Several tips to fight Erecticle Dysfunction
Yet more than eighteen million American men have involuntarily been cast into the clubhouse.
Their bad-luck bond: suffering from erectile dysfunction, also known as ED or impotence.
Afraid you or your beau will be next? Don’t fret too much — this is one club you can, to some extent, refuse to join. There are steps you can take now to maintain peak sexual fitness.
Defined as a man’s inability to attain or maintain an erection adequate enough for sexual satisfaction, male erectile dysfunction generally falls into one of two categories: physiological or psychological.
The physiological causes make for up to ninety percent of persistent ED cases in men over the age of fifty.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that, as with many health conditions, you want to improve your overall general health in avoiding ED.
Nearly one in five men experiences erectile dysfunction, but simple lifestyle changes can ease the problem for many, regardless of age, said a study in the American Journal of Medicine. Most of these modifications target a man’s cardiovascular functioning.
ED is much more common in men with diabetes or with risk factors for heart disease, including high cholesterol. This is because conditions that affect blood flow to the penis are the most common causes for ED in older men.
So, reducing the risk of heart-related conditions is crucial in making sure that you, or that special man in your life, remains ED-free.
Do this:
1. Watch What You Eat. Maintaining a healthy, well-balanced diet can affect blood vessels and blood supply to the pelvis and penis. Good nutrition keeps your cholesterol level low, which reduces the hardening of arteries that can affect your game. Diet is especially important for those dealing with diabetes, since this condition can block blood flow to the penis. Keep your blood sugar level in safe range. This will further help you to avoid any consequential nerve damage that can affect a male’s ability to achieve and maintain an erection.
2. Exercise. Another way to maintain adequate blood flow to the pelvic region is to stay physically active. ED is more common in men who are physically inactive. Try running, swimming or even walking regularly. (Note: ED can develop from sitting for long hours on a hard bicycle seat, since that compresses the perineum). Exercising regularly also combats cardiovascular diseases, stress and high cholesterol — all of which can lead to erectile dysfunction. It also helps to reduce your risk of Type-2 diabetes, further warding off ED.
3. Control Your Blood Pressure. If you have high blood pressure, make sure that you are being treated. This will help to prevent hypertension and atherosclerosis, a major health problem related to coronary artery disease.
While practicing heart health is vital, we’re just getting warmed up. Beyond cardiovascular concerns, there are plenty of other ways you can take on ED.
4. Limit Your Use of Toxins. Legal or not, a number of stimulants, sedatives, and antihistamines can affect a man’s sexual response and performance. So, in a nutshell … don’t smoke. Keep your alcohol intake to a minimum. Stay away from illicit drugs, including marijuana and steroids. Avoid using herbal or other supplements, as some can have sexual side effects.
5. Reconsider Your Meds. Some medications, including classes of antidepressants, diuretics, cholesterol-lowering drugs and anti-inflammatory medications, can all affect your sexual response. This is partly because the vascular processes that produce an erection are controlled by the nervous system. Certain prescription medications can interfere with critical nerve signals. I know it can be tough to talk to your physician about sex, but you need to go to bat for yourself — and for your relationship. Work with your doctor to figure out what medicines and dosages are best for you, given your medical and sexual needs.
6. Get Your Zzzzs. Good health boils down to our quality of sleep. Fatigue plays into one’s sex drive, often overriding any desire to get down ’n’ dirty. Make sure you are getting enough sleep.
7. Stay Abreast of Your Psychological Health. Reasons for ED can stem from mental health issues, especially in younger men. Tension, anxiety, depression, feelings of inadequacy, fears, and past sexual abuse are among the many problems that can severely affect a man’s sexual response and performance. Ask yourself: What’s causing me distress? Do I need to be taking better care of myself? Have any old issues come back to haunt me? If you are feeling stressed, take steps to combat burnout and depression, such as practicing yoga and meditation, taking a vacation or reducing long hours at work.
8. Regularly Evaluate Your Relationship. Relationship or sexual problems, like poor communication, can make for a mind-body disconnect. If your brain isn’t stimulated, your groin isn’t going to be either. Don’t be afraid to talk to a sex counselor or therapist in dealing with relationship or personal issues — past or present — before things get out of sync.
Although there are plenty of ways to stave off ED, it must be acknowledged that some cases are hard to avoid. These include:
— Prostate disease;
— Inflammation of the prostate, urethra, or seminal vesicles;
— Neurological diseases, such as Parkinson’s;
— Hormone disorders;
— Impaired tissue functioning in the penis;
— Pelvic steal syndrome, a condition where blood goes to the muscles of the pelvis instead of the penis for erection.
Continually nurturing your physical and emotional health provides you with so many benefits, including sexual functioning. In starting your anti-ED plan, be sure to consult with your physician to identify any potential risk factors. Hopefully, the two of you can come up with a personally tailored action plan for dealing with this issue — before it becomes an issue — today.
Source - [FOXNews]
How to get breast implant instead of wrinkle surgery
Ingrid Bruelling, 33, wanted doctors to give her breasts firmer skin after she lost 200 pounds on a crash diet.
