Vigorous exercise cuts stroke risk for men, not women

Moderate-to-high intensity exercise such as jogging, swimming or tennis may help reduce stroke risk in older men but not in women, researchers report. The study included almost 3,300 men and women, average age 69, in Manhattan who were followed for about nine years. During that time, there were 238 strokes among the participants. At the start of the study, 20 percent of the participants said they did regular moderate-to-high intensity exercise, while 41 percent said they did no physical activity. Men who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise were 63 percent less likely to have a stroke than people who didn’t exercise. Over five years, the baseline risk of ischemic stroke (the leading type of stroke) for all study participants was 4.3 percent; 2.7 percent for those who did moderate-to-high intensity exercise and 4.6 percent for those who didn’t exercise. Share and Enjoy:

Stifled anger at work doubles men’s risk for heart attack

Men who bottle up their anger over unfair treatment at work could be hurting their hearts, a new Swedish study indicates. Men who consistently failed to express their resentment over conflicts with a fellow worker or supervisor were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack or die of heart disease as those who vented their anger, claims a report in the Nov. 24 online edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. In fact, ignoring an ongoing work-related conflict was associated with a tripled risk of heart attack or coronary death, the study of almost 2,800 Swedish working men found. Share and Enjoy:

Infertile men have higher odds of developing testicular cancer

Men who experience infertility problems may be at greater risk for developing testicular cancer. Testicular cancer is the most common malignancy among young American men and it seems infertile men have three times greater risk than men in the overall population, of developing the cancer. Dr. Thomas Walsh and his Colleagues at the University of California reported in the February 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine on their recent study, the largest in the U.S. to consider the link between testicular cancer and infertility. The study evaluated medical data gathered during evaluation at infertility treatment centers for over 22,000 California men from 1967 to 1998. The men’s medical data established their infertility and according to the researchers, determined the infertile men “were 2.8 times more likely to develop testicular cancer relative to the general population.” Within a year of their search for infertility treatment thirty-four of the men had developed testicular cancer. From 1975 to 2002 cases of testicular cancer almost doubled. The authors said sperm quality and fertility declined during that time. Share and Enjoy:

Excess weight gain may increase risk of prostate cancer

We are all aware of the plethora of complications that can arise from packing on excess pounds, the most common being high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol and diabetes. Obesity also results in an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. In females, there is up to a threefold increase in the incidence of breast, cervical and ovarian cancer, while the risk of endometrial cancer is up to seven times higher. For men, there is an increased incidence of colon cancer and, according to a new study—prostate cancer, especially for white men who gained excess weight in young adulthood. To find out more about the relationship between weight and prostate cancer, researchers at the University of Hawaii collected and analyzed on nearly 84,000 men of different ethnic groups; African-Americans, Japanese, Latinos, Native Hawaiians and Caucasians, all of whom had participated in a long-term study called the Multiethnic Cohort. Overall, more than 5,500 were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Share and Enjoy: