Illinois Department Of Health Raises Awareness About Black Men's Health

Black Men's Health in Illinois

Illinois Department of Public Health Director, Dr. Eric E. Whitaker encouraged African-American men to take charge of their health by making better choices and taking advantage of testing for certain diseases and conditions.
"Maximize Our Lives - Black Men's Health Awareness" was the theme of today's luncheon, sponsored by IDPH's Center for Minority Health Services, in partnership with the Broadcast Ministers Alliance of Chicago. The luncheon was one of 70 IDPH events held this April in observance of Minority Health Month.
"We continue to see disparities in the health of Black men," said Dr. Whitaker. "Black men are suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, and prostate cancer at higher rates than their counterparts. While efforts are being made to provide better access to quality healthcare, Black men must also do their part to stay healthy. Eat healthy, exercise and have routine tests done to ensure you don't have a problem."
Dr. Whitakers addressed the group shortly after Governor Rod R. Blagojevich proclaimed April 23 to 29 Cover the Uninsured Week in Illinois to highlight the struggle of the 1.4 million adults in Illinois who are uninsured. During the luncheon, Dr. Whitaker took the opportunity to explain how the governor's Illinois Covered plan can help African American men by ensuring that they, along with all Illinoisans, have access to quality, affordable healthcare. According to a recent survey, over 22 percent of the State's uninsured are African American. These numbers are startling given the fact that African Americans only make up a little over 15 percent of the total population.
"I applaud the Governor for coming up with this comprehensive, aggressive plan to change this broken healthcare system," said Dr. Whitaker. "Illinois Covered, benefits hospitals, insurance companies, employers and most importantly---those who don't have or can't afford quality healthcare. Lack of insurance is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Ensuring health insurance means saving lives."
Governor Blagojevich established four guiding principles for Illinois' healthcare that is evident in his record through bills he has signed and policy decisions he has made during his administration. They are:
* Expand coverage to more people who need healthcare
* Protect children and parents who rely on Medicaid coverage
* Provide more help to healthcare providers so they can do their job and help the people of Illinois
* Make healthcare more affordable for senior citizens, the uninsured, women, and small businesses.
Efforts to raise awareness and eliminate health disparities include working with community and faith based organizations. Other programs to reduce the health disparities include:
* Communities of Color Initiatives  Created in July 2003 by Governor Rod R. Blagojevich, Communities of Color Initiatives address health disparities within the African American and Hispanic communities by working in conjunction with community-based, faith-based, educational institutions and local health departments to provide health prevention information and screening services. The Stand Against Cancer (SAC) program is part of the Communities of Color Initiatives and works to reduce racial and economic disparities by providing access to breast and cervical cancer screenings and treatment. Other aspects of the Communities of Color Initiatives include the Illinois HIV/AIDS Initiative and funding to provide prostate cancer awareness and outreach programs targeting African American men.
* BASUAH  Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS - Gov. Blagojevich launched a comprehensive HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, on September 15, 2005, to address the alarming trend of infection among the state's African-American community. The initiative is called the BASUAH Project: Brothers And Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS. Through community outreach, testing and positive peer influence, the mission is to reduce new cases of HIV/AIDS while empowering people with the knowledge to better protect themselves.

