Author Interviews, Erectile Dysfunction, JAMA, Karolinski Institute / 23.03.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alexander Stridh, MSc Department of Clinical Neuroscience Karolinska Institute Solna, Sweden MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: ​We wanted to investigate how large the effect size is in the placebo arm of clinical trials with PDE5Is for erectile dysfunction. The major findings in this study is that there is a placebo response in general in ED, though it is hard to tell if this is a genuine placebo effect rather than normal fluctuations in symptom severity among patients. Another interesting finding was that the placebo response seems largely more important when the cause of ED is mainly due to psychogenic factors, as in post traumatic stress disorder. Lastly there was an important finding that there was no difference between placebo and active drug with daily treatment of PDE5Is  for long term recovery of erectile function after prostate cancer treatment, a practice which is common in some places and seems to be questionable.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Fertility, NIH, Supplements / 08.01.2020

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Enrique Schisterman, Ph.D. Chief, Epidemiology Branch, DIPHR Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development NICHD MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Small studies indicated that zinc and folic acid supplements for men might improve semen quality as both zinc and folic acid are involved in DNA transcription and have antioxidant functions. But no large-scale randomized trials have been done to assess efficacy, which is important since dietary supplements are largely unregulated, and FDA cannot regulate supplements until after they come to market. Some male fertility-targeted supplements are already among the most commonly sold supplement products, despite the lack of data to guide their use.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Prostate Cancer / 02.12.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Jeremy Clark University of East Anglia Norwich Medical School MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Earlier this year we published our pilot study which showed how useful we have found urine to be for diagnosing prostate cancer and predicting which cancers will get bigger and nastier up to 5 years later (Connell et al 2019). – Our PUR (Prostate Urine Risk) signatures separated men with low-risk cancer into two groups one of which had 8-times the rate of future development of aggressive cancer that the other. There is nothing in clinical use at present that can do this. The new development is our At-Home Urine collection system which means that we can now send out a urine collection kit to a man at home, he fills up a small pot with his first wee of the day and posts it back to us for PUR analysis. This makes the whole system so much less stressful for the patient. The idea behind it is as follows: the prostate lays just below the bladder, it is a secretory organ and these secretions carry cells and molecules from all over the prostate to the urethra which then get flushed out of the body on urination. If a cancer is present then tiny bits of the tumour are also carried with the secretions and we can detect these in the urine. As the prostate is constantly secreting the levels of biomarkers in the urethra will build up with time. Collecting from the first wee of the day means that overnight secretions can be collected which makes the analysis more sensitive and more robust. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, HPV / 16.09.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Ashish A. Deshmukh UT Health School of Public Health Houston MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The HPV vaccination is recommended for females and males for prevention of 6 cancers (cervical, oropharyngeal, anal, penile, vaginal, and vulvar). Nearly 43,000 HPV-associated cancer cases are diagnosed every year in the US. Yet, it is extremely unfortunate and something that continues to bother us that HPV vaccination coverage remains low (50% in 2018) in the US and completion rate is nearly 5% lower in boys. Different from some industrialized nations where vaccination policy is school-based, vaccination policy in the US is clinic-based and parents are generally responsible for making vaccination decisions for their children. Generally, there are two main factors that drive parents’ decision-making: (1) how much knowledge they have of HPV and (2) recommendation from a healthcare professional. We analyzed the National Cancer Institute’s Health Information National Trend Survey (HINTS) of over 6000 participants focusing on their knowledge of HPV and HPV vaccination and whether participants received any vaccination recommendation from their health care provider.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Pharmaceutical Companies, Prostate, Urology / 31.05.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Steven A. Kaplan, M.D., FACS Professor of Urology Director, The Men's Health Program Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: PLUS is the first large-scale trial conducted in North America and Europe specifically designed to study the effects of mirabegron in controlling residual symptoms of urinary urgency and frequency in men with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) using common agents such as tamsulosin (Flomax). We explored whether mirabegron (Myrbetriq), an agent approved for the treatment of overactive bladder (OAB), improved patient outcomes when added to tamsulosin. This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multi-center study enrolling 715 male patients 40 years of age and older. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Mental Health Research, OBGYNE, Psychological Science / 20.03.2019

