Talking About Men's Healthâ„¢

By: Michael J Rovito, Ph.D and Janna Manjelievskaia

The focus of prostate cancer prevention research has switched FROM advocating for screening TO advocating for informed decision-making among men. In other words, we are now trying to inform men of their options and advocate that they have an open and honest dialogue with their physician on their treatment options. Joseph-Williams et al (2010) looks at the relationship between informed decision making and usage of decision aids. Decision aids, which are often web or computer based, are being used more often in intervention research as they play a key role in patient participation. However, not enough research has been done to test the effectiveness of these aids or how to develop the best methods for implementation. In other words, we need to know ‘WHY’ these aides work so well more so than anything. But we are getting ahead of ourselves… Continue Reading

Being overweight poses a very real health risk and should be an issue taken seriously by everyone. As a general guideline a person’s waistline should be their height (in inches) divided by 2, and should be less than 35″ for women and 40″ for men.
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The following blog is by a Martin Klingvall, a Norwegian medical student. Martin was visiting the U.S. because, as I understand it, half his class was deferred from going into medical school. The students take the time to travel and study abroad. Martin tried to get the full American experience during his time here. He visited New York, Miami, and lived in Capital Hill. He attended American University and interned at Men’s Health Network. Martin was a pleasure to work with and gave unique perspective on social and policy issues in the U.S.  Economic incentives drive those seeking careers as physician.
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Yesterday, the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee’s (MEDCAC) vote on a number of questions amounted to a recommendation to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cover Provenge, a therapeutic vaccine for men with advanced prostate cancer.  While the recommendation was not overwhelmingly enthusiastic, Provenge clears one hurdle on its way to Medicare coverage.  CMS is expected to make its final recommendation in the next few months.  This is a small victory for the estimated 100,000 men who have advanced prostate cancer and the process has not been without controversy. Continue Reading

That battle against prostate cancer is fought on many fronts:  Patients, their families and medical providers actively fight the disease, researchers toil to find the right combination of molecules or technology to find, treat and prevent the disease, and advocates raise awareness and labor to change public policy.  This multi-theater struggle is to end suffering from the most common form of cancer in men according to the CDC.

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Dr. David Samadi appeared on FoxNew to discuss the new drug label warnings required by the FDA to labels on gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists which are used to treat prostate cancer.

Dr. Samadi is the Medical Contributor to Talking About Men’s Health.  Learn more about Dr. Samadi or visit his website.