Being overweight may affect men's semen quality

By Kathryn Doyle

NEW YORK Thu Dec 19, 2013 


(Reuters Health) - Overweight and obese men in a new study showed diminished quantity and quality of semen, suggesting that a weight problem might also affect fertility, researchers say.
"The heavier the men, the higher the chances of a low sperm count," urologist Dr. Keith Jarvi told Reuters Health. "I don't think that this message is well known or appreciated by men in general," said Jarvi, who was not involved in the new study.

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Testosterone Conundrum: New Study Yields Clues

Lisa Nainggolan

November 22, 2013

A new study in older men, published online November 20 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, has shown that those with testosterone levels in the mid-range had the lowest rates of death from any cause.
This U-shaped association of testosterone with mortality differs from that seen in prior research, said lead author Bu Beng Yeap MBBS, FRACP, PhD, from the University of Western Australia, Perth.
"There was no benefit of having a high-normal testosterone level. Therefore, an optimal rather than a high testosterone level predicts [best] survival," Dr. Yeap told Medscape Medical News.

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Study identifies marker for high-risk prostate cancers

NHS Choices

"Prostate cancer patients could be screened to detect aggressive tumours after scientists identified a protein linked to severe forms of the disease," reports The Daily Telegraph. The news is based on the results of a complex laboratory study looking at a protein called NAALADL2.
Scientists found that levels of NAALADL2 were high in prostate cancer when compared with healthy tissue, and levels were higher in more aggressive and more extensive prostate tumours.

Read the full NHS Choices report

Specific Occupations Linked to Aggressive Prostate Cancer

Yael Waknine

November 07, 2013

Long-haul truckers and men working in garden-supply shops might be more likely to have highly aggressive prostate cancer on diagnosis, according to a presentation at the 12th Annual International Conference on Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, held in National Harbor, Maryland.
Plausible explanations for the findings include the whole-body vibrations commonly experienced by truckers and the potential chemical exposure from indoor pesticide storage, lead author L. Joseph Su, MD, MPH, from the National Cancer Institute in Rockville, Maryland, told Medscape Medical News.

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Testosterone Therapy Linked With Adverse CVD Events

Heartwire
November 05, 2013

DENVER, CO — The use of testosterone therapy in men is associated with an increased risk of death, MI, or ischemic stroke, according to the results of a new study^[1]. The increased risk, which was about 30% higher in men treated with testosterone than in those who did not receive it, was observed in a cohort of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with multiple comorbidities undergoing coronary angiography.
"We found an association; it's not causal, given the observational nature of the study," senior investigator Dr Michael Ho (Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System, Denver) told heartwire . "It does provide some evidence that testosterone therapy may be associated with some increased risk of adverse cardiovascular outcomes. For patients who are starting therapy or who are currently on therapy, this might warrant a discussion with their physicians about the potential benefits of the therapy vs the potential risk. I think that decision should be individualized for each patient."

Read the full Medscape report