No man wants to hear that he has prostate cancer, but if he is diagnosed he will need to learn about the disease and how it is treated. Prostate cancer affects one in seven men. According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), it is the second most common type of cancer among men after skin cancer. With an estimated 288,300 new cases in the United States in 2023, it is important to know more about prostate cancer and what you can expect if you are the one in seven. What is prostate cancer? The prostate, a walnut-shaped organ, is part of men’s reproductive organs, providing some of the seminal fluid. Living below the bladder, it surrounds the urethra through which urine drains and the seminal tube through which semen flows. As with other cancers, it begins when cells mutate, grow out of control and eventually damage and steal nutrients from the surrounding healthy cells, according to the ACS. Prostate cancer causes While specific prostate cancer causes have not been identified, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists several prostate cancer risk factors. These include: Age : The most common risk factor. The older you are, the more likely you are to develop prostate cancer Race: Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer, get it at a younger age, have advanced disease…  read on >  read on >

Ticks are extremely resilient even when temperatures vary wildly, according to scientists who are working to better understand the spread of Lyme disease. In their new study, black-legged ticks, notorious for carrying pathogens, were very good at surviving both extreme cold and high heat, the scientists found. This was true both for nymph and adult ticks. Only larval ticks were more affected by weather conditions. “We thought we would see some evidence that if there was like a very dry period, all the ticks might be at a greater risk of dying,” said lead study author Jesse Brunner, an associate professor of biological sciences at Washington State University, in Pullman. “However, just the larvae were impacted by heat and dry conditions. Cold weather had even less of an impact. Somehow, they hunker down and survive great.” For the study, Brunner and a team of collaborators from the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies set up a large field study at three military bases along the U.S. East Coast using funding from the U.S. Department of Defense. The researchers placed more than 9,000 ticks in soil core enclosures, monitoring their survival over a three-year period and collecting data on the ticks’ response to climate conditions. The extreme weather did make ticks go through their food more quickly. This means that the window for ticks looking for a…  read on >  read on >

The most common screening test for prostate cancer so often returns a false positive result that it’s no longer recommended for men older than 70, and it’s offered as a personal choice for younger men. But researchers think they’ve found a way to make the blood test for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) accurate enough to significantly reduce overdiagnosis and better predict dangerous cancers. By calibrating PSA levels to each man’s genetics, doctors could control for other factors that might cause levels to be elevated, according to researchers at Stanford Medicine, in California. The researchers envisioned combining the regular blood-based PSA test with an additional genetic analysis that detects inherited genetic variants that can affect PSA levels. Elevated PSA levels can be a sign of prostate cancer, but levels can also be high due to other issues like inflammation, infection, an enlarged prostate or just old age, the study authors said in background notes. “Some men have higher PSA levels due to their genetics,” senior researcher John Witte, a Stanford professor of epidemiology and population health, said in a university news release. “They don’t have cancer, but the higher PSA level leads to a cascade of unnecessary medical interventions like biopsy.” By one estimate, less than one-third of men with elevated PSA levels were confirmed by a biopsy to have prostate cancer, the researchers reported. Moreover, 15%…  read on >  read on >

Erectile dysfunction (ED) has been tied to an increased risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Now, research suggests that erectile woes during late middle age may also be linked to a man’s chances of developing memory issues later on. “Because subtle changes in erectile function were related to memory decline, our results suggest that neglecting this aspect of sexual health may contribute to cases of cognitive impairment and dementia in men,” said study author Tyler Reed Bell. He’s a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California, San Diego. “An ounce of erectile function treatment may be worth pounds in the number of years lived without cognitive impairment or dementia,” Bell reasoned. Researchers don’t know precisely how the two conditions are linked, but they have a theory. “It is likely related to microvascular changes [in the walls of the small blood vessels] that are important to both penile and cognitive health,” Bell suggested. For the study, the researchers tracked associations between erectile function, sexual satisfaction, and memory and thinking skills (“cognition”) in more than 800 men, about age 56 on average at the study’s start. The men underwent tests of their memory and processing speed and completed questionnaires about erectile function and sexual satisfaction when they were 56, 61 and 68. Those men who had reduced erectile function at age 56 were more…  read on >  read on >

