Tag: quality of life

Growing up, I sometimes heard older family members talk about “the Good Old Days.” Compared to their memories of “simpler times,” they now felt challenged by the fast pace of increasing technological complexities. In fact, the arc of technological advances over the centuries is breathtaking! According to a Feb. 27, 2023 World Economic Forum piece, keep reading

There’s a saying that less is more. However, The Minimalists wonder, “But is less really more? And if so, is the opposite true? Is more actually less?” For some patients with intermediate-risk prostate cancer (PCa), more may be too much—at least in the short term after treatment. I came across two newsworthy April 2023 journal keep reading

Reviews and ratings are very important in today’s world. Look at the internet. Whether it’s Yelp, Amazon, Ebay, Angie’s List or hundreds more, the number of stars or thumbs up are not as influential as the qualitative comments left by consumers. In similar fashion, radical prostatectomy is... keep reading

One of the ongoing themes in my blogs is the importance of matching a patient’s prostate cancer with the treatment for which he is best qualified. The lower the risk, the more treatment options will be open, possibly including focal therapy. However, “bulky” intermediate-to-high risk prostate cancer excludes focal treatment because it requires a more aggressive approach... keep reading

Some folks might say that ED can lead to a broken heart. On the other hand, in 1989 the physical feeling of a “broken heart” accidentally led to a treatment for ED. When pharmaceutical giant Pfizer was researching medication for angina, a painful heart condition, their researchers discovered sildenafil, now known by the brand name Viagra... keep reading

When something is described as cost-effective, what does that mean? According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it indicates the thing or action produces good results without costing a lot of money. There is no question that multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) of the prostate, performed on a high-power 3T magnet, produces good results. In fact, when interpreted keep reading

Do you ever regret a decision that turns out to have a bad outcome? This is the situation for many prostate cancer (PCa) patients who chose radical prostatectomy (RP). A 2017 study found that 15% of PCa patients regret their treatment choice, with twice as many patients ruing the day they opted for RP or keep reading

Here’s the back story: there is a British clinician/researcher, Hashim Ahmed, whose published articles I respect. His publications often include Mark Emberton, another esteemed British urologist, so when both names turn up in the same group of authors on a published paper, it grabs my attention. This is the case with a 2020 multicenter study keep reading

I’ve said it before, and I’ll undoubtedly say it again: multiparametric MRI (mpMRI) can avoid unnecessary biopsies. In a previous blog, “A PROMIS is a Promise for Multiparametric MRI,” I cited the results of the PROMIS study in which 576 men initially had an mpMRI scan, then underwent 2 types of needle biopsy (ouch!) so keep reading

“In the 100 years from the mid-15th to the mid-16th century, a combination of circumstances stimulated men to seek new routes, and it was new routes rather than new lands that filled the minds of kings and commoners, scholars and seamen.”– Encyclopedia Britannica When the 15th century launched the Age of Discovery, it was actually keep reading