 per cent of cases. Men are also more likely to have estrogen-positive tumors, which mean they could benefit from tamoxifen treatment.

The survival rates for male and female breast cancers are similar, although the tumors may differ somewhat in their biology
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FDA seeks possible restrictions on Menthol cigarettes

US health organizations have said menthol cigarettes are more harmful than normal cigarettes, but stopped short of limiting their sale. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would seek possible restrictions for the products.

The agency said that while mint-flavored cigarettes may be just as toxic as others, it was easier to start smoking them and harder to quit.

Menthol cigarettes are one of the growing areas of the tobacco industry. The FDA has commissioned further research into the subject. Menthol cigarettes pose a public health risk than non-menthol cigarettes,” said the preliminary results of the FDA’s study.

It also found the cooling and anesthetic qualities of the menthol made them less harsh – and more appealing to smokers. The report concluded some of the findings from 2011, which suggested that a ban on menthol cigarettes would benefit public health.

But the tobacco industry has said that menthol cigarettes do not need to be subject to different regulations from normal cigarettes.

A group of former health officials, including two cabinet secretaries from the Carter and Bush Senior administrations, denounced the FDA’s inaction.

“The failure of this administration to act undermines the public health and is particularly harmful to vulnerable young Americans and African-Americans,” they said in a joint statement.

According to an earlier study from the US Department of Health only about 25% of white smokers choose menthol cigarettes, while more than 70% of African-American smokers use them.