Work-related Stress Can Trigger Erectile Dysfunction

A new study has shown that one in every ten men experience erectile dysfunction as a result of work-related stress. The same study also revealed that one in five men suffer a loss of sexual libido. This suggests that 90% of men have shown at least one clinical feature of stress due to work but only 54% know that stress from work may be the cause of their sexual condition.

Stress, either from work or at home, is known as one of the common cause of ED because it is associated with low testosterone levels.

Unfortunately, only 44% of men with this condition won't go to their doctors for consultation. The majority of those who do consult professional help in dealing with this problem only do so after 17 months of their first symptom.

One of the researchers who conducted the study said that work-place stress clearly has a strong impact on the incidence of erectile dysfunction in men. Men should think about the underlying cause of their ED, including how to combat their stress levels; not staying too late at work, a balanced and healthy diet, and regular exercise.

Lack of Sleep May Increase Chances of Death on Old Men

A new study conducted at the University of Minnesota revealed that disrupted rest and activity rhythms can be associated with the increased mortality rates among older men. Th study suggests that waking early, staying up late and severely disturbed sleep patterns on older men may have a detrimental impact on their health.

The experiment involved about 3,000 men older than 67 and they were tested for rest and activity biological rhythms using a device called an actigraph which they wore on heir wrists. This device tracked participants' movements, including the peak times of rest and activity, as well as the robustness of the activities for 24 hours a day for almost two years. Results showed that men who had peak activity times that were the earliest or latest, in comparison with the group average, had muhc greater risk of death.

Among the 3,000 participants, 180 died since the study begun.

"It's important to have a regular routine of waking and going to sleep," said Misti Paudel, M.P.H., principal investigator of the study and a member of the School of Public Health. "A good night sleep is important."

This is the first study to report strong associations between disturbed rest and activity rhythms and mortality rates in older men, who are still living in their homes (not institutionalized) - however, studies in cancer patients as well as institutionalized Alzheimer's patients have reported similar findings.

Lack of sleep can lead to a number of problems in older adults including depression, memory problems, and decreased attentiveness, and also can lead to serious health problems such as an increased risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes.

Another key study finding is that men with more robust rest/activity rhythms had much lower mortality rates. Having greater levels of activity during the day and/or lower levels of activity during the night (better sleep quality) are characteristics of robust rhythms.

Insulin-like Hormone May Prolong Life For Men

A recent study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism stated that elderly men with higher activity of the hormone IGF-1 or insulin-growth factor 1 appear to have greater life expectancy and reduced vascular risk. This new finding came as a result of a new form of testing for IGF-bioactivity.

IGF-1 is a hormone similar in molecular structure to insulin, which is being released by the liver and plays an important role in childhood growth and continues to have anabolic effects on adults.

The study evaluated 376 healthy elderly men between the age of 73 and 94 from which the researchers took serum sample from. The participants are then contacted for eight years about their health status. Subjects with the lowest IGF-1 function had significantly higher mortality rate than subjects with the highest IGF-1 bioactivity. These results were especially significant to those who have high risk to die from cardiovascular complications.

Researchers in this study used a new method, a bioassay, to measure the function of IGF-1 in the blood. Compared to commonly used methods to measure IGF-1, the IGF-1 bioassay gives more information about the actual function (bioactivity) of circulating IGF-1 in the body. Determination of IGF-1 function using the bioassay opens the possibility to gather new insights about the functions of IGF-1 in the body

Simple Exercise Can Cut Cancer Deaths in Men, Study Shows

A recent study published in the British Journal of Cancer revealed that men who exercise often are less likely to die from cancer than those who don't. The study found that men who walked or cycled for at least 30 minutes a day had a 34 per cent lower risk of dying from cancer than men who did less exercise or nothing at all.

The study involved a team of scientists from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who monitored a number of 40,708 men aged between 45 and 79 years. During the seven years period of the study, 3,714 developed cancer and 1,153 died from the disease. The researchers suggest that half an hour of walking or cycling a day increased survival among these men by 33 per cent.

