Dr. Scott Hassell

Harvard Study: Too Much TV Lowers Sperm Count By 44 %

Renee — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 03:16:36 +0000

U.S. Study performed at the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) reveals that increased exercise is consistent with improved sperm counts.
Jorge Chavarro, assistant professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health was quoted: “In this population of healthy men, higher moderate-to-vigorous activity and less TV watching were significantly associated with higher total sperm count.”
Time Magazine reported that… “But the downward dip in sperm quality matches up with increased TV viewing.” Subsequently, Harvard School of Public Health’s researchers sought to investigate the correlation between physical activity, semen quality and TV viewing.
Hence, the study looked to reveal what the physical explanation was for the relationship between spending too much time on the couch and poor-quality sperm. Findings showed that the increased scrotal temperatures that occur from remaining in the sitting position for extended periods of time pose a probable cause for low quality sperm count.
CBC News interviewed Warren Foster, a professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at McMaster University in Hamilton, who was asked about the results. He stated that “One of the things that we know is that when you engage in moderate to strenuous exercise on a regular basis, serum testosterone increases.”
Semen quality was shown to improve with a more physically active lifestyle.
It’s noteworthy to add that Dr. Manny Alvarez shares the following concerns…
Five Environmental Factors shown to decrease sperm count:
1. Industrial chemicals: such as herbicides, benzenes, certain painting material and pesticides.
2. Heavy metals: especially lead.
3. X-rays or radiation: specifically to the pelvic region.
4. Overheating your testicles: includes frequent use of hot tubs, saunas and more commonly – laptop computer use. These have been directly shown to decrease sperm production.
5. Bicycling for prolonged periods: Be careful! Studies have shown that it can cause damage to your sperm.
NOTE: Sperm count can be impacted by additional ‘medically oriented’ factors that include but are not limited to: ‘infection’, specifically noted from sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and chlamydia. Also varicocele – defined as ‘the swelling of veins which drains the testicle’, both can decrease semen virility.

FDA Approves New Life-Prolonging Drug Xtandi for Men with Late Stage Prostate Cancer

Renee — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 15:31:55 +0000

Xtandi, a new drug for men with late-stage prostate cancer, was approved by The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday. The new life-prolonging cancer drug was developed by a small San Francisco, CA pharmaceutical company, Medivation Inc., in partnership with Astellas Pharma Inc., a Japanese firm.

The newly approved Xtandi, one of many new prostate cancer drugs that have come to the market in the last two years after a long fallow period, is added to now an increasingly crowded field of other prostate cancer drugs since 2004. Before 2004, docetaxel was the only chemotherapy drug shown to prolong the survival of men with advanced, late-stage prostate cancer. Now in 2012, there are four others- Provenge from Dendreon, Jevtana from Sanofi, Zytiga from Johnson & Johnson and Xtandi from Medivation Inc., which is generically known as enzalutamide.

It is expected that Xtandi from Medivation will compete most directly with Zytiga from Johnson & Johnson in the prostate cancer drug market. While the other prostate cancer drugs are given intravenously, both Xtandi and Zytiga are pills that are taken orally. Furthermore, both of these orally taken prostate cancer drugs are specifically aimed at the same patient population- men whose prostate cancer has recurred despite treatment or those patients whose prostate cancer has spread elsewhere in their body. And both prostate cancer fighting drugs are strategically aimed at suppressing the production of testosterone, the hormone which is known to fuel prostate cancer growth.

In the United States this year, there are projected to be about 241,000 new cases of prostate cancer and approximately 28,000 deaths related to this debilitating disease for men.

Male Birth Control Pill? Study shows New Cancer Drug affects Sperm.

Renee — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 16:54:41 +0000

A team of oncology researchers, led by Dr. James Bradner, of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, MA and Harvard Medical School, was working to develop a new experimental cancer drug. Their study revealed tests in mice showing the new drug made testicles “forget” how to make sperm, yet the mice were shown to be completely fertile again, fathering normal babies, after the drug was ceased.

However Dr. Bradner’s lab is a cancer laboratory, not a fertility laboratory. Subsequently, Bradner contacted Dr. Martin Matzuk of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, a well-known fertility specialist. Collaborating via Skype and Internet file-sharing programs, the two academic labs worked collectively on the study for over two years, of course this would never would have occurred between competing private drug companies.

Dr. James Bradner who helped lead the study published online August 17, 2012 in the respected journal ‘Cell’ stated “These findings suggest that a reversible, oral male contraceptive may be possible.”

Dr. Hassell, of North Dallas Urology with offices in Plano, Richardson and McKinney, TX was pleased to hear of the promise of a male contraceptive pill without the side effects allowing men more control over their own fertility. Dr. Scott Hassell, MD, is a board certified urologist skillfully trained to treat all conditions and disorders of the female and male urinary tracts as well as the male reproductive system.

Man’s Erectile Dysfunction Cured by Drinking Wife’s Breast Milk

Renee — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 20:44:51 +0000

In TLC’s Strange Sex’s season three premiere, Jeff of Ohio reveals how he is sexually stimulated by breastfeeding directly from his wife and states that it has cured his erectile dysfunction.
This isn’t the first time that breast milk has been attributed with life-giving qualities to someone other than the intended recipients. In 2009 a mother began donating her breast milk to her own father hoping that it would boost his immune system after he had been diagnosed with cancer.