But when she woke up after the operation, she found that doctors had put in silicone implants, increasing her cup size from a C to a D.
The doctors told her the bigger breasts were the best way to achieve the firmer skin.
A wrinkle is a ridge or crease of a surface. It usually refers to folds on fabric or clothes, or on the skin of an organism; the folds are generally random and do not exhibit any repeating pattern. In skin or other foldable material a wrinkle or fold may be permanent if the material is folded the same way each time.
Skin wrinkles typically appear as a result of aging processes such as glycation or, temporarily, as the result of prolonged (more than a few minutes) immersion in water. Wrinkling in skin is caused by habitual facial expressions, aging, sun damage, smoking, poor hydration, and various other factors. With prolonged water exposure, the outer layer of skin starts to absorb water. The skin doesn’t expand evenly, however, and this causes your skin to wrinkle. Deplation of water in the body, as occurs with dehydration, can also cause this puckering of the skin.
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Stop-watch sex study
A survey of sex therapists concluded the optimal amount of time for sexual intercourse was 3 to 13 minutes. The findings, to be published in the May issue of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, strike at the notion that endurance is the key to a great sex life.
If that sounds like good news to you, don’t cheer too loudly. The time does not count foreplay, and the therapists did rate sexual intercourse that lasts from 1 to 2 minutes as “too short.”
Researcher Eric Corty said he hoped to ease the minds of those who believe “more of something good is better, and if you really want to satisfy your partner, you should last forever.”
The questions were not gender-specific, said Corty. But he said prior research has shown men and women want foreplay and sexual intercourse to last longer.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein, editor of the Journal of Sexual Medicine, cited a four-week study of 1,500 couples in 2005 that found the median time for sexual intercourse was 7.3 minutes. (Women in the study were armed with stopwatches.)
It’s difficult for both older men and young men to make sexual intercourse last much longer, said Marianne Brandon, a clinical psychologist and director of Wellminds Wellbodies in Annapolis, Maryland.
“There are so many myths in our culture of what other people are doing sexually,” Brandon said. “Most people’s sex lives are not as exciting as other people think they are.”
Fifty members of the Society for Sex Therapy and Research in the U.S. and Canada were surveyed by Corty, an associate professor of psychology at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, and student Jenay Guardiani. Thirty-four members, or 68 percent, responded, although some said the optimal time depended on the couple.
Corty said he hoped to give an idea of what therapists find to be normal and satisfactory among the couples they see.
“People who read this will say, ‘I last five minutes or my partner lasts eight minutes,’ and say, ‘That’s OK,’ ” he said. “They will relax a little bit.”
VIA [CNN Health]
Beckwith Wiedemann
Beckwith-Wiedemann
Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) is a rare genetic or epigenetic overgrowth syndrome (prevalence of about 1 in 15,000) associated with an elevated risk of embryonic tumor formation. There is a 20% mortality rate for newborns with BWS. BWS is caused by mutations in growth regulating genes on chromosome 11— caused by an inversion specifically on 11p15—or by errors in genomic imprinting.
Clinically, patients typically present with omphalocele, macroglossia (large tongue), and macrosomia (large birth weight). Organomegaly, adrenocortical cytomegaly, hemihypertrophy, and neonatal hypoglycemia may also been seen. Not all of these features appear in every individual with BWS. Macroglossia occurs in approximately 80% of cases and often results in ‘floppy’ airways which may require treatment with a tracheotomy.
Beckwith-Wiedemann Children’s Foundation
The Beckwith-Wiedemann Children’s Foundation is a non-profit, all volunteer foundation. All donations go towards assisting children and their families with Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome.
10 fatal drugs approved by FDA
Merck’s Vioxx, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) painkiller, made headlines in 2004 when the company voluntarily withdrew it from the U.S. market following reports of increased rates of strokes and heart attacks in patients taking the drug chronically. Vioxx was the most famous of more than a dozen drugs withdrawn from the market since 2000.
But withdrawal of drugs is not a new phenomenon. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took on its modern form as a reaction to the horrific side effects of the drug thalidomide, introduced in Europe in the 1950s as a sleep aid and treatment for morning sickness in pregnant women.
By 1962, it was evident that thalidomide caused severe limb deformities, and Frances Kelsey, the FDA’s medical officer at the time, kept the drug off of the market. In Europe, 8,000 babies were born with defects resulting from the drug. That tragedy prompted a Congressional bill that gave the FDA the authority to raise the safety bar and require that companies prove the effectiveness of drugs before they could be marketed in the United States.
FDA failures
Recently, the FDA has come under attack for not living up to its mission. The agency failed to catch serious side effects in a number of drugs before they were approved, thus forcing embarrassing withdrawals.
Critics attribute these failures to the agency’s close ties with the medical industry. These close ties are exemplified by the 1992 Prescription Drug User Fees Act, which requires industry to pay user fees that help fund the agency’s review of new drugs for approval.
