Tag Archives: health

Why Do Some Men Get Grouchier As They Age?

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“GET OFF MY LAWN!”

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Some informally dub it “grumpy old man complex.” British author Carol Wyer labels it “irritable male syndrome,” a spike in the outward crankiness of guys of a certain age.

As more baby boomers hit 60 — the age when male grumpiness seems to kick in — be ready for a growing chorus of grouchy flare-ups, like a Donald Trumprant set to explode.

The condition isn’t just a stereotype represented by the proverbial fist-waving shout, “Get off my lawn!” Testosterone levels generally fall as men age, according to the Mayo Clinic. Such hormone drops are known to dampen male moods, says Dr. Ridwan Shabsigh, head of the International Society of Men’s Health and a urologist in New York City. Continue reading →

Antibiotic-Resistant Gonorrhea Arrives in North America

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This is a story to all sexually active folks out there to take notice of.

GonGonorrhea resistant to antibiotics has been reported for some time. What you should be concerned about is that it has now arrived in North America:

In a study released Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, a group of scientists led by Vanessa Allen of Public Health Ontario, found that 6.7 percent of patients with gonorrhea at a Toronto clinic still had the disease after a round of cephalosporins, the last effective oral antibiotic used to treat the disease. Of 133 patients who returned for a “test of cure” visit, nine remained gonorrhea-positive. This is the first time cephalosporin-resistant gonorrhea has been found in humans in North America.

“These are the clinical cases we’ve been waiting for,” Allen says. “This is the translation of the lab information into what the clinical consequence is.”

The report:

In an accompanying editorial, Robert D. Kirkcaldy, M.D., M.P.H., of the Division of STD Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, and colleagues write that the findings of this study, of documented cephalosporin treatment failures in North America, although expected, “its arrival is deeply troubling; clinicians now face the emergence of cephalosporin-resistant N gonorrhoeae without any well-studied, effective backup treatment options.”

“New antibiotics for treating gonococcal infections are needed. A clinical trial sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases examining novel combinations of existing drugs just completed enrollment, and a small study of a new oral agent is ongoing. But the antibiotic pipeline is running dry: continued investment in antibiotic development is critical. Meanwhile, the gonococcus has continued to develop the capability to defeat each new antibiotic used. The threat of drug-resistant gonorrhea is increasing and has reached North America. Clinicians, drug developers, and public health professionals must act now.”

UPDATE: A better article from NPR notes that the gonorrhea can be eventually cured at this stage:

…even in the Canadian study, all patients eventually recovered when they were given larger doses of cefixime or a related antibiotic. Nevertheless, there have been worrying signs of antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea in the U.S.

Read more: http://www.towleroad.com

New ‘Fat-Fighting’ Pepsi in Japan

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By Tara Culp-Ressler

Pepsi’s partner in Japan is marketing a new “Pepsi Special” drink abroad that claims to suppress the absorption of fat with a dietary fiber named dextrin. Although the company claims that Pepsi Special could be the first “healthy” soda — and the product has even qualified for a government-designated label in Japan that identifies it as a nutrition-related product — U.S. health experts warn that it’s probably too good to be true.

The long-term effects haven’t been studied, but some Japanese scientists warn that consuming high levels of dextrin can cause stomach pain and bloating in the short term. And even aside from the supplement’s potentially negative effects, Time reports that Pepsi Special is unlikely to make it past the Food and Drug Administration’s standards if Pepsi were to attempt to market it in the United States:

Dr. Walter Willett, chair of nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health, added in an email statement: “Unless Pepsi can provide data from controlled studies in humans to the contrary, their claim should be regarded as bogus and deceptive.”

In fact, Pepsi may face challenges if it decides to bring Pepsi Special to the United States, since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tends to frown on such potentially suspect nutrient-boosting of essentially unhealthy products in an attempt to make them healthier. [...]

“You shouldn’t add good things to bad things because that could encourage people to eat something that isn’t healthy for them,” said Michael Jacobson, Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a food safety and nutrition consumer advocacy group.

Read full article HERE

Focus on the Mental and Emotional Benefits of Exercise to Help Stick to Your Workouts

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VIA

Anyone who’s tried to stick to a workout routine knows what it’s like to have those days when you just don’t feel like it—when you feel like you haven’t gotten any results from your exercise, and you wonder why you even bother. That can be depression (or laziness, depending) talking, and a surefire way to push through that fog and get your running shoes on is to focus on how you’ll feel when you’re finished.

Even though it seems counter-intuitive, you’ll feel energized after even a short walk or workout, and the emotional benefits will make themselves known to you long before the physical ones will. Most people try to focus on inches slimmed or pounds lost—since they’ll come later, consider honing in on the emotional benefits instead to hit that need for instant gratification you may have. In addition to preparing for those depressed days by remembering how good you’ll feel, the folks at BodyHack suggest making a running schedule you’ll want to stick to as a kind of carrot to stay motivated.

The idea itself isn’t new—we’ve mentionedrewarding yourself immediately as a way to keep exercise interesting, and the idea is definitely sound—if the feeling of accomplishment and the endorphins aren’t enough to get you up and onto the treadmill or exercise bike, maybe treating yourself to something nice when you’re finished will do the trick. How do you stay motivated to work out on those down days? Share your tips in the comments below.

5 Hacks to Stick to Exercise Through Depression | BodyHack

Photo by Andrey Burmakin (Shutterstock).

