Scientists have warned that men with high cholesterol and those who smoke may be risking their life span being cut short by ten years compared to their healthy counterparts.

The study, which was based in the UK, showed that men with unhealthy lifestyles could be seriously curtailing their life expectancy. The researchers from Oxford University examined data taken from 19,000 civil servants aged between 40 and 69 and then followed them to discover what happened to them over 30 years later.

They discovered that there were three risk factors that had a serious impact on how long they lived, which were: high blood pressure; high cholesterol; and whether or not they smoked. All three are strongly associated with the lifestyle choices people make, as both high cholesterol and high blood pressure are often caused by an unhealthy diet and lack of exercise.

Published in the British Medical Journal, the study was originally set up in the late 1960s, a period when vascular heart disease was rife. The civil servants had their heaight, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose measures taken and were then asked about their lifestyle and medical history.

When they were traced in 2005, 13,501 of the volunteers had died. The scientists discovered that there was a 15 year life expectancy difference between the 5% with the lowest risk factors and the 5% with the highest risk factors.

The team said that their findings showed that men aged 50 with the three risk factors could expect to live to 74, which those with no risk factors were likely to survive until 83. They added that men who took steps to reduce the risk factors in their life, by attempting to lower their blood pressure and cholesterol and stop smoking, could expect to significantly prolong their lives.

Men tend to get a bad rap in the media. Joe Blogs is often depicated as a beer-chugging, X-Box playing slob who loves curry, loves boobs and blondes. And cars and hilarious ‘pranks’ involving petrol and singed eyebrows.

Looks like those stereotypes have just been thrown on their head, as Men’s Health became the best-selling magazine in the sector for the first half of 2009. FHM had been the best-selling title for the past 13 years, but it seems today’s men are becoming increasingly health conscious.

Staff at Men’s Health have put the rise in sales down to the new ‘hetropolitan’ man, who prefers to read about ways to keep in shape rather than the more raunchy subject matter covered by FMH, Zoo and Nuts.

The deputy editor of the monthly magazine Mike Shallcross said that the new breed of male chooses ‘solid, actionable advice’ about health, nutrition, mental health and fitness over ‘topless Hollyoaks girls’ or expensive clothes.

Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Mr. Shallcross said that the stereotype of his magazine – obsessed with body building and read by teenage boys desperate to bulk up – was outdated. He describes the content as taking a ‘holistic’ approach to health, covering many different aspects of fitness and wellbeing.

The changing tastes and priorities of the British man were further proved by the fact that two weekly magazines at the raunchier end of the magazine scale, Nuts and Zoo, have seen sales fall by 25% and 31% respectively.

New findings have shown that men who want to be “macho” are putting their health at risk as they are less likely to visit the doctor. Researchers from the State University of New Jersey have shown that men who believe in traditional ideas about masculinity are half as likely to get routine medical checks.

Kirsten W. Springer launched the study to see whether ideas about manhood affect the choices men make about their healthcare. She defined masculinity as a “stereotypical, old-school, John-Wayne-and-Sylvester Stallone approach to life.”

Examining surveys taken in 2004 of 1,000 white, middle-aged men, she looked at their responses to questions about their masculinity and then questions about whether they had gone for recommended annual check-ups, prostate checks and flu vaccinations.

The researchers discovered that the highest believers in masculine standards were 50% less likely to get the check-ups they were meant to compared to those who valued traditional masculinity less.  The researchers had to make allowances for the high number of married participants.

However there was one exception to this trend – blue collar workers, or working class men likely to work as manual labourers for an hourly wage.

The researchers have admitted that the study was limited, as all participants were white, educated and the high number of married men meant they did not know how big a part a spouse’s nagging played in encouraging men to visit the doctor.

However they said that they believe men’s health could be improved if the idea that masculinity is about being invulnerable and  impervious to pain could be dismantled.

British scientists have developed a topical spray that could help men suffering from premature ejaculation and enable them to prolong their time to climax after penetration. The clinical trials have indicated that the spray may prolong erections from seconds to up to nearly four minutes.

Of the 300 men who took part in the trials, 90% reported that there was a marked improvement in their sexual performance and most graded the product as “excellent”. The man who led the study, Professor Wallace Dinsmore of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast, is extremely pleased with the results. “The spray improved sexual performance and satisfaction and was well tolerated by both patients and their partners, with no systemic side effects."

The results come from the last stage in the clinical trials, which means that the spray could be on sale within two years. Once that happens, it is likely it will sell extremely well, as it is believed up to 40% of men suffer from this condition.

A couple of months ago we reported on The Online Clinic blog about the growing number of young men in the Western world who are turning to Viagra because they feel inadequate in regards to their sexual performance. The study, which was carried out in Ireland, suggested that many of these insecurities were the result of young men feeling that women today were more sexually demanding than in previous generations, though of course who is to know? Whether or not this is a global phenomenon is unknown and it has to be noted that different cultures will invariably have differing opinions on the subject.

On The Online Clinic blog last week we reported that most of the British men questioned in a survey on Erectile Dysfunction were unaware that forty percent of them would suffer from the condition at some point after the age of forty. It is not a particularly surprising fact. Unless men go out of their way to research health issues in the media, either printed or on the internet, they are probably not going to going to be particularly well informed about the various health risks which may occur at certain ages. So nothing revelatory there then!

The most aggressive form of prostate cancer affects up to 10,000 men in the United Kingdom every year. This particular form of the disease is also the most deadly as it is resistant to the chemotherapy that is currently available. The typical life expectancy following treatment is only eighteen months. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men.

For a number of years it has been known that obese women will have more difficulty conceiving a child than women who are a healthy weight. Obese women wanting to have children are advised by their doctor to lose weight in order to maximise their chances of becoming pregnant.