MedicalResearch.com Interview with Haley Kranstuber Horstman, Ph.D. Department of Communication University of Missouri MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Miscarriage is a prevalent health concern, with one in five pregnancies ending in miscarriage, which is a pregnancy loss before 20 weeks’ gestation. Past research has shown that women who have miscarried often suffer mental health effects such as heightened grief, depression, loneliness, and suicidality. Although much of the research on coping with miscarriage has focused on women’s health, many miscarriages occur within romantic relationships and affect the non-miscarrying partner as well. Women in heterosexual marriages report that their husband is often their top support-provider. Past research has shown that husbands suffer with mental health effects after a miscarriage, sometimes for even longer than their wives, but are not often supported in their grief because miscarriage is a “woman’s issue” and they feel uncomfortable talking about it. (more…)
Microbiome, Nutrition, Weight Research / 22.01.2019

The obesity rate has climbed steadily for men in the United States, currently rolling in at nearly 38% and still rising. That’s far from good news, and it’s doing nothing to help with the growing cardiovascular and heart disease statistics. Fighting obesity can be incredibly difficult, especially with our increasingly sedentary lifestyles brought on by modern conveniences. With diets popping up every day, it can be hard to pick, but one diet has arisen with a focus on digestive and general body health rather than strict weight loss: fiber-high diets. What is it? Fiber-high diets are exactly what they sound like, in that they’re dietary plans based on consuming fiber heavy foods to help promote a healthy digestive system. Our gut is home to massive colonies of helpful bacteria that work to aid us in breaking down our food and keep our body healthy. Fiber-high diets focus on feeding these bacteria the best possible fuel to promote a healthy body system, commonly referred to as the microbiome. (more…)
Author Interviews, Depression, JAMA, Testosterone / 16.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Andreas Walther PhD Department of Biological Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland Task Force on Men’s Mental Health of the World Federation of the Societies of Biological Psychiatry MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: The study situation with regard to endogenous testosterone level and depressive symptoms in men is currently very mixed. There are studies that show no association, but other studies show that low testosterone levels are associated with increased depressive symptoms. That is why several studies have tried to administer testosterone in men to treat depressive symptomatology among other conditions (e.g. erectile dysfunction, cognitive decline). However, no clear conclusions could be drawn from the studies to date, as some studies reported positive results, while others did not show any effects. Likewise, some studies showed better results in certain subgroups of men such as dysthymic men, treatment resistant, men with low testosterone, which raised the question of relevant moderators. (more…)
Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Lifestyle & Health / 15.11.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: "Blood pressure check" by Army Medicine is licensed under CC BY 2.0Pallavi Bhandarkar MPH Nova Southeastern University Kirkland, Washington [email protected]  MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Gender based preventative health has been of interest to medical community since 1900’s with health disparities between males and females being of particular interest. United States founded National Research Institutes for female health in 1900. This led to comprehensive and systematic medical services being offered which have improved female health care significantly. Similar research programs and initiatives to improve men’s health were started only in 2000 (1). Cultural depiction of men being fearless and based on perception of masculinity leads them to underutilize the preventative health care screenings available to them or sometimes even delay care when they need it the most. Males have been found to have higher mortality rates compared to females. Life expectancy for females was 5.0 years higher than for males. The difference in life expectancy between the sexes has narrowed since 1979, when it was 7.8 years, but it increased 0.2 year in 2016 from 2015, the first increase since 1990. Death rates for males increased significantly for age groups 15–24, 25–34, 35–44, and 55–64. Rates decreased significantly for age groups 75–84 and 85 and over” (2) My research study adopted the basic survey design and conducted an anonymous survey throughout United States with men aged 18 to 40 being the participants. Our goal was to identify these gaps, analyze the reasons for underutilization and identify opportunities to improve preventative care guidelines among the male population. The main findings were almost similar to the BFRSS data obtained by CDC in the year 2016. (more…)
Author Interviews, Prostate, Prostate Cancer, Urology / 06.07.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Hashim Ahmed Professor and Chair of Urology Imperial College London MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Men with localised clinically significant prostate cancer currently undergo radical (whole gland) surgery or radiotherapy. These treatments are effective but can cause urine leakage in 5-30% and erectile dysfunction in 30-60%. Radiotherapy can cause rectal problems in 5%. So, although there is benefit in treating the cancer in these men, the side effects significantly affect the quality of life.  (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, Sexual Health / 22.06.2018