Republished from http://lifehacker.com

Top New Year’s Resolutions for Men’s Health

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(StatePoint) This year, millions of New Year’s resolutions will be made – and then broken soon after. But there is one resolution that all men should keep: to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America, affecting one in six men, according to the Prostate Cancer Foundation. In addition, heart disease killed 26 percent of the men who died in 2006. And half of the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are many simple ways men can reduce their risk for life-threatening health conditions. Make a New Year’s resolution to improve your health and better your life with these easy tips. Continue reading →

Young Men’s Attitudes about Health and Wellness

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A fascinating new report just came out analyzing young men’s attitudes about health and well-being. The study was done by Euromonitor International and looked at men 15-29 in eight countries (US, Brazil, the UK, France, Germany, India, China, and Japan) and found that most guys in that age groups place a high value on regular exercise, nutrition (meaning plenty of fruits and veggies, reducing fat and salt, cutting back on alcohol, and drinking plenty of water),  not smoking, and keeping their stress levels under control.

However, there’s still something of a disconnect between what they say and what they actually do to achieve their health goals. It seems that good intentions are competing with the time constraints of a busy life, too many unhealthy food choices, and too any hours working behind a desk. Continue reading →

Learn To Use An Epi-Pen And Save A Life

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Here we have a very important message from our good friend The Healthy Bear:

Hey there Guys,

Today I wanted to share a video that I have created to help teach people how you can save a life if someone is having a severe allergic reaction.

To reinforce the main points of the video:

To reinforce the main points of the video:

Important Signs Of A Life Threatening Allergic Reaction

  • Difficult/noisy breathing
  • Swelling of tongue
  • Swelling/tightness in throat
  • Difficulty talking and/or hoarse voice
  • Wheeze or persistent cough
  • Persistent dizziness or collapse
  • Pale and floppy (in young children)

If this person has an Epi-Pen™, follow along with this info graphic from Allergy Australia:

FDA Review Favors First Drug for HIV Prevention

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WASHINGTON — A pill that has long been used to treat HIV has moved one step closer to becoming the first drug approved to prevent healthy people from becoming infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that Gilead Sciences’ Truvada appears to be safe and effective for HIV prevention. It concluded that taking the pill daily could spare patients “infection with a serious and life-threatening illness that requires lifelong treatment.” Continue reading →

Gay Men and Aging: Finding Your Purpose

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I just finished reading about the suicide of a gay therapist Bob Bergeron.  No one knows why he committed suicide—the author of the article and many of his friends are left to wonder about the reasons. But the irony left in the wake of his death is hard to ignore. He was about to publish a book on successful gay male aging and his suicide note suggests that we was struggling with the very issue he was writing about—a potentially difficult issue for many gay men as we grow older..

 

A closer consideration of gay male aging suggests why growing older might be a particularly tricky. First of all, a large component of gay male culture is focused on beauty, youth, and sexual attractiveness. Like their heterosexual counterparts, gay men respond and react sexually to visual stimuli, namely the physical appeal of their sexual partners. As a result, beauty is privileged and so are the men who have it.

Joan Collins once said that physical beauty is a gift granted in youth that is slowly taken away little by little over time. Thus, gay men who are lucky to live long enough to age must face the decline of their attractiveness. However, growing up gay in a stigmatizing society might leave them particularly ill-suited to face the challenges of this time of life.

Bob Bergeron is a case in point. According to an article in the Sunday April 1st New York Times,  Mr. Bergeron grew up nervous and awkward, poor at sports and unable to interact with other boys. If he was like a lot of other growing up gay boys, he was probably scapegoated and physically harassed. Many of us, include me, were terribly bullied as children. We were called out for being gay before we even knew who we were.  At the same time, we learned being gay was something shameful and disgusting needing to be hidden from the world, including the people closest to us. Many of my clients and research respondents who have experienced this stigmatization grow up with deep wounds and a profound sense of personally inadequacy and low self-worth. So perhaps we were vulnerable to some of the dark sides of gay male life, namely, its overemphasis on looks, youth, and sexual attractiveness at the cost of healthier and life sustaining values that can assist us as we age. MORE

Which, btw, may have nothing to do with the gym.

Alcohol & HIV: What You Need to Know by San Francisco AIDS Foundation

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“We are not here to wag fingers at bars or people who drink. We are here to provide information and resources so that everyone has the knowledge to make the best possible decisions about their health.”

—Neil Giuliano
CEO, San Francisco AIDS Foundation

On February 16, 2012, San Francisco AIDS Foundation held a public HIVision forum titled, “Alcohol & HIV: Current Thinking about Drinking.” In his introduction, foundation CEO Neil Giuliano observed that alcohol use in our community is pervasive—so much so, that “the line between drinking and drinking too much often gets blurred. And when we cross that line, many of us don’t have the tools to recognize it and know where to get help.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Giuliano said, one in six U.S. adults binge drinks, defined as consuming five or more drinks within two hours for men, and four or more drinks within two hours for women. Excessive alcohol use contributes to car crashes, violence, and sexually transmitted infections like HIV and is implicated in nearly 80,000 deaths per year.

“So,” asked Giuliano, “is drinking bad for us?” Not necessarily, given research showing cardiovascular benefits of moderate drinking. In addition, he said, “we want to recognize the important role that our bars and clubs—and the LGBT merchants and allies who run them—play in creating a very strong sense of community” here in San Francisco. Giuliano’s opening remarks highlighted some of the complex health and social issues surrounding alcohol use and laid the groundwork for a lively panel discussion. For More got to www.sfaf.org