A new test for prostate cancer has been approved for use in the UK which could ultimately replace the current method of diagnosing this type of cancer.  The new test measures a genetic chemical which transfers DNA coding from the PCA3 gene.  Elevated levels of this chemical indicates that prostate cancer is present. The test is called the Progensa PCA3.

The current test for prostate cancer is called the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test.  The PSA test looks for a protein that leaks from the prostate gland when cancer is present but the results can be inaccurate which causes a lot of stress for the patient while he awaits the results of the biopsy which has to be performed to confirm whether or not cancer is actually present.  Certain medications, such as Propecia, can mask the real levels of PSA so your doctor should be aware of any medications that you are taking so that the results of a PSA test can be read within context.

Around 35,000 men a year are diagnosed with prostate cancer so anything that can make the detection easier and the tests more reliable must be a good thing.  The new test costs around £200 compared with £10 for a PSA test so it is unlikely that the NHS will be providing this test on a generalised basis immediately but patients should be aware of it and might be able to request it where prostate cancer is suspected by the GP.

It is 10 years since Viagra was first prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction in the UK and despite the active ingredient (sildenafil) almost never making it as a medicine, it is now turning out to be a bit of a wonder drug with potential new applications being investigated on a continual basis.

Sildenafil was originally developed as a potential treatment for angina but initial trial results were very disappointing.  The drug seemed to have little impact on the condition and there were more effective competitors on the market.  During one of the patient trials, a doctor discovered that along with other side effects such as indigestion and back pain, this new drug allowed previously impotent men to achieve erections!  This was a potentially very exciting breakthrough so it was immediately reported to Pfizer – the drug’s patent holder.  Five years later the drug was approved, not for treating angina but for erectile dysfunction.

Since the launch in 1997, Viagra has been used by an estimated 30 million men worldwide and despite the emergence of competing products, it remains the top choice for men with ED who use the services of The Online Clinic.

Viagra is now being tested for the following applications: relief of jet lag symptoms; treating stroke victims in the immediate recovery phase; helping underweight babies develop in the womb; and treatment of heart failure patients.  We intend to bring you news of these trials as soon as we have some more information, so please come back in the next few weeks to see if there have been any developments.

A study in China involving 7,684 men has concluded that smoking can be a major contributory factor to erectile dysfunction.  This is something that we have long suspected but this authoritative piece of research to be published in the American Journal of Epidemiology demonstrated that the statistical link is significant.

There appeared to be a direct correlation between the quantity of cigarettes smoked and the incidence or severity of the erectile problems.  There also appeared to be a stronger association in participants who also had diabetes.  The study included men aged 35-75 who did not have any vascular disease.

Help is at hand here if you want to give up smoking.  We are prepared to prescribe Champix for smoking cessation and there are a number of treatments for erectile dysfunction, including Viagra , that we are also prepared to prescribe.  As always, whether we will prescribe something will depend on your medical circumstances so you must complete a consultation form before we can make a decision.

A study conducted by the Southwest Oncology Group which surveyed more than 17,000 men over 55 years of age with a seven year follow-up period, has concluded that long term use of finasteride is unlikely to cause sexual dysfunction for most men who decide to take the treatment.  The study focussed on Proscar, which is the 5 mg daily dose used to treat Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia rather than the 1 mg a day dose called Propecia which is used to treat hair loss in men. It seems logical however that if no discernable problems could be detected in the long term with the 5 mg dose, then it is unlikely that the 1 mg daily dose would cause a problem in the long term either.

The study grew out of the Prostate Cancer Prevention Trial which was set up to determine whether finasteride could actually prevent prostate cancer.  The trial concluded that finasteride could reduce a man’s chances of getting prostate cancer by almost 25%.  It should be emphasised however that finasteride is not licensed for this preventative purpose.

Earlier studies into the effects of finasteride were very short term and did not take into account other factors such as age, medical condition or smoking status.  Given the other factors, it was concluded that the small average decrease in sexual function was not an important difference and that much larger differences were simply due to individual variations.

Back in January we brought you news of an exciting new drug in development which can be used to treat erectile dysfunction in men and hypoactive sexual desire disorder in women.  We now have information that the Phase IIb trials for use in men were a success and a meeting has been arranged with the FDA in August to discuss the results and to run through the requirements for the Phase III trials.  Bremelanotide tackles erectile dysfunction in a completely different way from the current generation of drugs such as Viagra.  Bremelanotide targets the central nervous system and is the first medication in a class known as melanocortin agonists.  Because of the way that this new medicine works, it is unlikely to be contraindicated for patients with heart problems or who use nitrates.  Although it will be a while before this medication is available to prescribe, initial findings do appear positive.

A revolution in the way that sexual dysfunction is treated could be just around the corner. Bremelanotide (formerly known as PT-141), which forms part of a new class of drugs called melanocortin agonists, is being developed in the United States by Palatin Technolgies. The drug works through a mechanism of actions involving the central nervous system rather than directly on the vascular system like currently available drugs, such as Viagra and Cialis. Given that Bremelanotide works in a completely different way from existing drugs on the market, it is thought that it may be able to be used by patients for whom the current generation of drugs are either contraindicated or are ineffective.

According to market data, around 40% of men who are prescribed the currently available drugs to treat erectile dysfunction do not refill their prescription as a result of a lack of efficacy or intolerable side effects. Palatin therefore believes that there is significant market demand for an alternative form of drug therapy.

Bremelanotide has been shown in four Phase 2 clinical trials to be effective in treating erectile dysfunction and it is currently undergoing Phase 2A clinical trials to treat pre-menopausal women suffering from sexual dysfunction, early results of which are encouraging according to Palatin. The drug is administered by way of a nasal spray and seems to have few side effects which are not dose related.

We will bring you more news on this exciting drug as soon as we have it.