Author: Dr. William Rassman

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

Healthy men should no longer receive a P.S.A. blood test to screen for prostate cancer because the test does not save lives over all and often leads to more tests and treatments that needlessly cause pain, impotence and incontinence in many, a key government health panel has decided.

The draft recommendation, by the United States Preventive Services Task Force and due for official release next week, is based on the results of five well-controlled clinical trials and could substantially change the care given to men 50 and older. There are 44 million such men in the United States, and 33 million of them have already had a P.S.A. test — sometimes without their knowledge — during routine physicals.

Read the rest — U.S. Panel Says No to Prostate Screening for Healthy Men

I know this isn’t hair loss related, but it’s important medical news that the male visitors of this site should read.

For many years, we have known that most men with prostate cancer will never actually die from the disease. The decisions to treat it and how to treat it are very controversial. I was never satisfied that there is any good treatment — or rather, any one treatment — that is better than an another. Treating prostate cancer through radiation or surgery has significant side effects, and the risk of sexual function loss is a real one for those men who decide on surgery.

There are many types of prostate cancer from an aggressive point of view. The opinion expressed in this advisory just takes the view that “what you do not know will not hurt you”. I am not sure that I believe this, but then again, I don’t believe in many of the treatments being offered either. I’ve always wondered what I would do if I had an elevated PSA test, but thankfully I’ve not had to make that decision.

Snippet from the non-hair-loss article:

Older people who take vitamin D supplements along with calcium may live longer than others, according to a new review of previous studies.

The researchers looked at data regarding the vitamin D intake of more than 70,000 adults in their 60s and 70s. They found that people who took vitamin D, along with calcium supplements, were 9 percent less likely to die over a three-year period, compared with people who took neither supplement.

However, they found that taking vitamin D alone had no effect on mortality rates.

For every 151 people who took with daily vitamin D and calcium for three years, one life would be spared, according to the researchers’ calculations.

Read the rest — Can taking vitamin D and calcium help you live longer?

A recent article published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism suggested that taking vitamin D and calcium reduces overall fracture rates, and as a side benefit seems to reduce overall mortality. The meta analysis was done in a pooled group of 70,528 patients. The average of the patients was 70 years old and 86% were women.

From the very tongue-in-cheek post at automotive blog, Jalopnik:

In China, hair-pulling is, counter-intuitively to Western conventional wisdom, a male-dominated sport. This makes Zhang Tingting the Danica Patrick of the strange competition of pulling cars with her hair.

See more photos — Chinese Woman Pulls Six Cars With Her Hair

This looks painful. But… um, congratulations?