Health tips

A common treatment for men with intermediate-risk prostate cancer is to combine radiation with drugs that block testosterone — a hormone that makes the tumors grow faster. (This type of treatment is also called androgen deprivation therapy, or ADT).

New research is suggesting the sequence of these treatments may be crucially important.

Dr. Dan Spratt, a professor of radiation oncology at the University of Michigan, led the research. He and his colleagues pooled data from two previously published clinical trials (here and here). Taken together, the studies enrolled just over 1,000 men who had been randomly assigned to one of two groups:

• hormonal therapy given before radiation (followed in all cases by both treatments given together), or
• hormonal therapy that started either concurrently with radiation and then continued after it was finished, or that started only after the radiation treatments were completed.

By themselves, the individual studies didn’t … Read the rest

Plant-based diets have taken root in American culture in recent years, mostly thanks to the growing realization about the health benefits of this eating pattern. But contrary to what some people think, plant-based doesn’t necessarily mean you must forego all animal products. Rather, you might just eat meat or dairy products less frequently, or in smaller portions. To replace those lost calories, you should eat more beans and legumes, vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. These mostly low-fat, nutrient-rich foods have been linked to improvements in many health-related issues, including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.

Better for your budget and the planet

A plant-forward diet also can help reduce your food budget. And there’s yet another reason to feel good about this eating pattern: it helps preserve our planet’s health. A diet that contains only small amounts of animal foods requires a fraction of resources such as water, … Read the rest

Editor’s note: Third in a series on the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, and responses aimed at improving health equity. Click here to read part one and here for part two.

If there is a silver lining of COVID-19, it’s that it has required us to address monumental health care disparities, particularly racial and ethnic disparities. I’ve been working on health care disparities for more than two decades, yet I’ve never seen our health system move so fast. Across the US, those of us in health care have been scrambling to bridge gaps and better understand why COVID-19 disproportionally impacts communities of color and immigrants — and, indeed, anyone who struggles with social determinants of health like lack of housing, food insecurity, and access to a good education.

A key lesson: Lived experience should guide change

I came to this country as an undocumented immigrant when I was … Read the rest

The COVID-19 pandemic has led many people to forego follow-up and treatment of chronic health conditions such as hypertension (high blood pressure). It is now quite evident that people with hypertension are also more likely to develop severe complications from the coronavirus. In the US, African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities, including Hispanics and Native Americans, are more likely to have hypertension, and consequently have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

What is the link between high blood pressure and heart disease?

Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor for major cardiovascular events including death, heart attack, and stroke, and it plays a major role in the development of heart failure, kidney disease, and dementia. Over the past few decades, major efforts have been launched to increase awareness and treatment of hypertension.

Hypertension increases stress on the heart and arteries as well as on other organs … Read the rest

Erectile dysfunction (ED) doesn’t affect only men; it extends to their partners as well. After all, the sexual difficulties are also theirs.

Still, men are often reluctant to talk about their ED. They feel embarrassed and guilty, and consider themselves less “manly.” It’s a lot to deal with. But significant others can help by offering much-needed emotional and physical support.

How can you broach such a sensitive topic, and what role should a partner specifically play? Here are seven suggestions.

Discuss the issue

Good communication is the foundation of an enduring relationship. Confront any concerns you may have about his difficulty having or maintaining an erection by discussing your feelings and telling your partner that you care. As challenging as it is to talk about any sexual problem, the difficulty level skyrockets if the issue becomes buried under years of lies, hurt, and resentment.

Find the right time to talk

Surging COVID-19 rates throughout the country and in many parts of the world make our efforts to protect ourselves and others more important than ever. Yes, the predictions are dire, but we are not helpless. Experts estimate we can save hundreds of thousands of lives and considerably boost the chances of controlling the pandemic if we all commit to wearing a mask and follow familiar preventive measures: maintain physical distance; wash hands frequently; avoid others if you’re sick; and isolate yourself and get tested if you have close contact with someone who has the disease.

So, why do we believe masks work?

Early in the pandemic, experts expressed skepticism that masks would be helpful for the general public, particularly in places with little to no community spread of the virus. In addition, to avoid worsening shortages of medical-grade masks for health workers who needed this protection, masks were not widely … Read the rest

Many women suffer through years of painful menstrual periods before they are able to get an answer about what’s causing them: a common and often undiagnosed condition called endometriosis.

What is endometriosis?

Endometriosis is a condition that occurs when tissue much like the tissue that lines a woman’s uterus — called the endometrium — starts to grow in other places inside the body. Most commonly, these growths are within the pelvis, such as on the ovaries, the fallopian tubes, the outer surface of the uterus, or the bladder.

During the menstrual cycle each month, the tissue lining the uterus grows thicker, then breaks down as blood that exits through the vagina. The wayward tissue growths of endometriosis respond to the same hormones as the uterine lining. But instead of draining through the vagina as a menstrual period, blood from tissue growth elsewhere in the body has nowhere to go. It … Read the rest