7 Things Every Man Should Know About The Prostate

by: Anne Nickerson

Next time you see your father, your uncle, or any older gentleman over age 60 or so, ask them about their prostate. If you know the guy well enough, and he feels comfortable enough around you (some would say too comfortable), he will surely share a whole litany of the common prostate problems that are troubling him, or have troubled him, or will trouble him in the near future. That's because an enlarged prostate, benign prostatic hypertrophy, and even prostate cancer can be in the cards for every man past a certain age.

It's the scary but true fact of getting old as a man. For instance, every man should know that prostate cancer is one of the most common prostate problems out there. It tops the list of cancers that afflict men, happening in nearly as many men, roughly speaking, as breast cancer in women. Prostate cancer doesn't get the press that breast cancer does, however, probably because most men would rather not speak about what's happening down there.

Second thing most men don't, but should, know is exactly what that prostate is. A prostate is actually part of a man's sexual organs. Located just below the bladder in a man, wrapped around the urethra, the prostate is about the size of a walnut. Its main job in the birds-and-bees scheme of things is to add fluid to your sperm during ejaculation.

And most of the time, men don't even realize they have a prostate because it's a hidden internal organ, but all men find out quickly what and where their prostate is when they suffer a common prostate problem.

For instance, all men should know that prostate issues aren't just for older men. Men under 50 can get prostatitis, or an extremely painful infection of their prostate. This is a swelling of the prostate that can cause fever, a burning sensation during urination, and fatigue.

And all men over 50 should be aware of their number one most common prostate problem, which is an enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hypertrophy. This benign, or nonfatal condition, is actually far more common in older men than prostate cancer, which should give some relief to older men when they know it.

Men should all be aware of the symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy, such as leaking and dribbling during urination, a weak urine stream, trouble getting started with urination, and even small amounts of blood in the urine.

And though benign prostatic hypertrophy is more common than prostate cancer, men should be aware that the two can go hand in hand. It's not always the case, and many men with an enlarged prostate will never develop into cancer. But it's good to keep your eyes out for both, because they can have similar symptoms.

Recent Studies Show How Our Bodies Fight Disease

by: Rick Hendershot

**Obese people less likely to survive colorectal cancer

According to a new report, people who are physically inactive and are obese around the middle have poor odds of survival after a diagnosis of colorectal cancer.

"We have now shown that modifiable lifestyle factors that were known to reduce the incidence of colorectal cancer can also reduce the mortality in cases diagnosed with the disease," Dr. Andrew M. M. Haydon told Reuters Health. "This strengthens the argument supporting the public health message of 'healthy living.'"

Haydon, from Monash Medical School in Melbourne, Australia, studied records from more than 40,000 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer between 1990 and 1994.

Patients who got regular exercise before their colorectal cancer was found were 31 percent less likely to die from the cancer than were non-exercisers, the investigators report in the medical journal Gut. In fact, 73 percent of exercisers survived at least five years, compared with 61 percent of non-exercisers.

Such an improvement in survival "is at least as large as" as is usually achieved by add-on chemotherapy.

A greater percentage of body fat, bigger waist circumference, and/or greater weight were also associated with worse survival, according to the report.

**Study shows short term sex life improvements in prostate cancer survivors

It is well known that many men who undergo prostate cancer treatment (surgery or radiation therapy) have sexual dysfunction. A recent study of 84 prostate cancer survivors attempted to determine the impact of post-treatment interventions such as counseling sessions.

The study found that a large percentage of those who completed four therapy sessions reported better sexual functioning 3 months later. Counseling sessions focused on better communication between partners, ED treatment options, and methods of enjoying sex in spite of ED.

Both partners reported improvements in their sex life for up to 3 months later. There was also an increase in the number of men using ED treatments such as Viagra.

However, after six months the improvements began to wane. The researchers speculated that couples tended to revert back to old habits, and there also might have been greater reliance put on the "magic pill" solution. Drugs such as Viagra tend to have a lower success rate in prostate cancer survivors, so when these drugs stop working couples may adopt a defeatist attitude.

**Vitamin D helps fight cancer, report claims

A research team from the San Diego Moores Cancer Center headed up by Dr. Cedric Garland recently concluded that Vitamin D deficiency is often associated with various types of cancer. Dr. Garland now advises people to increase their intake of Vitamin D through diet or a vitamin supplement.

The research team reviewed 63 studies conducted between 1966 and 2004 on the relationship between vitamin D and certain types of cancer. The report concluded that Vitamin D deficiency was a factor in several thousand deaths due to colon, breast, ovarian and other cancers every year.