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Billy A. Caceres, PhD, RN, AGPCNP-BC NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing New York, NY 10010 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Although current evidence, primarily based on self-reported data, suggests gay and bisexual men report higher rates of cardiovascular risk factors (such as poor mental health and tobacco use) than heterosexual men, few studies have examined heart disease risk in this population. This study is one of the few studies to examine heart disease risk in gay and bisexual men using biological measures. Using data from a nationally representative sample we identified higher rates of mental distress, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes among bisexual men compared to exclusively heterosexual men after adjusting for traditional risk factors (demographic characteristics, mental distress, and health behaviors). We also included men who identified as heterosexual but report a history of same-sex sexual behavior. Gay and heterosexual-identified men who have sex with men displayed similar risk profiles to exclusively heterosexual men. (more…)
Author Interviews, Education, Gender Differences, Mental Health Research, Sexual Health, Social Issues / 03.10.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Oliver Ferlatte PhD Men's Health Research Program University of British Columbia Vancouver , British Columbia , Canada MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Suicide, like many other health inequities, is unevenly distributed among the population, with marginalized groups being most affected. In Canada, suicide has been found to particularly affect gay and bisexual men, aboriginal people and people living in rural and remote communities. While the populations affected by suicide are not mutually exclusive – for example someone can be a bisexual Aboriginal man living in a remote community – much of the suicide prevention literature tends to treat these groups as such. Moreso, very little attention is given in suicide prevention research to diversity within groups: for example, we know very little about which gay and bisexual men are most at risk of attempting suicide. This situation creates a vacuum of knowledge about suicide among gay and bisexual and deprives us of critical information for the development of effective suicide prevention activities. We therefore investigated in a survey of Canadian gay and bisexual men (Sex Now Survey), which gay and bisexual men are at increased risk of reporting a recent suicide attempt. The large sample of gay and bisexual men with 8493 participants allows for this unique analysis focused on the multiple, intersecting identities of the survey participants. (more…)
Author Interviews, Biomarkers, Exercise - Fitness, Osteoporosis / 23.03.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pamela S. Hinton, Ph.D. Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology Columbia MO 65211 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: This study builds on our previous work showing that weight-bearing, high-impact physical activity throughout the lifespan is associated with greater bone mass in men.  We previously conducted a 12-month randomized trial of the effectiveness of resistance training versus jump training to increase bone mass in men with low bone density of the hip or lumbar spine. The current study is a follow up study investigating how exercise might work to increase bone mass. The main findings are that exercise reduced circulating levels of a bone protein that inhibits bone formation (sclerostin) and increased levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), a hormone with osteogenic effects. (more…)
Author Interviews, JAMA, Orthopedics, Osteoporosis, Testosterone / 23.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Tony M. Keaveny, Ph.D. Professor, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Bioengineering; Co-Director, Berkeley BioMechanics Laboratory University of California Berkeley, CA 94720-1740 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: As men age, they experience decreased serum testosterone concentrations, decreased bone mineral density (BMD) and increased risk of fracture. While prior studies have been performed to determine the effect of testosterone treatment on bone in older men, for various reasons those studies have been inconclusive. The goal of this study was to overcome past limitations in study design and determine if testosterone treatment — versus a placebo — in older men with low testosterone would improve the bone. Specifically, we used 3D quantitative CT scanning to measure changes in BMD and engineering “finite element analysis” to measure changes in the estimated bone strength, both at the spine and hip. The study was performed on over 200 older men (> age 65) who had confirmed low levels of serum testosterone. (more…)
Author Interviews, Heart Disease, JAMA, Testosterone / 21.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: T. Craig Cheetham, PharmD, MS Southern California Permanente Medical Group Department of Research & Evaluation Pasadena, CA 91101 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Concerns have been raised about the cardiovascular safety of testosterone replacement therapy. Patient selection criteria may have been a factor in the findings from studies reporting an increased cardiovascular risk with testosterone replacement therapy. Many men who were receiving testosterone replacement therapy don’t fall into the categories of ‘frail elderly’ or ‘high cardiovascular risk’. We therefore studied testosterone replacement therapy in a population of androgen deficient men within Kaiser Permanente Northern and Southern California. (more…)
Author Interviews, Sexual Health, Social Issues / 21.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nicholas H. Wolfinger PhD Professor, Department of Family and Consumer Studies Adjunct Professor, Department of Sociology University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0080 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: W. Bradford Wilcox and I have been studying marriage and divorce for fifteen years. Last year we published Soul Mates: Religion, Sex, Love and Marriage among African Americans and Latinos (Oxford University Press). We’re always looking for opportunities to present our findings to the public, so Valentines Day is a great excuse! It’s probably too strong a statement to call our new research brief a study, as we’re not offering any novel findings. Instead, we’re just compiling data from different sources—some published by other scholars, some based on our own analysis of national data—to reaffirm a basic point: marriage is good for men in myriad ways (Marriage is also good for women, but they await their own research brief.) In particular, marriage offers these benefits to men:
  • Higher earnings, greater assets and more job stability. Married men make about $16,000 a year more than their single peers with otherwise similar backgrounds.
  • Better sex lives compared to both single and cohabiting men. According to data from the National Health and Social Life Survey, 51 percent of married men report they are extremely emotionally satisfied with sex, compared to 39 percent of cohabiting men and 36 percent of single men.
  • Longer and happier lives. Men who get and stay married live almost 10 years longer than their unmarried peers. Also, young married men are about twice as happy: 43 percent of married men report they are “very happy” with life, compared to 20 percent of single men and 24 percent of cohabiting men.
(more…)
Author Interviews, Global Health, HIV, Lancet / 19.02.2017

