Prostate Cancer

As if it weren't bad enough to lose your hair, a University of Pennsylvania researcher has added a medical reason to worry about what seems to be a cosmetic problem. She found a connection between baldness and prostate cancer in African American men. Other studies have examined whether bald men - mostly white bald men - are at higher risk. Some studies suggested a relationship, but the results are not clear-cut. Charnita Zeigler-Johnson, a Penn epidemiologist, decided to focus on African American men because they have a 50 to 60 percent higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer than white men and are twice as likely to die of it. The study compared 318 African American men with prostate cancer to 219 healthy African American controls.

It has long been said that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But a new directive under consideration on prostate-cancer screenings puts that adage in question. For years, doctors have urged men to get regular blood tests for prostate cancer, beginning at age 50. Experts believed the test would help men detect tumors at an earlier stage. But a draft of new guidelines released last week by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has raised questions about the benefits of the prostate-specific antigen blood test.

Update: Exercise, diet still can curb hypertension The government has issued updated guidelines on high blood pressure that emphasize that exercise and diet are often enough to prevent hypertension. They also cite research casting doubt on the benefit of some products promoted as blood pressure reducers. Calcium supplements and fish oil supplements, for example, show only modest effects, according to the agency's guidelines, which appear in today's Journal of the American Medical Association.

Technological advances are a major factor in rising U.S. health-care spending. Often, they lead to better care for patients. But now, nonprofit hospitals and private investors across the country are spending fortunes to build a wave of expensive, high-tech proton-beam cancer treatment centers before researchers have established that the treatment works better than cheaper alternatives for many types of cancer. Grassroots support for proton therapy is especially strong among victims of prostate cancer who say the treatment has spared them the nasty side effects of impotence and incontinence associated with surgery and other common treatments.

ALLENTOWN - The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are truly No. 1 when it comes to the adventurous new world of urinal gaming. The IronPigs have created a video game that has what they call the "only truly hands-free urinal game controller. " It doesn't take much to be a whiz at this game, which is featured in the men's restrooms at Coca-Cola Park. The new game likely won't hurt the sales of beverages, since the extra fluids will give the participants staying power. "These games are sure to make a huge splash," quipped IronPigs general manager Kurt Landes, who has labeled them "The X-Stream Games.

SAN FRANCISCO - Rock guitarist Ronnie Montrose, 64, who formed the band that bore his name and performed with some of rock's heavy hitters, has died. His booking agent, Jim Douglas, said Mr. Montrose passed away at his home in Millbrae on Saturday. Douglas said Mr. Montrose had been in declining health for some time, battling prostate cancer and what Douglas termed "personal demons. " Besides forming his own band in 1973, Mr. Montrose performed with a number of musicians, including Sammy Hagar, Herbie Hancock, Van Morrison, Boz Scaggs, and the Edgar Winter Group.

The PSA seemed like the perfect screening test, giving an early warning of possible prostate cancer with no radiation, no sedatives, and no body-cavity invasions. But two new studies released last week suggest this routine blood test does little in the way of saving lives and may even lead men into unnecessary surgery or radiation. Should men skip this test? Eric Horwitz is still planning to have his PSA tested every year - and he's a radiation oncologist and prostate-cancer specialist at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Northeast Philadelphia.

James Lafferty, 40, of Springfield, Delaware County, a sales manager who promoted prostate cancer awareness, died of the disease Wednesday, Dec. 1, at his home. For more than 15 years, Mr. Lafferty was a co-owner and sales manager for his family's company, Pennsylvania Machine Works, a manufacturer of metal pipe fittings in Aston. In 2006, he was diagnosed with metastasized prostate cancer. He kept working and jumped every hurdle to try to defeat his illness, his wife, Jennifer Fulton Lafferty, said.

NEW YORK - John J. Phelan Jr., 81, a former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange who introduced computer technology to the Big Board in the 1980s and was widely praised for his calming response to the stock market crash of October 1987, died Saturday. The cause was complications of prostate cancer, his son Peter said. After the crash, Phelan resisted calls to close the exchange, fearing that it would breed further panic. He rang the closing bell himself. - New York Times

Q: Kimberly, who are the healthiest and longest-living people? - Inquiring Mind Wants to Know A: Well, according to the experts, we may live in the wealthiest nation in the world, but the healthiest and longest-living people are in Japan-Okinawa, to be exact. Okinawans have significantly lower incidence rates of heart disease, as well as breast, ovarian and prostate cancer when compared to Americans. They live healthily into their late 80s and 90s. Some experts link Okinawans' long life spans with their diets, rich in grains, fruits and fish.