The report recommended increasing Vitamin D intake, either in the form of supplements or by eating certain foods such as fortified orange juice, yogurt and cheeses. This is especially the case with people in northern latitudes where there is less exposure to the sun. African Americans are also more prone to a Vitamin D deficiency because the their skin pigment reduces the amount produced by the body.

Observers welcomed the University of California study but also warned that kidney and liver damage could result from too much vitamin D.

The "natural" form of the vitamin, called D3, is normally produced in the skin after exposure to sunlight, but is also obtained from certain foods such as oily fish, margarine and meat.

**Resveratrol found in grapes helps fix our aching joints

Researchers at the American College of Rheumatology in San Diego, California have found that resveratrol found in red wine appears to halt cartilage damage caused by osteoarthritis, and speed up recovery.

It is thought that oxygen-rich particles in the blood cause severe damage to body cells similar to the way rust rots a car. Resveratrol is a powerful anti-oxidant which seems to function as a way to prevent this kind of injury.

The research found that resveratrol resulted in a reduction of between 50 and 90% of the production of chemicals that cause inflammation in the joints. It also enhanced production of specific proteins that are part of the connective tissue in joints.

Red wine has other beneficial effects on the body. It contains polyphenrols that reduce the amount of bad LDL cholesterol in the arteries. It also increases the amount of good HDL cholesterol.

Tannin and resveratrol, the anti-oxydants found in red wine, help to guard against cancer and slow tumor growth.

Six Reasons to Choose a Nudist Vacation

by: Liz Egger

If you’re looking for a completely different vacation idea this year, why not try a nudist holiday? It may seem outrageous at first, but read on. It might change your life!

It’s that time of year when my loved one and myself set aside an evening to open a bottle of wine and discuss one of the most significant events in the Egger family calendar, to whit, the Great Annual Holiday.

As always, the first decision we have to make is whether we choose nude or not. As confirmed nudists, we naturally favour a naturist vacation, or at least a vacation during which we can get naked for part of the time. However it’s not an automatic choice and this year there is a particularly tempting selection of textile holidays on offer. There’s a Mediterranean cruise that looks appealing, and the Rocky Mountain Rail Adventure takes my eye. Maybe we should support one of the Indian Ocean countries devastated by the Boxing Day Tsunami, or stay at home and redecorate (ugh!) However, we’ll probably choose nude, and here’s six reasons why.

Reason # 1

Getting naked, even for a short time, can help save your life!

I’m not being overly dramatic here. It really seems that divesting yourself of tight, restrictive clothing that impedes the natural flow of blood and lymphatic fluid may be a real life-saver.

According to researchers, wearing a bra can cause all manner of unpleasantness, including soreness and even breast cancer. The (admittedly preliminary) research suggests that ladies who wear bras for more than twelve hours each day except for bed, are 21 times more likely to get breast cancer than those who wear bras less than twelve hours per day. And listen to this— those who wear bras even in bed are125 times more likely to get breast cancer than those who don't wear bras at all! In cultures where ladies don’t wear bras, the incidence of breast cancer is about the same as it is for men – virtually zero!

And it's not only the ladies who are at risk. The same research suggests that testicular cancer in men may be caused by tight briefs.

So, divesting yourself of bra and briefs, even for the short period of your vacation, could keep you much healthier.

Reason # 2

Less clothes = less luggage = less hassle.

Have you ever noticed how when you’re packing for a holiday you can never seem to have enough clothes? And how you’ll then spend the equivalent of the cost of the vacation on essential garments brought especially for the holiday? Yet, during your stay you find you’ve ended up with twice the clothes you need? It’s spooky isn’t it? Don’t ask me why it works that way – probably some unexplained Law of Nature - but it happens EVERY TIME.

Except on a nudist holiday.

It’s as if nudist holidays turn natural laws on their head. The scramble to cover every eventuality clothes-wise is replaced by a disdain for apparel bordering on the obsessive. My normal textile two page-packing list is reduced to just four lines, viz:

· Suitable clothing for travelling.

· ufficient smart slinky dresses for evening wear.

· Shorts/skirt/tee-shirt for any non-nudist (referred to in nude-speak as “textile”) excursions.

· And, ummm… well that’s about it really.