FDA Approval of New Drug, Stendra, for Erectile Dysfunction

Renee — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:27:40 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave their approval on Friday, April 27, 2012, for a medication that could be a faster-working alternative to Viagra and other erectile dysfunction drugs.
Stendra is the brand name that you will inevitably be hearing in upcoming ads for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. It belongs in the same class of medicines as Levitra, from GlaxoSmithKline, Viagra, from Pfizer Inc., along with Bayer and Cialis, from Eli Lilly, and is made by a company called Vivus, Inc. All these erectile dysfunction drugs inhibit PDE5, the same enzyme, and work by increasing the blood flow to the penis.
The FDA stated that about 30 million men experience erectile dysfunction – trouble keeping or getting an erection.
Vivus, Inc’s new drug will come with the same warnings as does many of the erectile dysfunction drugs: 2% of patients in Stendra studies had side effects including facial redness, nasal congestion and headaches, as stated by the Food and Drug Administration. Patients, in rare cases, may get an erection lasting four hours or longer that may not subside. Other side effects may occur include trouble with hearing and vision.
It should be noted that, as is with other erectile dysfunction drugs, it may in many instances not work for every patient: In studies of Stendra, 40% of men with diabetes-related dysfunction and 57% of men with general erectile dysfunction were shown to have successful intercourse.
Bloomberg reports that Stendra, also known as avanafil, is projected to have $68 million in sales next year, whereas Viagra, considered to be the top-selling erectile dysfunction pill, had $2 billion in sales last year.

Is the fate of Berkshire Hathaway hinged on Warren Buffett’s prostate cancer?

Renee — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 02:11:25 +0000

Warren Buffett, iconic CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, announced he has prostate cancer, now it appears that investors may show even more interest in his succession plan. Tuesday, he stated in a letter to shareholders that he received his diagnosis last Wednesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. He added that the scans “showed no incidence of cancer elsewhere in my body” that detected the prostate cancer. Furthermore, he added that he plans to begin a two-month daily regimen of radiation treatment starting in July.

Warren Buffett, is the third-richest man in the world, sometimes called the “Oracle of Omaha”, with fortune’s estimated worth of about $50 billion by Forbes magazine.

STUDY: Circumcision shown to reduce Prostate Cancer Risk

Renee — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:07:06 +0000

According to a new study published in the journal Cancer, circumcision may help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
The program in Prostate Cancer Research at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Researcher Center in Seattle, Washington revealed that a new analysis of 3,399 participants found that men who were circumcised before their first sexual encounter saw a ‘significant’ 15 percent decreased risk of prostate cancer as compared with those men who were circumcised after the first time they had sex or were uncircumcised. Janet Stanford, lead author of the study and co-head of the program, said “This observation is consistent with accumulating evidence that infection [and] inflammation in the prostate may play a role in the development of this disease.”
Dr. Durado Brooks, director of prostate and colorectoral cancers at the American Cancer Society, stated that “Researchers said STDs cause chronic inflammation in the penis, and basic hygiene is extraordinarily important in preventing infection in men who have not been circumcised.”
Circumcision, where the foreskin of the penis is surgically removed, has been a topic of heated debate for many years.
“The more we learn about prostate cancer, the more we see it is a multi-factorial disease,” said Brooks.

STUDY: Expectations are too high with Robotic Surgery Recovery

Renee — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:59:15 +0000

According to a new report from the research journal Urology, expectations have been too high regarding the hopes in the advancement of robot-assisted medical surgery for prostate cancer. More specifically about surgery involving prostate removal, for those men afflicted with prostate cancer. The study reveals outcomes of the robotic surgical procedure are not that different than those done by human hands.

Prostate surgeon, Judd W. Moul of Duke University Medical Center, who led the Urology study, stated that patients who had the robot-assisted surgery were actually less satisfied in the long run. “This, he conjectures, is because they have very high expectations. 89% of prostate cancer patients who had the robotic surgery said they expected to be out of the hospital in less than one day and to be back in perfect physical order within six months. And while Moul believes that is possible, the expertise in performing the surgery just isn’t there yet.”

Routine testing for Prostate Cancer does not save lives? Study raises controversy.

Renee — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:25:19 +0000

The results of a large long-term medical trial revealed that routine screening for prostate cancer, using prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, in men ages 55 to 74 did not prevent deaths from prostate cancer. These results reigniting the controversy over the benefits of annual testing.

Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis’ Chief of urologic surgery, Dr. Gerald Andriole, led researchers in finding that men who underwent yearly prostate cancer screening – including a blood test for PSA levels and a digital rectal examination – had the same chance of dying from prostate cancer as men who were tested less often.

American Cancer Society advises that men at age 50+ have a conversation with their doctor. American Urological Association recommends that all men 40 and older be offered a prostate cancer screening test.

Active Surveillance Advised for Low-Risk Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Renee — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 03:21:10 +0000

In the U.S. there are approximately 240,000 men a year who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) appointed panel found earlier this month that most of those men actually have the low-risk kind, a legacy of using problematic Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests to screen healthy men for possible signs of this slow-growing cancer that will affect most men’s prostates if they live long enough.
In fact, the risk for them is so low that specialists convened recently by the NIH stated that it’s time to strip the name “cancer” off of these small, lazy tumors.
However statistically 90 percent of men diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancer go on to choose immediate treatment such as radiation or surgery, risking long-lasting and serious side effects, such as incontinence or impotence, without solid evidence about who might live longer as an end result of such treatment.
While the NIH panel found the degree of monitoring can vary by medical facility, they explained that active surveillance is designed to be much more aggressive than just ‘watchful waiting’ – patients get regular blood tests, biopsies and scans to check the prostate cancer tumor. This surveillance is strategically used to monitor patients closely so that men can get curative treatment quickly if it reveals that they may need it, well before any symptoms commence.
The National Proactive Surveillance Network is a collaboration of two large active surveillance programs, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California and Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, with the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Nationally, it aims to educate men about considering active surveillance when diagnosed with prostate cancer.