RxPG News : Men's Health

Genetic clues to male baldness found

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 11:53:36 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Toronto, Oct 16 - Researchers have found two DNA variants in Caucasian men that could be linked to higher risk of male pattern baldness.

Male pattern baldness is the most common form of baldness which leads to loss of hair in a well-defined pattern, beginning with the temples and resulting in a distinctive M-shaped hairline.

But the new findings may lead to an early prediction about hair loss and a future treatment to check male pattern baldness which affects one in three males over the age of 45.

As part of their research, medical scientists from McGill University in Montreal, GlaxoSmithKline -, and King's College in London conducted a genome-wide association study of 1,125 Caucasian men who had been assessed for male pattern baldness, a McGill university release said.

They found two previously unknown genetic variants on chromosome 20 - that substantially increased the risk of male pattern baldness.

To confirm these findings, they carried out further research on additional 1,650 Caucasian men.

'I would presume male pattern baldness is caused by the same genetic variation in non-Caucasians,' said Brent Richards, an assistant professor in genetic epidemiology at McGill University.

'But we haven't studied those populations, so we can't say for certain,' he said, cautioning that the breakthrough does not mean a treatment or cure for male pattern baldness is imminent.

'We've only identified a cause,' Richards said.

'Treating male pattern baldness will require more research. But, of course, the first step in finding a way to treat most conditions it is to first identify the cause,' he said.

'Early prediction before hair loss starts may lead to some interesting therapies that are more effective than treating late stage hair loss,' added Tim Spector of King's College, London.

Researchers have long been aware of a genetic variant on the X chromosome that was linked to male pattern baldness, said Richards.

'That's where the idea that baldness is inherited from the mother's side of the family comes from,' he explained.

'However it's been long recognised that there must be several genes causing male pattern baldness. Until now, no one could identify those other genes. If you have both the risk variants we discovered on chromosome 20 and the unrelated known variant on the X chromosome, your risk of becoming bald increases sevenfold,' said Richards.

'What's startling is that one in seven men has both of those risk variants. That's 14 percent of the total population.'

It is estimated that about a third of all men are affected by male pattern baldness by age 45, taking a huge economic and social toll.

Hair transplantation in the US alone cost $115 million in 2007, and therapy for male-pattern baldness globally generates many times more revenue.

The findings have been published in the journal Nature Genetics.

Venous embolization can help improve sperm function

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:12:31 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A minimally invasive treatment for a common cause of male infertility can significantly improve a couple's chances for pregnancy, according to a new study published in the August issue of Radiology. The study, conducted at the University of Bonn in Germany, also found that the level of sperm motility prior to treatment is a key predictor of success.

"Venous embolization, a simple treatment using a catheter through the groin, can help to improve sperm function in infertile men," said lead author Sebastian Flacke, M.D., Ph.D., now an associate professor of radiology at the Tufts University School of Medicine, director of noninvasive cardiovascular imaging and vice chair for research and development in the department of radiology at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Mass. "With the patients' improved sperm function, more than one-quarter of their healthy partners were able to become pregnant."

Normally, blood flows to the testicles and returns to the heart via a network of tiny veins that have a series of one-way valves to prevent the blood from flowing backward to the testicles. If the valves that regulate the blood flow from these veins become defective, blood does not properly circulate out of the testicles, causing swelling and a network of tangled blood vessels in the scrotum called a varicocele, or varicose vein.

Varicoceles are relatively common, affecting approximately 10 percent to 15 percent of the adult male population in the U.S. According to the National Institutes of Health, most cases occur in young men between the ages of 15 and 25. Many varicoceles cause no symptoms and are harmless. But sometimes a varicocele can cause pain, shrinkage or fertility problems.

The traditional treatment for problematic varicoceles has been open surgery, but recently varicocele embolization has emerged as a minimally invasive outpatient alternative. In the procedure, an interventional radiologist inserts a small catheter through a nick in the skin at the groin and uses x-ray guidance to steer it into the varicocele. A tiny platinum coil and a few milliliters of an agent to ensure the occlusion of the gonadic vein are then inserted through the catheter. Recovery time is minimal, and patients typically can return to work the next day.

Dr. Flacke and colleagues set out to identify predictors of pregnancy after embolization of varicoceles in infertile men. The study included 223 infertile men, ages 18-50, with at least one varicocele. All of the men had healthy partners with whom they were trying to achieve a pregnancy.