The immediate effect of this textile trimming is that my luggage, which is normally equal in volume to a medium-sized car, consists of just one small suitcase. (OK, two, if you count the other one which contains life-saving items such as hairdryer, make-up, skin creams, lipsticks, jewellery etc – gosh, a girl has to look her best, even in the buff hasn’t she?) Not only does this make for easier carrying and a swifter get-away from the luggage carousel, it also saves on tips. The largesse I would otherwise have to distribute just to transport my baggage train to the hotel would feed a family of five for a month. A spin off from this is that less clothing also means less packing and unpacking, leaving more time for drinking wine and dozing by the pool, which is the whole idea of a holiday in the first place.

Well it’s mine, anyway

Reason # 3

Skin doesn’t stain.

Our skin is wonderful. Not only is it the largest organ of our body, but it always fits perfectly (OK. Sometimes some of us may have a just a little more than is necessary, but you know what I mean.)

Happily, it’s also easier to keep clean than fabric. My husband has a particular fondness for crépes – you know, those pancake things with fillings you can buy from roadside kiosks around the Med? He'd eat 'em all day if I let him. Unfortunately he also has a tendency to lose the syrup filling down his front, which has led to more ruined shirts than would fill a steamer trunk.

A nudist holiday neatly sidesteps this problem. Whilst maple syrup may not be particularly easy to remove from a naked chest – especially a hirsute male one – it ‘s a whole lot easier than washing it out of a silk or cotton shirt. Nor does it leave a stain, except for a livid red mark across the torso after the treacle has been scrubbed from the chest hair, but that’s the price men pay for being so clumsy. (In the interests of equality, I have to concede that this is not just a male quirk. After a bottle or two I have been known to distribute red wine down my bosom with something approaching gay abandon, rendering any affected clothing null and void in the process. However I insist that this is not clumsiness on my part, but merely the result of my being tired and emotional. So there.)

Reason # 4

It makes more sense to be naked on a beach than to wear a bathing costume.

Let’s face it. A bathing costume serves no useful purpose. It doesn’t keep us dry, or warm, and doesn’t even help us to swim: studies by the West German Olympic swim team showed that swimsuits actually hamper a swimmer. They're not even healthy. Ticks and sea lice that bite or sting and which find nowhere to hide on a nude body are easily trapped in a bathing suit.

So why do we wear ‘em

To preserve one’s modesty? Hardly. These days mens' costumes are brief enough but ladies bathers are positively miniscule, containing less fabric than a small handkerchief. Bikini tops afford less coverage than two postage stamps on a string, and in any case are rarely worn on European beaches. Bikini bottoms just cover the genitals but often leave the bottom exposed.

Which also means they don't protect you from the sun's harmful UV rays.

Yet according to a survey carried out by the Ladies’ Home Journal Americans spend $900,000,000 each year on bathing costumes, although eighty-five percent of all swimsuits purchased never touch the water.

Doesn't make a lot of sense does it?

Reason 5

Nudist resorts are nice places with nice people

Every nudist knows that genuine nudists are very nice people. What makes nudist especially nice remains a mystery. Perhaps nudism attracts the pleasantest individuals in the first place, or maybe the practice of nudism somehow improves people. Who knows? And really, who cares? Let’s just enjoy the situation. You can leave an unlocked car at a nudist resort and nothing will be taken. Nudist resorts and beaches tend to be orderly, well behaved places. Even at a nudist holiday city such as Cap d'Agde, containing some 40000 people at the height of the season, there is none of the threatening atmosphere, violence and general loutishness that disfigures other holiday hot-spots. Any sort of crime is almost non-existent, and most large complexes, even Cap d’Agde, need no more than minimal security.

You don’t get that at Benidorm or Palm Springs!

Reason #6

Nudist entrepreneurs need our support.

Despite estimates that the world nude travel business is worth some four hundred million USD annually and growing fast, the nudist holiday industry is still a fragile plant that needs encouragement and support. The fine nudist resorts that cater to the nudist holidaymaker today are a far cry from the primitive camps that were available in the not too distant past, and by attracting the new generation of vacationers who demand a certain standard of comfort, are in a large part responsible for the growth of the nude leisure industry. However, quality costs money, and these resorts are businesses, not charities. Unless we continue to support them they’ll close, and we’ll return to the old clapped out, run down, make-do-and-mend compounds of yesteryear. As the old saying goes, you have to use ‘em or lose ‘em

So, it looks as if we’ll choose nude again this year. All we have to do is to decide where. Wait a minute. I’ve just had a wonderful idea. Perhaps we can support the Tsunami appeal and please ourselves at the same time by going nude in Thailand. That’s it! Brilliant. Now, then, where are those brochures…?