"These results clearly show for the first time, the effect that very simple and basic daily exercise such as walking or cycling has in reducing cancer death risk in middle-age and elderly men," one of the researchers, Professor Alicja said. "Additionally, this study threw up some really promising data on the role exercise can play in preventing cancer which we would like to explore further in future work."

They found that a more intensive program of walking and cycling for between an hour and an hour and a half a day, led to a l6 per cent lower incidence of cancer.

It's not entirely clear from this study what role exercise plays in preventing cancer in men, but it somehow proved that a healthy lifestyle can prevent up to half of all cancers - and regular exercise forms a key part of this. Cancer Research UK recommends maintaining a healthy body weight, eating sensibly and taking regular exercise as key to a healthy life - along with avoiding smoking.

Female Hormone To Prevent HIV in Men

A study published in PLoS ONE (plosone.org), an open-access, online scientific journal from the Public Library fo Science, suggests that the female hormone estrogen when applied to the penis boosts a defensive protein that acts as a "living condom" and could reduce a man's risk of contracting HIV.

This is after a group of researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia did an experiment where they applied the oestrogen cream oestriol, a substance used to treat prolapse in women, to the inner foreskin of the penis and found out that this increased the protein keratin in the skin by four-fold acting like a barrier against HIV. They described this keratin as a "natural condom" or a "biological membrane which HIV can't get through."

By using the keratin, the researchers is hoping that they can increase the body's natural defense against the virus so it can't physically inject itself to the body.

Though the treatment has worked in the laboratory, further tests are still needed, one of which will be a clinical trial in Africa.

Although the treatment did not protect against other sexually transmitted infections, it could be a simple, inexpensive and effective guard against HIV that could be applied once weekly or eventually have applications in condoms and lubricants. And if the trials become successful, treatment could significantly reduce HIV/AIDS caseloads over time.

Dehydrated Tomatoes May Prevent Prostate Cancer

Many studies and research have proven that tomatoes are actually good in preventing and fighting cancer. But another research suggests that the form or tomato product one eats could be the key to unlocking its prostate cancer-fighting potential. And it is dehydrated tomatoes.

According to the latest issue of the Cancer Research, a journal by the American Association for Cancer Research, the greatest protective effect of tomatoes from cancer, especially prostate cancer, comes from rehydrating tomato powder into tomato paste. This suggests that processing of edible plants through heating, grinding, mixing or drying dramatically increases their nutritional value.

The protective effect of tomato products against prostate cancer has been suggested in many studies, but researchers remain uncertain about the exact mechanisms. The study demonstrated that FruHis, an organic carbohydrate present in dehydrated tomato products, exerts a strong protective effect.

The research also evaluated the anti-cancer properties of FruHis and 14 other D-fructose amino acids and found that FruHis in a concentrated form protected against DNA damage known to lead to prostate cancer. When combined with lycopene, FruHis stopped cancerous cell growth more than 98 percent of the time.

Before this study, researchers attributed the protective effect of tomatoes to ascorbic acid, carotenoids, or phenolic compounds. FruHis may represent a novel type of potential dietary antioxidant. Experiments like these suggest that a combination of FruHis and lycopene should be investigated as a potential therapeutic anti-tumor agent, not just a prevention strategy.

The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research.

You Might Know This Already, But Another Warning Won't Hurt

After conducting several studies, a group of researchers from the American Society of Hypertensions said that heavy drinking can cause high blood pressure, stiff arteries and rigid heart muscles in men, boosting their risk of having heart attacks and stroke.

The definition of heavy drinking was placed as drinking up to 21 alcoholic drinks per week.

Researchers also said that once a heart becomes enlarged, as an effect to excessive alcohol consumption, it is difficult to reverse the condition because it has already been overtaxed. And prior studies have suggested that people with enlarged hearts are five to six times more likely to have heart attacks.

Earlier studies have shown that moderate drinking, on the other hand, has been seen to have good heart benefits.

Heart disease is the No. 1 killer globally. According to the World Health Organization, heart disease killed 17.5 million people in 2005, and that number is expected to rise to nearly 20 million by 2015.