100 Questions & Answers About Mens Health: Keeping You Happy & Healthy Below the Belt

Dedication ONE. Prostate Cancer What is the prostate gland and what does it do?What are the signs and symptoms of an enlarged prostate (either cancer related or benign)?What is PSA? What is the normal PSA value? What is free total PSA?What causes the PSA to rise?Are there medications that may affect the PSA? Does testosterone therapy cause the PSA to increase?Are there any other blood tests to check for prostate cancer?What is prostate cancer?How common is prostate cancer?What are the risk factors for prostate cancer, and who is at risk? Is there anything that decreases the risk of developing prostate cancer?What are the warning signs of prostate cancer?What causes prostate cancer? What causes prostate cancer to grow?Where does prostate cancer spread?What is prostate cancer screening?What does a TRUS guided prostate biopsy involve?Are all prostate cancers the same? Are there different grades?What is prostate cancer staging?What is a pelvic lymph node dissection and what are the risks?What options do I have for treatment of my prostate cancer?How do I decide which treatment is best for me?What is a radical prostatectomy? Are there different types?What is a nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy?What is the success rate of radical prostatectomy?Who is a candidate for radical prostatectomy?What are the risks of surgery? How are they treated?Bleeding Infection Anesthetic Complications Impotence Urinary Incontinence Bladder Neck Contracture Deep Venous Thrombosis Rectal Injury Miscellaneous Complications Related to the Radical Prostatectomy Death What is brachytherapy/interstitialseed therapy? Who is a candidate? What are the risks?Bladder Outlet Obstruction Urinary Incontinence Rectal Ulceration/Bleeding PSA "Bounce" or "Blip"Urethral Stricture Erectile Dysfunction Who is a candidate for interstitial seed therapy? How is one monitored after interstitial seed therapy and what is the success rate?What are external-beam and conformal external-beam radiation therapies? What are the side effects of EBRT?Who is a candidate for conformal EBRT?What are the side effects and risks of EBRT and conformal EBRT?Bowel Changes Skin Irritation Edema Urinary Symptoms What is the success rate with EBRT/conformal EBRT?What if I am incontinent after radical prostatectomy or radiation therapy? What if I have erectile dysfunction after radical prostatectomy or EBRT or brachytherapy?Treatment Options What is cryotherapy/cryosurgery? Who is a candidate? What is the success rate? What are the risks?Who is a candidate for cryotherapy?What is the success rate of cryotherapy? What are the side effects/complications of cryotherapy?Are there different types of hormone therapy? Do I need to have my testicles removed?Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone Analogues Antiandrogens Newer Therapies GnRH antagonist What are some of the side effects of hormonal therapy and how are they treated?Hot Flushes/Flashes Breast Swelling and Tenderness (Gynecomastia)What happens when hormone therapy fails?What happens if my PSA rises after radical prostatectomy? After external beam radiation therapy (EBRT)?After interstitial seed therapy?Salvage Radiation Therapy Watchful Waiting Hormone Therapy What if the PSA rises after EBRT?Salvage Prostatectomy after EBRT Salvage Cryotherapy Hormone Therapy and Watchful Waiting Treatment of Rising PSA after Interstitial Seed Therapy What happens if I develop bone pain?Another form of therapy for multiple painful bone metastasis is radioisotope therapy.TWO. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)What causes BPH?How common is BPH?What are the symptoms of BPH?How is BPH diagnosed?What tests may be involved with the diagnosis of BPH?Urodynamics What other disorders can mimic BPH?What damage can BPH cause?When does BPH need to be treated?What are the alpha-blockers?What are the side effects of alpha-blockers?How are they similar and how are they different?What are the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors?What are the side effects of 5-alpha reductase inhibitors? What are the results of BPH treatment using 5-alpha reductase inhibitor drugs?What effects do 5-alpha reductase inhibitor drugs have on PSA levels?Do the 5-alpha reductase inhibitors have an effect on the risk of developing prostate cancer?Can alpha-blocker drugs and 5-alpha reductase drugs be used together?What are LUTs?What