In the study, 226 of the patients' 228 varicoceles were successfully treated with embolization. A semen analysis performed on 173 patients three months after the procedure showed that, on average, sperm motility and sperm count had significantly improved. Six months later, 45 couples, or 26 percent, reported a pregnancy. A high level of sperm motility before the procedure was identified as the only significant pre-treatment factor associated with increasing the odds of successful post-treatment pregnancy.

"Embolization of varicoceles in infertile men may be considered a useful adjunct to in-vitro fertilization," Dr. Flacke said.

New, noninvasive prostate cancer test beats PSA in detecting prostate cancer

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:24:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) An experimental biomarker test developed by researchers at the University of Michigan more accurately detects prostate cancer than any other screening method currently in use, according to a study published in the February 1 issue of Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

The researchers say a simple urine test that screens for the presence of four different RNA molecules accurately identified 80 percent of patients in a study who were later found to have prostate cancer, and was 61 percent effective in ruling out disease in other study participants.

This is far more accurate than the PSA blood test currently in use worldwide, which can accurately detect prostate cancer in men with the disease but which also identifies many men with enlarged prostate glands who do not develop cancer, researchers say. Even the newer PCA3 test, which screens for a molecule specific to prostate cancer and which is now in use both in the U.S. and Europe is less precise, they say.

Prostitution Defines AIDS Pandemic More Than Other Factors

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 15:59:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) In new academic research published today in the online, open-access, peer-reviewed scientific journal PLoS ONE, male circumcision is found to be much less important as a deterrent to the global AIDS pandemic than previously thought. The author, John R. Talbott, has conducted statistical empirical research across 77 countries of the world and has uncovered some surprising results.

The new study finds that the number of infected prostitutes in a country is the key to explaining the degree to which AIDS has infected the general population. Prostitute communities are typically very highly infected with the virus themselves, and because of the large number of sex partners they have each year, can act as an engine driving infection rates to unusually high levels in the general population. The study has a number of important findings that should impact policy decisions in the future. First, male circumcision, which in previous studies had been found to be important in controlling AIDS, becomes statistically irrelevant once the study controls for the number of prostitutes in a country. The study finds that the more Muslim countries of North Africa do indeed suffer much less AIDS than southern and western Africa, but this lower prevalence is not due to higher numbers of circumscribed males in these Muslim communities, but rather results from the fact that there are significantly fewer prostitutes in northern Africa on a per capita basis. It appears that religious families in the north, specifically concerned fathers and brothers, do a much better job protecting their daughters from predatory males than do those in the south. A history of polygamy in these Muslim communities does not appear to contribute to hi gher AIDS prevalence as previously speculated. In a frequently cited academic paper, Daniel Halperin, an H.I.V. specialist at the Harvard Center for Population and Development and one of the worldâs leading advocates for male circumcision, weighted results from individual countries by their population. When this artificial weighting was removed Talbott found that circumcision was no longer statistically significant in explaining the variance in AIDS infection rates across the countries of the World.

Second, to date, there has not been an adequate explanation as to why Africa as a continent is experiencing an AIDS epidemic far in excess of any other region of the world with some African countriesâ prevalence rates exceeding 25% of the adult population and tens of millions dying from the disease on the continent. Talbottâs new study suggests that the reason is that Africa as a whole has four times as many prostitutes as the rest of the word and they are more than four times as infected. Some southern Africa countries have as many as 7% of their adult females infected and working as prostitutes while in the developed world typically this percentage of infected prostitutes is less than .1%. If these 7% of infected prostitutes in Africa sleep with five men in a week that means they are subjecting 35% of the countryâs male population to the virus weekly. The virus is not easy to transmit heterosexually, b ut over time with multiple exposures, infection is inevitable. These men then act as a conduit to bring the virus home to their villages, their other casual sex partners and to their wives.

The study has important policy implications. Several international AIDS organizations have begun to provide funding for male circumcisions as a deterrent to AIDS. While male circumcision may indeed reduce the risk of transmission by some 50% to 60% in each sexual encounter, reducing single encounter transmission rates alone cannot control the epidemic. The reason is that individuals in highly infected countries have multiple contacts with the infected so reducing transmission rates only defers the inevitable.