A potentially deadly germ has made its way to the U.S. Gulf Coast, health officials warned this week. So far, three cases of infection from the bacteria Burkholderia pseudomallei have been reported to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bacteria causes melioidosis, which can be fatal if left untreated. “It is an environmental organism that lives naturally in the soil, and typically freshwater in certain areas around the world. Mostly in subtropical and tropical climates,” said Julia Petras, an epidemic intelligence service officer with CDC’s National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases. The most recent case was reported in Mississippi in January, following two previous cases in the same county in Mississippi in July 2020 and May 2022. Melioidosis is now considered endemic to the U.S. Gulf Coast and infections may be seen from Texas to Florida, Petras said. But because most people exposed to B. mallei don’t have symptoms of the infection and develop antibodies against it, many more people have most likely been infected, she said. All three patients who were infected responded to treatment and recovered, Petras said. The most common ways the bacterium infects people is through open wounds or by being inhaled during a severe storm with high winds. It can also be ingested by drinking contaminated water, she noted. Those most at risk for a…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – Smokers in Canada will soon see health warnings on each and every cigarette they light up.. The country will be the first in the world to print these warnings directly on individual cigarettes. “This bold step will make health warning messages virtually unavoidable, and together with updated graphic images displayed on the package, will provide a real and startling reminder of the health consequences of smoking,” Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, said in a Health Canada news release announcing the new labeling. “We will continue to do whatever it takes to help more people in Canada stop smoking and help young people to live healthy, tobacco-free lives.” Tobacco use kills about 48,000 Canadians each year, Bennett noted. The changes are intended to help adults quit smoking and to protect youth and non-tobacco users from nicotine addiction. Retailers and smokers will start to see these new messages on cigarette packaging by the end of April 2024. They will appear on individual king-size cigarettes by late July 2024 and on regular cigarettes, little cigars with tipping paper and tubes by the end of April 2025. Messages will include such phrases as “tobacco smoke harms children” and “poison in every puff,” the Associated Press reported. The regulations will support Canada’s Tobacco Strategy, which has set a target of reaching less than…  read on >  read on >

Kids who devote some of their free time to volunteer work may not only help others, but also themselves. That’s according to a new study that found U.S. kids who spend time in community service are often thriving, physically and mentally. Overall, kids who’d volunteered in the past year were in better physical health, had a more positive outlook on life, and were less likely to have anxiety, depression or behavioral problems than their peers who did not do volunteer work. The findings, published May 30 in the journal JAMA Network Open, do not answer the chicken-and-egg question, researchers noted: Kids who were already high on the well-being scale may have been more apt to volunteer. “We can’t say this is cause-and-effect,” said lead researcher Kevin Lanza, an assistant professor at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health. That said, Lanza thinks the findings set the stage for a study that follows kids over time, to see whether volunteerism promotes better physical and mental well-being down the road. There are, of course, already plenty of reasons to encourage volunteerism, Lanza pointed out. But if it also benefits young volunteers’ well-being, then it would be a “win-win,” he said. “There could be a great opportunity to promote volunteering as a public health measure,” Lanza said. Many studies over the years have linked volunteerism to better physical and…  read on >  read on >

Large, uncontrolled wildfires in Nova Scotia are creating unhealthy air in the Northeast region of the United States, including parts of Connecticut. This significant smoke plume is likely to cause elevated levels of fine particulate matter, the American Lung Association warned in its alert. Particulate matter contains microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are so small that they can be inhaled and cause serious health problems, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The lung association also offered tips for everyone — but especially children, older adults and people with lung diseases like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) — to stay well despite the poor air quality. Start by staying indoors. If you live close to these areas where there is fire and a lot of smoke, stay inside to avoid breathing smoke, ashes and other pollution in the area. Keep doors, windows and fireplace dampers shut, preferably with clean air circulating through air conditioners on the recirculation setting. Watch your symptoms. With higher smoke levels, breathing can be more difficult. Call your doctor if you experience these symptoms. Protect your children and teens, who are more susceptible to smoke. They breathe in more air — and more pollution — into their developing lungs for their size than adults do. Ask for help. The American Lung Association’s Lung HelpLine at 1-800-LUNGUSA is staffed…  read on >  read on >

When most men think about their prostate, it’s to worry about whether they have prostate cancer or not. But another condition is far more common and plenty painful. Prostatitis involves inflammation of the prostate gland and sometimes the areas around it. Not only is prostatitis highly treatable, but it is highly prevalent among men. According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, it is the leading cause of urinary tract infections in men, resulting in approximately 2 million doctor’s visits each year in the United States. In fact, it’s estimated that half of all men will experience prostatitis at some point. The U.S. National Center for Health Statistics further reveals that about 25% of men who seek medical attention for urological problems exhibit symptoms of prostatitis. Here, experts give the rundown on prostatitis, including its various types, causes, common symptoms and available treatments. What is prostatitis? Prostatitis, a condition characterized by the inflammation of the prostate gland, is known for its frequent and often debilitating pain. According to the Cleveland Clinic, it is a complex condition that can lead to various symptoms, including infection, inflammation and pain. Two types of prostatitis are associated with urinary tract infections (UTIs), while the remaining types may not have an infectious origin. Regardless of the type, prostatitis is commonly recognized for the intense pain its sufferers feel, which can significantly impact…  read on >  read on >