Editorial – “I’m A Man, Mom!”

I remember the day I left home 40 years ago, I yelled to my mom, “I’m finally a man!” Yet I certainly don’t feel like a man now. No, the genitals are still there. It’s because I’m afraid of admitting I have an old woman’s disease to my friends and colleagues. Or rather, afraid they’ll tease me as an old woman for the rest of my elderly life. I’m in my 60s now, and people must know I’m actually more masculine than anyone! So what’s this old woman’s disease I’m talking about? Osteoporosis – the disease that causes bones to deteriorate which most people see as a woman’s disease. This is clearly not true, as this hunk of a man was just recently diagnosed with this disease. It’s time for men to wake up and realize that over 5 million men are at risk of osteoporosis, meaning you may be the next victim. Now is not the time to be teasing other men, like a flirting school girl. Men without osteoporosis need to understand the difficulty of living with this disorder. For heaven’s sake, I am not even allowed to pick up my grandchildren anymore (other than the fact that he’s 10, but other people’s lifestyles have been drastically changed)! To men with osteoporosis, no more calling yourself ashamed or scared. As the saying goes, “the best way to get a man to do something is to suggest they are too old for it.” And now I’m suggesting, you’re too old of a man to live a full and happy life with osteoporosis.

Men on Alzheimers and Diabetes

If someone came up to you on the street and asked you to list several diseases, many of you will come up with cancer, Alzheimer’s and diabetes. I wonder how many people would come up with Parkinson’s disease. My guess is that not many people would even know what Parkinson’s disease is. This idea leaves me sitting here thinking why not? On television, there are numerous ads which help raise awareness to heart diseases, various cancers and so forth, but never have I seen an advertisement in raising awareness of Parkinson’s disease. Even though Parkinson’s disease may not be as life threatening in comparison to cancer or such, but according to Statistic Canada, Parkinson’s disease is the 10th leading cause of death in Canada with around 100,000 Canadians suffering from it. This is why I came up with the idea of putting a spin on our fabulous Timeless fashion magazine this month. I have produced a science special to try and put an emphasis on raising awareness in biology related subjects which many of our readers may not be aware of. I hope you enjoy and have a great holiday!

Listen Men, Don’t Damage Hearing

Dear Blogger

Please compare the methods of hearing loss caused by aging and exposure to high intensity sounds!

Thank you,

J.S. Bach.

In high intensity sounds, it can actually break hearing mechanisms inside the ear. Some examples of structures that can be damaged are the eardrum and the ossicles. However, one of the more important structures of the inner ear that is damaged is the hair cells in the cochlea. The amount of hair cells damaged is dependent on the intensity of the sound. This means that as more hair cells are damaged, your ability to detect higher frequencies and decibels decrease. High intensity sounds also affect people in different ways, as some people are more vulnerable than others. Scientists have yet to identify the specific factors that make people more vulnerable, but it is clearly related to peoples’ unique anatomical structure.

Hearing loss caused by aging is called presbycusis. It is currently unknown as to why this condition occurs but it is noted that it may be passed on in families. The hypothesized reason as to why this occurs is due to aging and the wear-and-tear of the auditory systems. There are 2 types of presbycusis; sensory and strial. In sensory presbycusis, hair cells in the cochlea decreases in the ability to detect higher frequencies. In strial, the electrical energy required by the cochlea decreases. Just like high intensity sounds, presbycusis affects people at different rates and at different ages.

The Future of Antibiotics

The Future of Antibiotics

What are antibiotics?

- Kill or inhibit the growth of bacteria

- Bacteriostatic antibiotics halt the growth of bacteria, leaving the immune system to finish them off

How do antibiotic resistances develop?

- Antibiotics used -> non-resistant bacteria die off, only resistant bacteria left alive

- Resistant bacteria propagate, reproduce until all bacteria are antibiotic resistant

Plasmids and Transfer of Resistance

What are common misuses of antibiotics?

- Not taking prescribed antibiotics to completion

- Unnecessary use of antibiotics

- ‘Preventive treatment’

- Antimicrobial soap also contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance

Future of antibiotics

- Slowing evolution in bacteria to prevent resistances from developing

- Phage therapy: using viruses to eliminate bacteria in the body

Antibiotics in agriculture/aquaculture

- Used for pets, animals, fish, and plants

- Few regulations to limit antibiotic use, so overuse or misuse is a large concern

- Transfer allows animal bacteria to transfer resistances to human bacteria

Men Take Heed of Bisphenol A

Where can Bisphenol-A be found?

•  Canned Foods
•  Plastic Water Containers
•  Baby Bottles
•  Food Wrap
•  Most Items that have a recycling symbol of #7

Bisphenol-A can be found in many everyday products. Some of these products include canned foods, plastic water containers, baby bottles, food wrap and most items that have a recycling symbol of #7.

World Response

Many countries are not planning to regulate the use of Bisphenol A. However, Canada is one of the few countries that have chosen to watch this chemical closely. Canada has even banned baby bottles that contain Bisphenol A. Although, different studies have shown low amounts of Bisphenol A is potentially safe. The US has commented that Canada was too rash with banning baby bottles and emphasizes that this chemical is safe to consume as long as it is below the safe level. They report that a low dosage of Bisphenol A poses no known threat to humans.

Healthy Men Always

Welcome to my blog! I’m devoting this blog to men’s health. I feel that men’s health is always overshadowed by women’s health so I’m doing this to promote men’s health. It’s important that both gender be health conscious, after all we want to live a long life.