Ever wonder about the future fertility of children born with birth defects? As a urologist, I’ve treated hundreds of boys with two common birth defects: undescended testicles and hypospadias. Throughout my career, it’s been hard to address the question of a boy’s future fertility with these conditions. Until now. Missing in Action Birth defects occur in 3% of U.S. newborns....Continue reading
The go-to treatment in most cases of testicular cancer is the surgical removal of the affected testicle. This procedure will keep the scrotal sac in place so that everything will look (just about) the same on the outside. But many men opt to replace the missing testicle with a prosthesis, a testicular implant. Although common...Continue reading
Not sure about you, but I like to see the good in the bad. By focusing on the flipside of adversity, I get stronger instead of weaker. Hey, I’m the first one to fess up to the unpleasant, abominable and awful, but there’s gotta be a way to make silk…or something…out of a sow’s ear....Continue reading
“You know, Doc, there are times when I lose my erection…just like that. It happens when I’m really stressed out. It’s like the penis has ears or something!” Say it aint so! Can the penis really “hear” stress and go flat because of it? The Good Wood This reminds me of another scenario in which the...Continue reading
Growing up as a kid, you expect to find two jewels right where they belong down there. And about the size of small grapes. But did you know that 2% of boys at birth are missing a testicle? It’s just not there in the sac. Yup, undescended testicles are the most common genital birth defect. That...Continue reading
Do you have a favorite tool? Maybe a great cooking pot or utensil that really works for you. Possibly a shiny, worn and weathered but perfectly performing baseball glove, or a dinged and pockmarked surfboard that handles virtually every swell. Whether you’re a carpenter and fan of curly maple, or a car hobbyist who likes...Continue reading
It’s a tenet of American culture that if you try hard, you’ll succeed. Hard work pays off. The early bird gets the worm. No goal met without sweat. But, try telling this to sperm. It’s always been thought that the best looking, fastest moving sperm wins the egg. It’s why Woody Allen in Hannah and...Continue reading
Testicular cancer is the most prevalent type of cancer in younger men, aged 15 through 35. Luckily with early detection and treatment, about 96-99 percent of patients with testicular cancer survive this diagnosis and remain cancer free for 5 or many more years after. Even when testicular cancer is caught in more advanced stages, the cure rate is...Continue reading
They sat in front of me, notes in hand, having read all they could, and looking somewhat concerned. “We read that vasectomy reversals don’t work because of antibodies that men make to their sperm. Is this true?” Don the Immunology Hat Practically speaking, the world’s first immunologist was the formidable warlord King Mithridates VI of...Continue reading
His kidney harbored a cancer and it needed to be removed. As a first year surgeon-in-training, I was consenting him for surgery at the Veterans Hospital in Philadelphia. Unlike most patients, he was unusually calm as I talked him through the procedure and its potentially life threatening complications. At one point, he gently put his...Continue reading