POOR SPERM QUALITY LINKED TO HYPERTENSION OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS

A study of men who were evaluated for the cause of their infertility finds previously unknown relationships between deficiencies in their semen and other, seemingly unrelated health problems.

A study of more than 9,000 men with fertility problems has revealed a correlation between the number of different defects in a man's semen and the likelihood that the man has other health problems.

The study, conducted by investigators at the Stanford University School of Medicine, also links poor semen quality to a higher chance of having various specific health conditions, such as hypertension, and more generally to skin and endocrine disorders.

The findings, published online Dec. 10 in Fertility and Sterility, may spur more-comprehensive approaches to treating male infertility. They also point to the wisdom of performing complete physical examinations of men experiencing reproductive difficulties.

"About 15 percent of all couples have fertility issues, and in half of those cases the male partner has semen deficiencies," said the study's lead author, Michael Eisenberg, MD, assistant professor of urology and director of male reproductive medicine and surgery at Stanford. "We should be paying more attention to these millions of men. Infertility is a warning: Problems with reproduction may mean problems with overall health."

A study Eisenberg co-authored a few years ago showed that infertile men had higher rates of overall mortality, as well as mortality linked to heart problems, in the years following an infertility evaluation. "But here, we're already spotting signs of trouble in young men in their 30s," he said.

Analyzing medical records

In the new study, Eisenberg and his colleagues analyzed the medical records of 9,387 men, mostly between 30 and 50 years old, who had been evaluated at Stanford Hospital & Clinics (now Stanford Health Care) between 1994 and 2011 to determine the cause of their infertility. The men had routinely provided semen samples, which the researchers assessed for characteristics including volume, concentration and motility. In about half of all the male infertility cases, the problem was abnormal semen; in the rest, the fault lay elsewhere. So, using the database, the investigators were able to compare the overall health status of men who had semen defects to that of the men who didn't.

With a median age of 38, this was a fairly young group of men. However, 44 percent of all the men had some additional health problem besides the fertility problem that brought them to the clinic. In particular, the investigators found a substantial link between poor semen quality and specific diseases of the circulatory system, notably hypertension, vascular disease and heart disease. "To the best of my knowledge, there's never been a study showing this association before," said Eisenberg. "There are a lot of men who have hypertension, so understanding that correlation is of huge interest to us."

In addition, as the number of different kinds of defects in a man's semen rose, so did his likelihood of having a skin disease or endocrine disorder. When looking at the severity of all health problems, the scientists observed a statistically significant connection between the number of different ways in which a man's semen was deficient and the likelihood of his having a substantial health problem.

Health, semen quality 'strongly correlated'

The study wasn't designed to determine precisely how connections between semen deficiencies and seemingly unrelated disorders, such as cardiovascular or endocrine disease, come about. But, Eisenberg noted, some 15 percent of all genes in the human genome are connected fairly directly to reproduction, and most of these genes also have diverse functions in other bodily systems. He also noted that it may not be a disease itself, but the treatment for the disease, that's actually responsible for reproductive malfunction. He said he is exploring this possibility now.

As we treat men's infertility, we should also assess their overall health.

"A man's health is strongly correlated with his semen quality," he said. "Given the high incidence of infertility, we need to take a broader view. As we treat men's infertility, we should also assess their overall health. That visit to a fertility clinic represents a big opportunity to improve their treatment for other conditions, which we now suspect could actually help resolve the infertility they came in for in the first place."

The senior author of the study is Mark Cullen, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford. Other Stanford co-authors are professor of reproductive endocrinology and fertility Barry Behr, PhD; former professor of obstetrics and gynecology Renee Reijo Pera, PhD; and statistical programmer Shufeng Li.

Other Ways Of Treating Neuropathy

Today's post is written by Dr. Marc Spitz at footpaincenter.com (see link below). Dr. Spitz's work has been featured before on the blog and he always has simply explained and useful advice for neuropathy patients. Some of his suggestions are non-proven in the scientific sense but have had beneficial effects on many neuropathy patients but equally, no effect at all on others. It's very much a suck-it-and-see process until you find something that will work for you. Costs may also play a part unless your insurance is extensive so by no means dismiss alternative suggestions because neuropathy is one of those diseases that doesn't obey the rules and medication/treatment reactions are extremely varied. Whatever works for you is the key but be wary of passing on that advice as a certainty to others because the same may not apply to them.