Post-Prostatectomy Rehabilitation Improves Men’s Natural Sexual Function

Men’s Natural Sexual Function
This year doctors will diagnose nearly 219,000 men with prostate cancer. Many will undergo radical prostatectomy surgery. While radical prostatectomy provides an excellent cure, impotence (erectile dysfunction) is a common side effect. However early, postoperative penile rehabilitation can speed prostatectomy patients’ healing, achieve natural erectile function and improve their quality of life.
Studies show that even 24 months after prostate cancer treatment sexual dysfunction was the most important quality of life issue. "Increasingly doctors are finding quality of life issues important in the overall treatment of any disease, including erectile dysfunction," said Dr. Skip Freedman, executive medical director for AllMed Healthcare Management.
Treating erectile dysfunction has changed over the last several years, and can offer men a confusing number of treatment choices. Today treatments can range from vacuum erectile devices, oral drugs and injection therapies to penile prostheses.
Working with postoperative patients, a doctor may choose either single or combined therapies based on a patient’s rehabilitation need and lifestyle. "Starting penile rehabilitation early after a prostatectomy prevents tissue damage, or fibrosis, by oxygenating the cavernosa or erectile tissue," said Dr. Freedman.
Doctors commonly prescribe single oral therapies such as 5PDEI, or sildenafil (trade name Viagra). Studies of these drugs show early treatment with 50 to 100 milligrams a day (or every other day) improves sexual function and that higher doses produce better results. There’s also a health benefit. Using sildenafil early preserves the smooth muscles in the penis. At 100 milligrams a day, 5PDEI increases the smooth muscle content of the cavernosa. With oral therapies, patients often will accept a lower degree of sexual satisfaction.
After post-radical prostatectomy, vacuum erectile devices (VEDs) or vacuum constriction devices (VCDs) aid earlier recurring erections while preserving the penile length and girth that heightens sexual satisfaction for men and their spouses.
Injecting vaso-active substances, such as alprostadil (Prostaglandin E1, or PGE1), increases blood flow and expands blood tissue vessels. Studies on intracavernous injections of PGE1 show it can prevent long-term postoperative damage by periodically increasing oxygenation of the spongy cavernosa tissue. Intraurethral PGE1 (MUSE, or Medicated Urethral Suppository for Erections) can promote the earlier return of spontaneous erections and sexual activity.
Intracavernous PGE1 or VCDs are best used during the first postoperative months, because they allow sexual activity to begin earlier and facilitate long-term healing. However, because of the postoperative nerve damage (neuropraxia), 5PDE1 medications are rarely successful in producing erections. In time, their efficacy improves, however.
Tri-mix, or Triple P, is a combined injection therapy using varying concentrations of PGE1, phentolamine and papaverine. It allows patients to inject lower doses of each and with less pain. Early low-dose Triple P can produce more effective erections than early low-dose PGE1.
Combining oral and injection therapies, such as using oral 5PDEI and intracavernous PGE1 can increase early sexual activity and improve natural erections. The oral addition of sildenafil with the injections allows a lower dose of PGE1 and decreases the patient’s pain.
Today there are many treatment choices for men with postsurgical impotence. "Health insurers and re-insurers should consider their plan language, as well as the individual’s need to decide on the medical necessity of penile rehabilitation therapy," said Dr. Freedman. "Insurers covering treatment for erectile dysfunction should also cover early penile rehabilitation, because after radical prostatectomy, all patients exhibit impotence."

Undeclared Drug Ingredients Found In Sexual Dysfunction Managing Product

The Hong Kong Department of Health (DH) appealed to people not to buy or use a product called "Zhuang Tjar Gere" for managing sexual dysfunction.
A spokesman for the department said the product was found to have contained undeclared drug ingredients that may cause serious side effects.
He said the department received a report concerning a 79-year-old man who fainted and injured his chest on October 25. He was admitted to Yan Chai Hospital on October 29 and was discharged on November 15.
Investigation revealed that he had taken the above product, which was brought from shops in Tsuen Wan, about six hours before the onset of symptom.
Government Laboratory test results today confirmed the product remnant contained sildenafil and tadalafil which are usually used for treating male sexual dysfunction.
The spokesman noted that the product is neither a registered pharmaceutical product nor proprietary Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. There is no record of this product having been imported into Hong Kong.
DH officers inspected 44 medicine shops in Tsuen Wan but no such product was located.
The spokesman said side effects of sildenafil and tadalafil included low blood pressure, headache, vomiting, dizziness, and transient vision disturbances. They may interact with nitrates found in some prescription drugs (such as nitroglycerin) and may lower blood pressure of patients to dangerous levels.
Under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, products containing any of these ingredients must be registered before sale and can be sold only on a doctor's prescription and under supervision of a pharmacist.
People who have bought the product are advised not to take them. They are urged to seek advice from their doctors if feeling unwell after consuming the product.
They should destroy and dispose of the products or submit them to the department's Pharmaceutical Service at 3/F, Public Health Laboratory Centre, 382 Nam Cheong Street, Kowloon, during office hours. If they have any enquiry, there is a hotline number 2572 2068 which operates during office hours.
The spokesman urged people who had a problem of sexual dysfunction to consult healthcare professionals for appropriate advice if necessary.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases In Over-45s Increasing

