Archive for the ‘Guest Post’ Category

Propecia and hair transplantation compared

Hair loss can be a very unpleasant experience for any person. Men are more prone to this problem than women and usually get male pattern hair loss that is characterized by hair thinning and balding that starts in the crown and hairline areas and progresses towards partial or complete baldness. It may be not the worst thing to happen from the physiological point of view since hair doesn’t play any significant functional role in the health of a person. However, hair loss can trigger serious psychological discomfort because it affects a visible portion of a person’s body and can seriously affect a person’s image. Since hair loss is still considered to be a sign of bad health the person experiencing it can automatically be regarded as ill and get treated respectively. That’s why so many men a desperate to find an effective solution for hair loss problems and weight in on all the possible options, the most popular of witch are hair transplantation and Propecia treatment course.

Hair transplantation has become one of the most promising and effective methods of dealing with hair loss when it was introduced as compared to all the semi-medical treatment options that were available in the past. Hair transplantation involves surgical removal of hair from one part of the body and its inception in the area of hair loss. This technique requires high qualification from the doctor performing transplantation and can be rather costly if you are looking to do it in a professional clinic. Besides, there’s always a risk that the hair that’s been transplanted will fall off too and you will need another pricey procedure to restore its previous state. Still many men choose this treatment option because it is more effective than most herbal and semi-medical preparations for hair loss and was the only medical solution for a period of time.

Propecia, on the other hand, was the first medication to be actually approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss in men. Before it was introduced to the market there were no prescription medications to use for hair loss and even the causes of the problem haven’t been studied well. However, after people started using Propecia and observed its effectiveness there were more studies undertaken on the nature of hair loss in men and it was discovered that it’s triggered by the excess of a specific androgen in the bloodstream that Propecia helps controlling. Thus, unlike hair transplantation. Propecia targets the exact cause rather than effect when dealing with hair loss. Yet, the drug also has its limitations and is not for everyone.

Hair transplantation can be used by both men and women whereas Propecia is prescribed solely to men and shouldn’t be even handled by women because it may cause serious hormonal changes. Propecia has higher effectiveness rates and is much cheaper than transplantation surgeries but you will have to take it for a really long time in order to stop, reverse hair loss and sustain the effects you’ve achieved. So it’s highly recommended to consult with your doctor about the both options in order to choose the one that’s more appropriate in your situation.

Buying your ED treatment online

There are many men who have already benefitted or could benefit from the erectile dysfunction treatment known as Cialis. This is a medication that is able to provide a real boost for men who have difficulty in achieving and maintaining an erection, as it increased the blood flow to the penis and enables the user to both achieve and maintain an erection until intercourse is over.

The effects of Cialis will not only provide physical benefits to the user, in that they will be able to achieve and maintain an erection, enjoy a satisfying sex life, and pursue normal and fulfilling relationships. It will also have an impact on quality of life and psychological wellbeing for many men, as it will remove much of the stress, pressure and low confidence problems that can come from suffering from erectile dysfunction.

If you are looking to buy Cialis for the treatment of erectile dysfunction there are a number of options available with regards to making your purchase. However, for many men the most suitable and effective way to purchase this treatment is to use the Internet. Going online to purchase your Cialis offers many benefits, which is why more and more people are now purchasing their treatment in this way. Some of the benefits include:

Less embarrassing: One of the major reasons why many men use the Internet to purchase their Cialis is because they find that going into a pharmacy and asking for the treatment can be embarrassing. Purchasing medication for specific sexual problems in person is something that many people find very difficult, as it can make them feel extremely self conscious, but this is a problem that is eliminated when purchasing online

More convenient: For many men who are working or having other commitments it can be difficult finding the time to go out and purchase the medication. Using the Internet means that you can make your purchase whenever it is convenient for you and you will then be able to look forward to fast and efficient delivery right to your door, which means that you simply make the purchase from the comfort and privacy of your own home and then sit back and wait

Greater value for money: The cost of buying Cialis can vary from one pharmacy to another so it is always a good idea to compare and see which ones offer the best value for money. Using the Internet means that you will be able to enjoy greater access to a wide range of deals on the purchase of Cialis. You can also quickly and easily compare the cost of the treatment to get the best deal. This is a great way to save money on the cost of your medication

Using the internet to purchase your Cialis can save your time, money, inconvenience and embarrassment, which is why this is the ideal way to make your purchase without any hassle.