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jennifer A. Downs, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Immunology Department of Medicine Weill Cornell Medicine Center for Global Health New York, NY 10065 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Between 2002 and 2006, three large randomized controlled trials in sub-Saharan Africa demonstrated that male circumcision reduces new HIV infections in men by approximately 60%. Based on these findings, the World Health Organization recommended male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy in countries with high levels of HIV and a low prevalence of male circumcision. This led to prioritization of 14 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa for massive scale-up of male circumcision beginning in 2011. In many of these countries, the uptake of male circumcision was lower than expected. In northwest Tanzania, where we work, there are a number of barriers to male circumcision. Some of these barriers are cultural, tribal, economic, and religious. We conducted focus group interviews in 2012 that showed that many Christian church leaders and church attenders in our region in Tanzania had major concerns about whether male circumcision was compatible with their religious beliefs. This led us to hypothesize that the uptake of male circumcision could be increased when religious leaders were taught about male circumcision, with the goal that they would then be equipped to discuss this issue with their congregations. (more…)
Author Interviews, Cannabis, Gender Differences, Heart Disease / 14.11.2016

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Amitoj Singh MD Chief Cardiology Fellow St. Luke’s University Health Bethlehem, Pennsylvania MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Marijuana use in steadily increasing and it is the most commonly used illicit drug in the US and worldwide. There has been a recent increase in reports of heart and vascular complications associated with its use. These include Myocardial infarctions, stroke and takotsubo. We had two questions that we wanted to answer with our study: a) Is there an association between marijuana use and development of Transient Regional Ventricular Ballooning [TVRB] (aka Stress Cardiomyopathy /Broken Heart Syndrome/ Takotsubo)? b) If the above is true, what are the differences between Marijuana users (MU) and Non Marijuana Users (NMU) who developed Stress Cardiomyopathy. (more…)
Author Interviews, Occupational Health, Sexual Health, Stanford / 09.03.2015

Michael L. Eisenberg, M.D. Director, Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Assistant Professor Department of Urology Stanford University School of MedicineMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Michael L. Eisenberg, M.D. Director, Male Reproductive Medicine and Surgery Assistant Professor Department of Urology Stanford University School of Medicine Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Eisenberg: There has been growing data that a man's overall health may impact his fertility. As such, we wanted to explore this link using the NICHD LIFE Study which has the unique ability to account for both health and work exposure in men with both normal and abnormal fertility. We found that certain aspects of a man's work and health can impact his semen parameters. (more…)
Author Interviews, Weight Research / 17.01.2015

Sue Shapses, PhD Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences Acting Chair, Department of Exercise Sciences and Sports Studies Rutgers, The State University New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8525MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sue Shapses, PhD Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences Acting Chair, Department of Exercise Sciences and Sports Studies Rutgers, The State University New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8525 MedicalResearch: What is the background for this study? Dr. Shapses: Improving health outcomes through dieting and weight loss is encouraged for the majority of Americans who are either overweight or obese. However, while most studies show that a moderate reduction in body weight decreases obesity related comorbidities, there may also be loss of bone and muscle in older individuals. Specifically in postmenopausal women, intentional moderate weight loss results in a 1-2.5% bone loss when compared to a weight stable group. Studies in men, designed to address the effect of weight reduction at multiple bone sites, compartments and geometry, are currently lacking. In addition, while a higher body weight is associated with higher bone mass, evidence indicates that bone quality, a predictor of fracture risk, is compromised in the obese. It is possible that frequent dieting or weight cycling in these obese individuals may have deleterious effects on bone. Therefore, understanding whether bone quality changes with weight loss, is important to better predict osteoporosis risk in this population. In this controlled trial, the effect of dietary restriction on bone mineral density (BMD), geometry and strength were examined in middle aged and older obese/overweight men. In addition, we addressed whether endocrine changes associated with weight loss explain bone changes. (more…)