Trends in sexually transmitted infections (other than HIV) in older people: Analysis of data from an enhanced surveillance system.
Rates of sexually transmitted infections have doubled among the over 45s in less than a decade, reveals research published ahead of print in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.
The almost exclusive focus on the sexual health of young people, including in national surveys of sexual behaviour, has tended to ignore older age groups, who are also at risk, say the authors.
Researchers monitored the numbers of sexually transmitted infections (STI) diagnosed in 19 sexual health clinics and reported to the Health Protection Agency’s Regional Surveillance Unit in the West Midlands.
The period of analysis spanned eight years between 1996 and 2003 inclusive.
In total, 4445 STI episodes were identified among people aged 45 and older during that time. Most of these were in straight men and women.
The most commonly diagnosed infection among the over 45s was genital warts, accounting for almost half (45%) of the episodes. Herpes was the next most common, accounting for almost one in five (19%).
Men and those between the ages of 55 and 59 were significantly more likely to have an STI than anyone else.
Among women, rates were highest among those aged 45 to 54; among men, rates were highest among those aged 55 to 60 plus.
Cases of Chlamydia, herpes, warts, gonorrhoea and syphilis all rose sharply. And the cumulative rate of infections more than doubled from 16.7 per 100, 000 of the population in 1996 to 36.3 per 100,000 of the population in 2003.
And in 1996, this age group comprised 3.9% of all clinic visits; by 2003, this had risen to 4.5%.
While the numbers of infections identified in younger age groups rose 97% during the period of the study, those identified in the over 45s rose 127%.
Programmes aimed at preventing sexually transmitted infections should be tailored towards different age groups and do more to dispel myths and assumptions about the level of sexual activity among older age groups, say the authors.
“Indeed, it may be argued that older people are more susceptible [to sexually transmitted infections] as they are less likely to use condoms than younger people,” they say, adding that as successive waves of people with more liberal sexual attitudes and behaviours age, the problem is likely to worsen.

Hispanic Men Face Elevated Risk Of Erectile Dysfunction

Hispanic men between the ages of 20 and 50 are two and one half times as likely to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) as men of other races and ethnicities, according to a 2005 study of 2126 men published in the American Medical Association's "Archives of Internal Medicine".
Put another way, study results show 12.5% of Hispanic men in this age range are afflicted with this condition, and when the population is expanded to include older Hispanic men, the rate rises to 40%, or twice that of other ethnic groups. These study results control for lifestyle and health conditions, such as diabetes, that contribute to ED, and evidence the same outcome when Mexican American and other Hispanic groups are considered in isolation. Doctors find no conclusive explanation for the higher risk Hispanics face of developing ED, citing a need for further research.
Of late there has been no lack of interest in treatments for erectile problems. In Mexico men have turned to The Sensual Tea, a product introduced there in 2004 and now Mexico's best selling all natural sexual health supplement. The Tea has just been released in the U.S., available online at http://www.thesentea.com . Its popularity among Mexican men is based on three key factors -- 1) its high 87.3% rate of effectiveness in treating erectile difficulties and premature ejaculation; 2) its safety as an all-natural herbal remedy with no side effects; and 3) its ability to help prevent erectile problems from developing in the first place. It is this last point that is especially noteworthy in view of just-released medical research on the topic.
A new medical study, published in the July, 2008 issue of the American Journal of Medicine(2), gives some insight into how erectile dysfunction can be prevented. Physicians in Norway evaluated 989 men ages 55 to 75 and determined that normal erectile function could be maintained by frequent sex, defined as at least once weekly. Freedom from erectile problems corresponded directly with the level of sexual activity, more sex equating to fewer instances of erectile difficulties.
"It is possible to prevent sexual problems from ever occurring," says CRB Ventures President Christian Beasley. "The Sensual Tea overcomes low libido and sexual fatigue and enhances the pleasure and intensity of sex. Simply put, with more pleasure there is more frequent sex, and with frequent sex, erectile problems will not develop." Most men will agree -- few things matter more. Good sexual health over a lifetime is a gift that can't be measured, worth more than a bit of holiday cheer.