The real question is what can be done with the prostitute community. Outlawing the worldâs oldest profession would most likely prove to be ineffective. If the profession can be legalized and treatment and care provided to the practitioners, there would be much more reason to be hopeful. But, and this is the key, programs of action can not just be voluntary. Too many innocent people are dying and there is too much disregard for human life among infected prostitutes to leave treatment decisions solely up to them. A program of testing and treatment for prostitutes must be mandatory and those that refuse treatment must be held liable.

Many international aid organizations are against such mandatory treatment programs for prostitutes as they find them to be discriminatory, violate the individualâs human rights and are perceived as an attack on female prostitutes who are viewed as victims of gender and income inequality. Such organizations do not properly weigh the loss of human rights and life itself that this virus, unleashed on a community, is causing. This virus, itself, is a violation of human rights and we must do everything in our power to stop it. To argue we should do nothing about infected prostitutes during an AIDS epidemic because of a fear of creating a stigma against the infected would be like an animal rights activist claiming that a rabid dog must be allowed to run free in a neighborhood regardless of how many men women and children he infected and killed.

It is not surprising that computer models rarely show the virus reaching epidemic proportions; it is very hard to transmit this illness heterosexually. Only when model building researchers introduce a highly sexually active infected subset of âprostitutesâ to their mathematical models does the infection spread exponentially to the general population.

CBT Workshop Effective for Insomnia in Males

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 15:59:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Despite the positive results that it brings in the treatment of insomnia, access to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been difficult given the limited awareness of CBT services amongst referrers such as primary care providers. In addition to the low capacity among services to provide CBT, there is a gender imbalance, and men tend to seek help less frequently for their insomnia than women. The development and implementation of a CBT workshop is an effective means for getting men to seek help for the sleep disorder, according to a research abstract that was presented on Wednesday at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

The study, authored by June Brown, PhD, of King's College in London, UK, was based on the decision to offer men-only workshops with day-long psychological treatment for insomnia. Men could refer themselves to the workshops, which were run in leisure centers.

The workshops attracted a large number of men during the six-month project, with 111 inquiries. Out of those who attended, just under 50 percent had never consulted their or primary care providers for their insomnia problems. Six weeks after attending the day-long workshop, men reported significant improvements in their sleep, as well as reductions in their depression.

Compared to women, men are usually very reluctant to seek help for their insomnia, said Brown. Even if they do consult, services are not always available. Although effective psychological treatments have been developed, primary care providers often are not aware of these treatments, and psychology services are very stretched. This study shows that CBT workshops are an effective way to get men to come forward and get the treatment they need for their insomnia.

Insomnia is a classification of sleep disorders in which a person has trouble falling asleep, staying asleep or waking up too early. These disorders may also be defined by an overall poor quality of sleep. Insomnia is a common sleep disorder. About 30 percent of adults have insomnia. It is more common among elderly people and women. Some medical conditions cause insomnia, or it may be a side effect of a medication.

CBT is a psychotherapy based on modifying everyday thoughts and behaviors with the aim of positively influencing emotions.

Aging Process Reversed by Exercise

Tue, 22 May 2007 03:59:37 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) A recent study, co-led by Buck Institute faculty member Simon Melov, PhD, and Mark Tarnopolsky, MD, PhD, of McMaster University Medical Center in Hamilton, Ontario, involved before and after analysis of gene expression profiles in tissue samples taken from 25 healthy older men and women who underwent six months of twice weekly resistance training, compared to a similar analysis of tissue samples taken from younger healthy men and women.

The gene expression profiles involved age-specific mitochondrial function; mitochondria act as the powerhouse of cells. Multiple studies have suggested that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in the loss of muscle mass and functional impairment commonly seen in older people.

The study also measured muscle strength. Before exercise training, the older adults were 59% weaker than the younger adults, but after the training the strength of the older adults improved by about 50%, such that they were only 38% weaker than the young adults.

We were very surprised by the results of the study, said Melov. We expected to see gene expressions that stayed fairly steady in the older adults. The fact that their 'genetic fingerprints' so dramatically reversed course gives credence to the value of exercise, not only as a means of improving health, but of reversing the aging process itself, which is an additional incentive to exercise as you get older.

Future studies are being designed to determine if resistance training has any genetic impact on other types of human tissue, such as those that comprise organs; researchers also want to determine whether endurance training (running, cycling) impacts mitochondrial function and the aging process. The most recent study also points to particular gene expressions that could be used as starting points for chemical screenings that could lead to drug therapies that would modulate the aging process.