Patent litigation explained

The idea of a patent makes good commercial sense. You give an inventor a monopoly to sell the new product without anyone being allowed to copy it. So, as a consumer, you either pay the asking price or go without. With no competition, the inventor can keep the price high and earn back the R&D costs fast. Once into profit, there’s a bigger return on the money invested and, in turn, this encourages more investment in R&D. The more consistently creative and innovative the manufacturer, the more money it makes. Except, this is a way of gouging the consumer. Let’s say for argument’s sake that the manufacturer gets a ten year monopoly and, at the end of five years, it has recovered all its R&D costs. It now has five years in which it can continue to charge the same high prices without there being any competition in the market. So here’s the question? How much profit should an inventor be allowed to make?

At present, this is never discussed let alone defined in law. Manufacturers simply demand increasingly long period of protection without regard to the payback time. Let’s say the development of a particular drug was a lucky accident. The company was testing for one use but noticed the participants were discussing an interesting side effect. That’s how the erectile dysfunction drugs were discovered. No one was trying to develop this drug so the actual R&D costs after the accidental discovery were to cover a comprehensive clinical trial and the application to the FDA – a fraction of the usual costs. Yet a court has just given one of the manufacturers protection from a generic manufacturer until 2019. That’s twenty-three years of protection in total. No one can possibly suggest this is anything other than a decision to keep on gouging the consumers. To make a sexist point – this is a decision of Rebecca Beach Smith, a female judge who obviously doesn’t care that men are paying excessive prices to keep their sexual satisfaction levels high.

So was this an unusual case? Actually, this was a standard case of a manufacturer taking out a second patent on the same product some years after the first. Nothing like stretching out your gravy train. Except there was one interesting twist. The generic manufacturer waited until it arrived in court and then accused the attorneys representing the patent holder of “inequitable conduct”. To translate this into English, it accused the poor lawyers of being dishonest, deceitful and fraudulent. Strong accusations except it was too late to raise them. To investigate would require the patent case to be adjourned, possibly for months. The judge ruled this should have been raised long before the case came to trial.

This leaves the market for erectile dysfunction drugs without an immediate threat of a generic product competing for market share. So although only one manufacturer was involved, the other two manufacturers benefit. They have all agreed to keep their prices high. Only the internet offers any competition on price. The moral of this story is for you to buy Cialis online at the generic prices. That way, you get the full value of Cialis at the lowest possible price. You can feel good when sticking one in the eye of the patent system.

Tramadol and pain management

Sometimes we in the America are the best. But the rest of the world has been steadily catching up with us in areas of life that really matter. Some countries have now overtaken us. So if you look at the international league tables, we’ve dropped way down in education standards, and we’ve got one of the worst value-for-money healthcare services in the developed world. That’s what happens when you allow capitalism to take responsibility for public services. If your political system depends on not raising taxes, you can only cut services and the first to be cut is usually education. Now add the profit motive into the mix. If your doctor’s pay depends on how many patients he or she sees in a working day, how many minutes do you expect to have in your consultation? So, for example, we have an infant mortality rate of 6.4 babies dying for every thousand births. This is worse than every East and West European country – only 3.9 babies per thousand die in the Czech Republic. Our hospitals and clinics make money by testing you to find out what’s wrong. This can take a lot of tests. Then the doctors might prescribe the cheapest drugs or they might prescribe the more expensive drugs where they get incentives and kickbacks. In Europe, tests and treatments are only allowed if there’s clear evidence both that they are needed and likely to be effective. Drug prices are controlled by governments.

So how does pain management work in the countries with the best international standings? The first part of the answer might surprise you. By making the patient more important than the doctors. This flows from the practice of socialized medicine. Doctors’ pay does not depend on the profitability of the hospital or clinic where they work. Their performance is measured by the length of time patients must wait to see them, by whether their treatments have successful outcomes, and by their “death rates”. Yes, that’s right, hospitals publish the survival rates after the most common surgical procedures. We only rarely hear about the death and readmission rates in our hospitals. Our doctors are terrified of medical negligence and malpractice actions, and no one ever admits to a mistake. Yet without access to this information, we cannot make informed choices about where to get our medical care.

When it comes to pain management, the first thing the Europeans do is review the patient’s medical history. If there’s any possibility of a mistake in the treatment so far, there are tests. If further surgery or other treatments are indicated, these are put in hand. Only if there’s nothing further to be done to treat the underlying cause do they then treat the pain as a problem in its own right. This brings a big team together including psychologists, counselors, cognitive behavioral therapists, physical therapists and specialist pain management doctors. In the US, only five of our medical degree courses make pain management a mandatory subject. So most of our doctors need never learn about how to make the best decisions on pain. They prescribe Tramadol for the routine case. If you still complain, they increase the dose. If you still complain, they abandon Tramadol and give you something stronger.

