Men's Health Archive

These conditions are associated with a higher risk.

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Most men are familiar with the common strategies to reduce their heart disease risk: keep cholesterol in check, manage high blood pressure, follow a heart-healthy diet, and perform regular exercise. But there may be other preventive steps you can take.

"Some age-related conditions can further increase your risk without you knowing it, which is why it's important to be mindful about all aspects of your health," says Dr. Michael Gavin, a cardiologist with Harvard-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. "Fortunately, once they are recognized, these other risk factors can be addressed and managed."

Although many older men enjoy active sex lives, most don't share sex-related questions and concerns with their doctor.

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While you discuss many subjects with your doctor, like proper blood pressure and cholesterol levels, your sex life probably doesn't make the list — but it should.

"Even though you may have an aging body, you can still feel healthy, vigorous, and full of life, and your sex life should be part of that," says Dr. Sharon Bober, director of the Sexual Health Program at Harvard-affiliated Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

On call

Q. I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer. Does the occurrence of one type of cancer indicate a greater risk of developing other kinds?

A. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men, and almost every man will get prostate cancer if he lives long enough. In general, prostate cancer that develops after age 60 probably does not increase the risk of getting a different kind of cancer. However, there are some exceptions.

In the journals

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The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recently updated its guideline for prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for prostate cancer.

The group now recommends that for men ages 55 to 69, screening should be an individual choice, and a man should discuss the pros and cons with his doctor before making a decision. The report, published online May 8, 2018, by The Journal of the American Medical Association, differs from the 2012 guidelines that recommended against screening for all men.

Tumors that spread, or metastasize, in the body shed cells into blood that doctors can scrutinize for insights into what a patient’s cancer might do. Analyzing these so-called circulating tumor cells (CTCs) isn’t part of routine care yet, in part because they’re so hard to pick out of the millions of normal cells in a […]

It might seem like retirement is a time to take it easy and devote yourself to gardening, golfing, and napping. But don't take it too easy, say Harvard experts. For optimal well-being, you need to stay engaged — with your own interests as well as with other people.

Making the change

Newly retired men face some typical difficulties. One is creating a new routine after leaving behind the nine-to-five grind. "During that phase of going from a lot of structure to almost no structure, men can exhibit the same signs as someone who is overworked," explains Dr. Randall Paulsen, a psychiatrist at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Back in 2012, the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) took aim at the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening test for prostate cancer with a blanket recommendation against it for all men. This was a big deal. The Task Force is widely seen as the top expert panel on cancer screening in the United States, and […]

A specialized type of diagnostic MRI scan can reduce the number of invasive prostate biopsies by nearly a third, according to results from a newly published international study. An MRI machine uses a very large magnet, a radio-wave transmitter, and a computer to construct detailed pictures of structures inside the body. The new study relied […]

Surprising new normal, healthy blood pressure for men by age 

What's good blood pressure for men by ages? As many as three-quarters of men over 65 have high blood pressure. Many end up taking medication to prevent heart attacks, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, and erectile dysfunction.

For most people with blood pressure clearly in the red zone, getting their numbers below 140/90 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) is a reasonable goal. However, in December 2013, a panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a recommendation that people over age 60 with high blood pressure could settle for a goal of 150/90—not the more stringent standard of 140/90—and still get health benefits. The American Heart Association rejected the idea, and five of the 17 members on the NIH panel later publicly dissented with the majority opinion. The debate continues.