happens if storage (overactive bladder) symptoms persist after successful treatment of the voiding symptoms?What is the role of herbal therapy in BPH treatment?What happens if medical therapy fails or one cannot tolerate the adverse effects of medical therapy?What is an open prostatectomy?What is a transurethral prostatectomy (TURP)?What is a transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP)?What is electrovaporization of the prostate?What are the side effects of surgical treatment (TURP) of BPH?What are the results of TURP for BPH?What is minimally invasive surgical treatment of BPH?What is laser therapy of the prostate?What types of laser therapy are available?What are the results of laser therapy?What is microwave therapy of the prostate?What are the results of microwave therapy?What is radiofrequency therapy of the prostate and the results of radiofrequency therapy?What are prostatic stents? What are the results with prostatic stents?What is the role of a permanent indwelling urethral catheter in the treatment of BPH?What is the role of a clean intermittent catheterization in the treatment of BPH?What is prostatitis?What types of prostatitis are there?Prostatitis syndromes: NIH classification How is prostatitis diagnosed?How is prostatitis treated?THREE. Erectile Dysfunction (ED) How do erections normally occur?What is erectile dysfunction (ED) and how common is it?What causes ED?Neurologic Conditions That Cause ED Vascular Conditions That Cause ED Other Conditions That Cause ED Medications that Cause ED Is ED a normal process of aging? Is ED preventable? Is it curable?Is ED preventable?Is ED curable?What is sexual dysfunction?Libido Sexual Arousal (Erection)Ejaculation Orgasm How does one diagnose and evaluate ED?What questions might the doctor ask me during my initial visit?What is the doctor looking for during the physical examination?Why is my doctor checking my testosterone level?What happens after the history, physical examination, and laboratory tests have been carried out?What laboratory tests are performed? Do I need any specialized tests?What are nocturnal penile tumescence (NPT) studies?What is the RigiScan?What happens if my sex drive (libido) is low? What causes it, can it be treated?Are there different types of problems with ejaculation? What causes them and how are they treated?What is premature ejaculation and what causes it?What is retrograde ejaculation and what causes it?What is anejaculation and what causes it?How are the different types of ejaculatory dysfunction treated?What is anorgasmia and how is it treated?What is Peyronie's disease and what causes it?How is Peyronie's disease treated?What are the current treatment options available for ED?What if my testosterone level is low? What are the risks and benefits of testosterone therapy?Are there different types of testosterone therapy?Oral Testosterone Therapy Parenteral (Intramuscular) Testosterone Therapy Transdermal Testosterone Therapy Buccal Therapy Do I need to be monitored while on testosterone therapy?What is priapism and what causes it?What are oral therapies for ED— specifically, the phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors?Who is a candidate for oral therapy with a PDE-5 inhibitor?How do I use PDE-5 inhibitors?What is the success rate for PDE-5 inhibitors?What are the side effects of PDE-5 inhibitors?What is intraurethral alprostadil (MUSE) and how do I use it?Who is a candidate for MUSE?What is the success rate of MUSE?What are the side effects of MUSE?What is penile injection therapy?How do I perform penile injection therapy?Who is a candidate for penile injection therapy?What is the success rate of penile injection therapy?What are the risks of penile injection therapy?What is the vacuum device?How do I use the vacuum device?Who is a candidate for the vacuum device?What are the success and satisfaction rates for the vacuum device?What are the side effects of the vacuum device?What is a penile prosthesis?Who is a candidate for a penile prosthesis?How do I use the penile prosthesis, and how is it placed?What are the risks of a penile prosthesis?Intraoperative Complications Perforation Existing Scarring Excessive Bleeding and Anesthesia Complications Postoperative Complications Decreased Penile Length Infection Erosion and Migration Glans Droop Penile Ischemia and Necrosis Perineal Pain Residual Penile Curvature Mechanical Problems Autoinflation Is there a role for sex therapy in the treatment of ED?Glossary