Get Healthy

Men may protect more than their hearts if they keep cholesterol in line: Their chances of getting aggressive prostate cancer may be lower, new research suggests.

One study found that men whose cholesterol was in a healthy range—below 200—had less than half the risk of developing high-grade prostate tumors compared to men with high cholesterol.

A second study found that men with lots of HDL, or “good cholesterol,” were a little less likely to develop any form of prostate cancer than men with very low HDL.
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Being fat in middle age may slash women’s chances of making it to their golden years in good health by almost 80 percent, a new study says. American researchers observed more than 17,000 female nurses with an average age of 50 in the U.S. All of the women were healthy when the study began in 1976. Researchers then monitored the women’s weight, along with other health changes, every two years until 2000.

For every one-point increase in their Body Mass Index, women had a 12 percent lower chance of surviving to age 70 in good health when compared to thin women. Researchers defined “healthy survival” as not only being free of chronic disease, but having enough mental and physical ability to perform daily tasks like grocery shopping, vacuuming or walking up a flight of stairs.

Experts consider people with a BMI between 19-25 to be healthy, while those from 25 to 30 are considered overweight and those over 30 are obese.
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Cancer can be cured if caught early

Prostate cancer survivor Robert Scott runs a steel company with his wife Kathy. The Schererville man was diagnosed during an annual blood screening and was cured of the disease through minimally invasive surgery. September is national Prostate Health Month. (Photograph by Tony V. Martin/The Times.)

Robert Scott would not have known he had prostate cancer had it not been for an annual blood test.

“For the first 10 years I had a normal score in and around the range of one,” said Scott, 52. “Then I get a test, and the doctor called and the score came back as a six.”

Scott, who had no symptoms, had a Prostate-Specific Antigen, or PSA, test to thank for his early diagnosis at age 50.

“Having never been sick, when someone tells you (that) you have cancer, it shocks you, it really does,” Scott said.
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At last, the secret to first lady Michelle Obama’s sculpted arms? Tricep pushdowns and hammer curls.

So says Cornell McClellan, Mrs. Obama’s longtime personal trainer, who described the workout routine of his famous client in the October issue of Women’s Health magazine. She began working with McClellan in 1997 at his Chicago fitness studio.

“She’s truly committed herself to the importance of health and fitness,” he says.

McClellan said that at the end of an intense routine of cardio workouts and weight training, Mrs. Obama finishes with the “arm-shaping superset” of tricep pushdowns and hammer curls to tone one of the most commented-upon pair of arms in the world. Mrs. Obama often wears sleeveless outfits.
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Men, it’s time to get off the couch and get outside. This summer Crown Point Parks and Recreation Department is offering an outdoor men’s football league. Flag football is a great way to get fit, while having fun and enjoying the fresh air. The league is open to men ages 16 and up. Teams and individuals are welcome.

Games will be held at Erhlenbach Park in Crown Point (96th and Van Buren) on Saturday afternoons beginning Saturday, May 30. Game times will be determined when all the participating teams are received, usually around noon. The fee is $300 for each team, plus an individual fee of $25 for Crown Point residents and $35 for non-residents, which includes licensed officials, team t-shirts, an 8-game schedule, and a single elimination tournament. Team Registration deadline has been extended to Friday, May 18.

For more information on men’s sports leagues, please contact Jeff Jensen, Recreation Coordinator, at 219.661.2271 or email jjensen@crownpoint.in.gov.

For some reason, men typically don’t pay much attention to their health. Most men prefer reluctance to proactivity, denial to reactivity. After all, they have too many other things to think about. Like work. And the family. And chicken wings.

But there are some health basics that even the most negligent man should be aware of, and those basics are outlined here. So read, react and please, brush your teeth.

Check out all of the articles here: Men’s Health by Age, Dirty Boys, Breaking the ED Stigma, and Hair No More.

The most startling thing these days about erectile dysfunction is probably this: everyone reading those words knows what it is. The condition—which some sources say affects up to 30 million American men at one time or another—has become so much a part of popular culture that no one snickers much about it anymore. In turn, sufferers aren’t afraid to ask for help from their doctors.

“I treat my fair share,” says Dr. Vicki Samuels, a family practice physician who works in Chicago’s South Loop.

Erectile dysfunction—trouble getting or keeping an erection at least 25 percent of the time—has many causes, but according to doctors it isn’t a “natural” part of aging.
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During college I worked in the paint section of a department store where the full-time, longtime expert was a gruff but knowledgeable woman who used a unique illustration when explaining to customers the benefits of using a primer before applying paint to a wall.

“Would you put clean clothes on a dirty body?” she’d ask them.

She may have sold a lot of primer, but some men DO put clean (and not so clean) clothes over a dirty body. And a smelly body. And a hairy body—which brings us to our first tip regarding men’s hygiene.

Manscaping. It’s all about trimming the body hair, says Chicago actor Raymond Cleveland. “It’s better to go somewhere first and have them teach you how to do it properly,” he says. “That way you don’t hurt yourself or scar one’s self. I would suggest getting it done once a month and get a professional shave as well.”
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Although a number of things can cause baldness in men—two-thirds of them end up losing hair at some point—the most common cause is androgenic alopecia, or “male pattern baldness.” It is a genetic condition that accounts for approximately 95 percent of male hair loss.

There is a four-in-seven chance of inheriting the gene(s) from either parent’s X chromosome, scientists theorize. This genetic condition creates an interplay between a man’s hormones and certain hair follicles on his head, which makes the hair fall out in a certain “pattern,” not to be replaced.

Male pattern baldness is the same thing as the common “receding hairline”—which can start receding as early as the teens in some males—but in most cases gets going during the 20s, 30s and 40s. Interestingly, evolutionary biologists theorize that baldness signifies in nature that a man is more distinguished and less aggressive.
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Some people refer to their abs as a six-pack, but what do you do when that six-pack becomes a keg?

“Beer belly,” or increased deep visceral fat, is a condition that is gaining more focus after the release of Beer Belly Blues, a book by author Brad King. Sometimes used as a point of humor and often referred to as a “beer gut,” this form of obesity can lead to some very serious health conditions. Diabetes, heat attack and high cholesterol can stem from having a beer belly. Not a laughing matter. • Johann H. Farley, M.D. at Methodist Hospitals in Merrillville, Indiana, answers a few questions about beer bellies and what those who suffer from it can do.

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