The vast majority of aging studies are done in worms, fruit flies and mice; this study was done in humans, said Melov. It's particularly rewarding to be able to scientifically validate something practical that people can do now to improve their health and the quality of their lives, as well as knowing that they are doing something which is actually reversing aspects of the aging process.

Now, a contraceptive pill for men

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 17:50:07 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) London, Nov 27 - British scientists have developed a hormone-free contraceptive pill for men they say would make them infertile for some hours.

The tablet, developed by researched at King's College London, can be taken hours before sex and would prevent a man from being able to impregnate a woman. However, his fertility would return to normal within a few hours, reported the online edition of Daily Mail.

Contraceptive pills available in the market now are only for the exclusive use of women. Annual worldwide sales of these female pills are worth 21 billion pounds.

Currently men who want to take responsibility for contraception have limited choice with their options extending to condoms, vasectomy or simple abstinence.

The new pill developed by Nnaemeka Amobi and other researchers would be more likely to be trusted by women because they are not relying on their man having to remember to take his pill every day for it to work.

Experts believe it could transform family planning by allowing couples to share the responsibility for contraception - a role that traditionally falls on women.

John Guillebaud, one of Britain's leading experts on contraception, described the pill as 'a brilliant discovery'.

He said its strength lay in its ability to prevent pregnancy without using hormones, which could cause side effects such as hot flushes and moodiness.

Other male pills are under development but many of them are based on hormones that trick the brain into switching off sperm production. These are typically being developed as injections, implants and patches.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy Appears Safe For Prostate

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 14:53:44 PST

( from http://www.rxpgnews.com ) Preliminary research suggests that testosterone replacement therapy for men with low testosterone levels appears to have little effect on the prostate gland, contrary to some reports that this therapy may be harmful, according to a study in the November 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on men’s health.

Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in aging men is a widespread, growing practice. According to pharmaceutical industry estimates, more than 1.8 million prescriptions for testosterone products were written in the United States in 2002, a 30 percent increase over the previous year and a 170 percent increase over the previous 5 years. In 2005, a total of 2.3 million prescriptions were written for these products. Serum levels of testosterone decline with age, and many aging men with low levels of the hormone may experience depression, sexual dysfunction, diminished lean body mass, muscle volume and strength, and reduced bone mineral density, according to background information in the article. Such changes, in association with low testosterone levels, have been called “male menopause.”

Aspects of the syndrome may be improved with TRT, and most testosterone prescriptions are currently written for men older than 45 years, a demographic in which prostate disease is most common. Between 2 and 4 million men, nearly all in this “prostatic age group,” may be candidates for treatment, the authors write. In men with advanced prostate cancer, testosterone administration often worsens the disease. Thus, when aging men receive supplemental testosterone, a primary concern is prostate safety. Even in men with no sign of prostate cancer, the possibility of stimulating growth in subclinical disease exists. Instances of prostate cancer in men receiving testosterone supplementation have been reported. When TRT is prescribed, careful monitoring for prostate disease is considered mandatory. But there is little information regarding the effects of TRT on prostate tissue in men.

Dr. Marks and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial to assess the effects of TRT on prostate tissue of 44 men, age 44 to 78 years, with low serum testosterone levels. The study was conducted between February 2003 and November 2004. Participants were randomly assigned to receive by injection 150 mg of replacement testosterone or matching placebo every 2 weeks for 6 months. Of the 44 men randomized, 40 had prostate biopsies performed both at baseline and at the end of the study and were included in the final analysis (TRT, n = 21; placebo, n = 19).

Testosterone replacement therapy increased serum testosterone levels to the mid-normal range with no significant change in serum testosterone levels in matched, placebo-treated men. In prostate tissue, TRT increased median (midpoint) androgen (male sex hormone) concentrations only slightly compared with baseline levels or between the 2 groups. No treatment-related change was observed in prostate histology, tissue biomarkers, gene expression, or cancer incidence or severity. Treatment-related changes in prostate volume, serum prostate-specific antigen, voiding symptoms, and urinary flow were slight.

“… under the conditions herein, including the biopsy to detect cancer performed pretreatment, a degree of prostate safety is defined for men undergoing TRT,” the authors write. “The prostate risks to men undergoing TRT may not be as great as once believed, especially if the results of the pretreatment biopsy are negative. However, establishment of prostate safety for large populations of older men undergoing longer duration of TRT requires further study,” the researchers conclude.