Part of the purpose of the legislation was to shorten the approval times and get drugs to market more quickly. But according to a 2002 report by the Government Accounting Office (GAO), the legislation ultimately caused increased workload for the FDA’s reviewers. There was also a slight increase in the percentage of drugs that had to be withdrawn from the market.
The side effect of withdrawing drugs
The flip side of the decision to withdraw a drug due to rare, serious side effects is that it can leave some patients with few therapeutic options. For example, some patients objected to the withdrawal of Zelnorm, a drug used to treat irritable bowel syndrome.
Seriously ill patients “should be able to take a risk,” says Peter Barton Hutt, senior counsel at the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, and former FDA chief counsel.
But Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families, argues that it isn’t that simple.
“The problem is that patients aren’t really told ([about a drug’s risks). Doctors aren’t giving that information, partly because they don’t spend that much time with patients and partly because they don’t know themselves—they haven’t read all 10 studies (performed on a drug).”
The FDA’s Hall of Shame
Vioxx
What it is: Vioxx is a COX-2 selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) painkiller related to drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen.
Why it was taken off the market: The result of a clinical study showed an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes.
Expiration date: Merck withdrew Vioxx from the worldwide markets in 2004.
Bextra
What it is: Like Vioxx, Bextra is an NSAID painkiller.
Why it was taken off the market: Two short-term studies indicated potential increases in cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes and increased risk of serious skin reactions. The FDA also concluded that Bextra had no unique advantages over other NSAIDs. FDA scientists decided that the known cardiovascular risks of other NSAIDs demonstrated in long-term trials justified a request for withdrawal.
Expiration date: Pfizer withdrew Bextra from the U.S. market in 2005.
Zelnorm
What it is: Zelnorm is a drug to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
Why it was taken off the market: 29 studies showed that 13 of 11,614 patients taking the drug had heart problems. One of 7,031 patients on placebo experienced the problem. About 500,000 people were taking the drug at the time of its withdrawal. Novartis continues to market the drug in Europe, citing its belief that the trial results were a fluke.
Expiration date: Novartis withdrew Zelnorm from U.S. markets in March 2007. IBS patient groups objected to the withdrawal, arguing that the benefits outweighed the risks. The FDA responded to complaints from patients and physicians by creating a restricted-access program for patients that have no therapeutic alternatives or who had satisfactory outcomes on previous treatment with Zelnorm.
Tysabri
What it is: Tysabri is a drug that treats multiple sclerosis.
Why it was taken off the market: After three patients in a clinical study developed progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML, a serious brain infection), the FDA halted trials of the multiple sclerosis drug until the company could prove that no additional cases of PML had occurred.
Expiration date: Biogen-Idec withdrew Tysabri from the worldwide market in 2005. In 2006 it was allowed back on the market with a risk-minimization program with mandatory patient registration and follow-up.
NeutroSpec
What it is: NeutroSpec is an antibody labeled with a radioactive marker that was used to diagnose appendicitis in patients that show some but not all of the clinical signs of appendicitis.
Why it was taken off the market: While the agent was on the market, 17 patients who received NeutroSpec experienced life-threatening side effects soon after it was injected, including shortness of breath, low blood pressure, and cardiac and pulmonary arrest. Two patients died. About 11,000 patients received NeutroSpec while it was on the market.
Expiration date: Palatin Technologies withdrew NeutroSpec from the U.S. market in 2005.
Cylert
What it is: Cylert is a drug used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).
Why it was taken off the market: The FDA learned of 13 reports of liver failure leading to liver transplant or death. The number of cases reported was small, but patients taking the drug had a liver failure rate of 10-25 times the rate of liver failure in the general population.
Expiration date: Abbott withdrew Cylert from the U.S. market in 2005.
Permax
What it is: Permax is a drug used to treat Parkinson’s disease.
Why it was taken off the market: Two studies confirmed previous findings that Permax is associated with increased chance of blood backflow to aortic valves of the heart. Symptoms include shortness of breath, fatigue and heart palpitations. In 2006, about 12,000 patients received prescriptions in the US.
Expiration date: In 2007, Valeant Pharmaceuticals voluntarily withdrew Permax from the U.S. market. Two other companies, Par and Teva, withdrew generic versions.
Baycol
What it is: Baycol is a cholesterol-lowering drug.
Why it was taken off the market: Reports of sometimes fatal rhabdomyolysis—a severe muscle condition. All statins cause rare cases of rhabdomyolysis, but Baycol patients experienced it at a significantly higher rate than patients on other statins. The FDA received reports of 31 deaths related to Baycol.
Expiration date: Bayer withdrew Baycol from the U.S. market in 2001.
Palladone
What it is: Palladone is a narcotic painkiller in a slow-release capsule.
Why it was taken off the market: Severe side effects were reported when Palladone was taken with alcohol. Alcohol use caused high levels of the drug in the body, with potentially fatal effects such as the depression or halting of breathing and coma.
Expiration date: Purdue Pharma withdrew Palladone from the U.S. market in 2005.
Source health.msn.com