Propecia – causes behind hair loss in men

The problem of hair loss is certainly a very sensitive issue both for men and women. Hair is a good indicator of how healthy a person is, and if the person starts to get bald it is seen as either a sign of poor health or aging. Of course, it’s not always so and in case of male balding it’s often seen as a matter of genetic predisposition or poor hair nutrition. But how relevant these assumptions are to the actual causes behind hair loss in men?

A large number of scientific and clinical studies on the problem of hair loss in men have come to the same conclusion that there’s a reason for male pattern hair loss other than what was assumed before. Yes, genetics, nutrition, care and environment play an important role in maintaining a good condition of hair. But the majority of male hair loss cases have been observed to be caused by hormonal changes. And it’s not about a particular glad dysfunction or hormonal imbalance. It’s all about one of the most important male hormones – testosterone.

But it’s not the abundance of shortage of testosterone that really matters. Of course, the level of testosterone in general influences many aspects of a man’s health. But when it comes to hair loss, it’s the way testosterone is processed that really matters. Usually, testosterone is converted into another male hormone, dihydrotestosterone (DHT), after some time. And it’s the DHT that’s responsible for hair loss in men. When there’s a small quantity of this androgen in the bloodstream there’s nothing to worry about. But as it accumulates in the body and starts contacting with hair follicles it gradually stops natural hair growth and makes the follicles weaker. By having a low natural hair growth rate a person will gradually start balding because of the normal hair loss rate (100-200 hairs per day). Usually, the lost hair gets restored rapidly and we have a constant form of hair. But as the follicles get weaker, the usual hair loss becomes a real problem.

Some studies that focused on the genetic causes of male pattern hair loss have also concluded that in cases where hair loss problems have passed through generations it was also due to the abundant production of DHT that seems to pass from father to son. So it’s clear that hair loss in men is generally caused by the levels of DHT. But what can be done about it?

In fact, there’s only one actual medication that can help with DHT and it’s called Propecia. This medication is by far the only one available for treating male pattern hair loss and it works by affecting the actual cause behind the condition. Propecia blocks specific enzymes that are responsible for the conversion of testosterone into DHT and thus reduces the effects of this androgen over the hair follicles. However, like with any prescription medication you should first consult with your doctor regarding its use. It is also to be used only by adult men, as children and women shouldn’t even handle the drug due to its high absorption abilities and hormonal changes it can cause in children and unborn babies.

ED in Younger Men

In younger men erectile dysfunction is relatively uncommon, but there are still cases. Find out the possible ED causes in younger men.

How common is ED in younger men?

In your late teens and early twenties, you should be at your physical peak in all aspects of life. So if you are experiencing erectile dysfunction, this suggests either an existing injury or psychological problems. Indeed, ED is usually related to age, affecting more men as they pass beyond sixty. Doctors estimate psychological problems are the cause in up to 25% of men under the age of forty. However, a second statistic should give you cause for thought. About 75% of men with diabetes suffer erectile dysfunction. With an increasing number of young men overweight, diabetes is becoming more common, followed by sexual problems.

What are the main causes?

Artherosclerosis is the most common physical cause of ED, i.e. a build-up of plaque on the walls of the penile artery caused by excessive levels of carbohydrates in the blood. So if you are overweight and have high blood pressure, this cause of ED can be treated by changing your diet and exercising. The evidence from the clinical trials is clear. Losing weight, eating healthy food and increasing activity levels restores sexual function. Because nicotine causes artherosclerosis, smokers are 1.5 times more likely to suffer erectile dysfunction than non-smokers. Alcoholism and drug abuse also cause sexual problems. Recent studies have found up to 25% of younger men have low levels of testosterone which can reduce the libido. The remaining problems are related to stress.

Psychological problems

Although life has always presented challenges to the young, the modern faster-paced lifestyles have exposed them to far more stress. When you add in traumatic events like the death of a parent or loved one, sexual problems are a common result. Although it can be difficult for younger people to admit a problem, this is one occasion when it helps to discuss matters with a trained professional. This may be for psychological or grief counseling. Unless and until the psychological problems are resolved, it is unlikely your sex drive and erections will return. So relying on Viagra alone in emotionally troubled times is unlikely to produce results.

Summing up

The Mayo Clinic has a very simple prescription when younger men find their erections fail. This starts with the usual advice to reduce the amount of alcohol and quit smoking. All drug abuse should cease and everyone should switch to a healthy diet. We then get into the need for a reasonable amount of sleep and active steps to deal with depression or anxiety. In all this, your regular physician is an essential partner. You need a full range of tests to decide whether you also need preventive treatment to reduce the risk of heart disease and prevent diabetes from becoming a permanent problem. This is not something you should try treating on your own with only Viagra to help.

February 2012
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