Treating Neuropathy-the Natural Way

Dr. Marc Spitz December 3rd 2012

Some people call it pain while others call it discomfort-regardless how you describe it, neuropathy can be extremely difficult to live with. Neuropathy pain (also referred to as neuropathic pain) presents in many ways including pain, burning, numbness, cold sensation, “pins and needles” sensation or a tightness of the skin on the feet and toes.

One common approach to reducing neuropathic pain is the use of prescription drugs. This would include Neurontin (gabapentin), Lyrica (pregabalin) or Cymbalta (duloxetine). For extreme neuropathy pain, stronger medications such as codone (Oxycontin) or opiods.

Alternative remedies.

One of the goals in treating neuropathy is to attempt safer modalities with less side-effects. The following are alternative therapies in treating neuropathy:
Laser therapy-In treating neuropathy , cold laser is the laser of choice. The benefits of laser therapy include: Improved cell metabolism, improved circulation, analgesic effect (pain relief), and anti-inflammatory effect.
Infrared therapy-infrared uses light energy to promote certain beneficial effects. Infrared stimulates the production and release of nitric oxide-which can increased localized circulation to the nerves.

Although doctors don’t know exactly how it works, there is good scientific evidence that acupuncture can offer significant relief from chronic pain. Other alternative remedies proven to work against pain include massage, mindfulness meditation, spinal manipulation by a osteopath, and biofeedback, in which a patient wearing sensors that record various bodily processes learns to control the muscle tension and other processes that can contribute to chronic pain.

Exercise. Low-impact forms of exercise like Walking, bicycling, swimming, and simply stretching can help relieve chronic pain. Some people find it particularly helpful to participate in a structured exercise program given by a local hospital.
Physical therapy. Pain patients who work with a physical therapist or occupational therapist can learn to avoid the particular ways of moving that contribute to chronic pain.

Nerve stimulation. Tiny jolts of electricity can help block the nerve impulses that cause chronic pain. These jolts can be delivered through the skin via trancutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) or via implantable devices.

Psychological Therapies

A form of psychotherapy known as cognitive behavioral therapy is particularly helpful for many people with chronic pain. It helps them find ways to cope with their discomfort and limit the extent to which pain interferes with daily life.

Unlike some traditional forms of psychotherapy, which focus on personal relationships and early life experiences, cognitive behavioral therapy aims to help people think realistically about their pain and find ways to work around physical limitations.

http://www.footpaincenter.com/blog/?p=252

SADNESS LASTS LONGER THAN OTHER EMOTIONS

Why is it that you can feel sad up to 240 times longer than you do feeling ashamed, surprised, irritated or even bored? It's because sadness often goes hand in hand with events of greater impact such as death or accidents. You need more time to mull over and cope with what happened to fully comprehend it, say Philippe Verduyn and Saskia Lavrijsen of the University of Leuven in Belgium. Their research, published in Springer's journal Motivation and Emotion, is the first to provide clear evidence to explain why some emotions last a longer time than others

The Belgian researchers asked 233 high school students to recollect recent emotional episodes and report their duration. The participants also had to answer questions about the strategies they use to appraise and deal with these emotions.

Meaningful differences in duration were indeed found to exist between emotions. Out of a set of 27 emotions, sadness lasted the longest, whereas shame, surprise, fear, disgust, boredom, being touched, irritated or feeling relief were often over in a flash. Interestingly enough, boredom also counts among the shorter emotions experienced. Verduyn and Lavrijsen say that this means that even though time seems to pass slowly when one is bored, an episode of boredom typically doesn't last that long.

The researchers discovered that emotions that last a shorter time are typically elicited by events that have relatively low importance attached to them. On the other hand, long-lasting emotions tend to be caused by events that have strong implications for a person's major concerns. Verduyn says some of these implications may only become apparent over time, which then causes the emotion to be maintained or strengthened. The feeling therefore endures while a person rethinks the events and consequences over and over again.

Duration was found to be a dimension that can differentiate between otherwise very similar emotions. For instance, Verduyn and Lavrijsen found that guilt is an emotion that persists much longer than shame, while anxiety lingers longer than fear.

"Rumination is the central determinant of why some emotions last longer than others. Emotions associated with high levels of rumination will last longest," says Verduyn, explaining the role that such constant and repetitive thinking has on the experience of positive and negative emotions.

"Emotions of shorter duration are typically -- but, of course, not always -- elicited by events of relatively low importance. On the other hand, long-lasting emotions tend to be about something highly important," Lavrijsen explains further.