He was only 10 years old when leukemia struck. And it took many rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and a bone marrow transplant to cure him. Now married, he asked me a simple question: “I know there is nothing in my semen Doc, but can I have my own kids? Sterility after cancer treatment. A tough […]
Author: Paul Turek, MD
Men’s Health Begins with Boys
“Our male youth are in trouble,” says Dennis Barbour, CEO of The Boy’s Initiative. “Their school dropout rates are climbing and they are dropping out of college more than ever. They are failing to adjust to a rapidly changing economy.” Harsh words from a man who really cares about where America’s youth are headed. Where […]
Tori & Dean: Vasectomy As Heirloom Investment
& Tori Spelling and her husband Dean McDermott recently had their 4th child. Stirring in the news though is why he avoided having his wings clipped after the last child. Dean recently addressed the rumor mill and confirmed that they indeed could afford a vasectomy but simply didn’t do it. So, was it too expensive or […]
Honored by Healthtap
Ah shucks! Thank you for the honor…you really shouldn’t have! The Grammies? No, the Healthtap Top Doctor Awards. What did I win? A piece of paper. What does it mean? I think it means a lot. What is Healthtap? Healthtap is a social media site that has 50,000 doctors answering medical questions posed by the online […]
A Path to Men’s Health
& Men are medically underserved. You can argue with me until the cows come home about why, but this simple fact is true. A boy has a pediatrician through adolescence and then…poof…no doctor after that. Sure, several doctors may come and go when he is a young adult but no single provider really” “owns” or […]
Men’s Health 101: Infertility as Disease
Name a disease that’s about half as common as diabetes, affects both sexes and is running rampant in developed countries? Obesity? Good try. How about infertility? Ah, but is infertility really a “disease” you ask? You thought it was something that happens to a minority of otherwise healthy people, right? Well guess again. What is […]
Back in the Saddle
Autumn has arrived. Majestic colors, windy roads and a nip in the air all make for great cycling. All good, but my reason for getting back on the bicycle is much more practical: I am tired of commuting to work by car. So I parked it and bought a fixie. The question is: will my […]
Dr. Drew Meets Prostate Cancer
He watched it for a year, and then he had it removed. Dr. Drew’s recent encounter with prostate cancer is, alas, a common story written by an all-too-familiar cancer. Trusting the intuition of his doctors, he played his cards beautifully and has undoubtedly trumped his opponent for good. Sex and the Prostate What drew me to […]
A Call for Great Care
I use telephone calls with patients like a stethoscope. They are great for checking in, finding out what’s going on and informing care. For connecting with patients, they beat office visits, email and even texting hands down. Don’t believe me? Read on. After the initial office visit, I typically communicate with patients by a series of short, […]
Getting to Know Your Genome
Did you see Angelina Jolie’s heartfelt letter to the public about her decision to have her breasts removed? It was based on a genetic blood test. Sobering. That, my friends is the power of medical genetics in action. Accurate. Predictive. Life saving. But is all genetic testing that good? Genetics Rocks It is unfathomable to me […]