Digestion, health and nutrition: Dr. Anil Minocha, a gastroenterologist and nutritionist

Sexual function preservation, prevent ED

Sexual function declines with age causing erectile dysfunction; the big question is how to prevent the decline in sexual prowess and the ED. Answer is simple: have more sex. Use sex or lose sex! We already know that senior citizens are more likely to have sex than the earlier generations.

A recent study in AJM titled “Regular intercourse protects against erectile dysfunction: Tampere Aging Male Urologic Study” followed men (mean age 59.2 years) over a period of five years. The overall incidence of moderate or complete erectile dysfunction was 32 cases per 1000 person-years. The authors found that those who were having regular sex at the start of the study had the least sexual decline.

The risk of erectile dysfunction was inversely related to the frequency of intercourse Men who had sexual intercourse less than once per week at baseline had twice the risk of erectile dysfunction compared with those reporting intercourse once per week (incidence rate ratio 2.2). There was no relationship between morning erections and erectile dysfunction.

Bottomline: Sexual prowess is just like exercise in general which builds strength and endurance. Sex in golden years equals gold medal in sexual prowess, and potentially less need for sex stimulant ED foods/pills like Viagra. Erectile dysfunction is related to complex interplay between physiologic as well as psychosocial and nutritional factors. Modify the factors that you can, i.e. have more sex

Sex intercourse elderly age

Sex is not discussed much as age progresses especially past middle-age. Does that mean older folks are not engaging in sex? Are older folks happy with their sex lives or have they given up on sex.? Baby-boomers, smile and read on!

Beckman and colleagues recently (British Medical Journal 2008) reported on the secular trends in self reported sexual activity and satisfaction in Swedish 70 year olds over a 30 year period

The authors found that from 1971 to 2001, sexual intercourse/activity increased among all groups of the 70 year olds : married men (52% to 68%), married females 38% to 56%), unmarried men (30% to 54%), and unmarried women(0.8% to 12%). Both sexes felt higher sexual satisfaction and more subjects displayed positive attitudes to sexuality.

This study suggests that elderly although perhaps still quiet about sex, are becoming more open-minded about enjoying the pleasures of healthy sexual life including sex outside the domain of marriage.

What do you think about the emerging trends noted above? Do you think that grandma and grandpa should be quiet and just give up on sex in case of physical inabilities of sexual dysfunction or should they talk to their physician about it. Should the health insurance companies pay for prescription drugs like Viagra for erectile dysfunction (ED) irrespective of age or should there be a age related restrictions? Please share your thoughts.

Watermelon, Natural Aphrodisiac Sex Stimulant

Natural Sex Stimulants & Aphrodisiac - Watermelon ?

Guys love watermelon, atleast that's the trend in recent days. The same men who hated produce now filling their plates. Wonder why?

Quoting scientists from Texas, there has been a surge in media reports that watermelon may have effects similar to Viagra. If true, this would give us a natural aphrodisiac, cheap and without prescription.

How can watermelon help enhance the men's lives? Turns out, it has high concentrations of citrulline, which is then converted to arginine in the body, Arginine leads to higher levels of nitric oxide which is a vasodilator improving the blood supply to tissues.

However, the reports that watermelon is similar to Viagra may be grossly exaggerated. Watermelon ingesstion does improve blood supply everywhere in the body, however without focussing on "where it is needed". As such, you would need to eat lots of watermelon to match the effects of Viagra. Before you try that, don't forget the potential diuretic effects of watermelon!

Right diet for child's sex: son or daughter?

Boy? Girl? Would-be mother’s diet, i.e. preconception diet, can help make the choice. This comes from a study titled, You are what your mother ate”, published in the journal Proc Biol Sci in 2008. If son is the choice, the woman before pregnancy should be pigging out!

There is paucity of information about natural and/or environmental factors affecting mechanisms of sex allocation in human evolutionary process. The investigators studied 740 women. The women with the highest energy intake preconception were likely to have sons. While food intake during pregnancy had no impact, women with the top third intake food intake had sons 56% of the times, whereas only 45% from the group from the lower third of energy intake had sons.

Interestingly, women eating cereal everyday prior to conceiving had almost 90% chance of having a son as compared to those eating just one bowl or less of cereal per week. Women having sons ate about 300 more calories than the ones who had girls. Potassium rich diet is also likely to lead to a male child.

Is it because boys tend to be bigger and larger energy investment tilts balance?

Are these results plausible? While more data is needed to confirm these findings, these results are consistent with laboratory data related to fertilitization and survival of male embryos.

“Our results support hypotheses predicting investment in costly male offspring when resources are plentiful”, wrote the authors. These results also have implications for artificial gender selection in fertility clinics.

Do you think diet can or does affect ultimate sex of the would-be baby? Do you know of someone who goes by this theory and practice it? Please share your story.

Placebo pain relievers and price

Placebo pain relief, really?

Yes, placebos work for pain, so say Dr. Weber et al. in JAMA…the more the price, the better the placebos work. After all you get what you pay for.

Some doctors probably do use placebos knowingly or unknowingly for chronic painful conditions that they can’t find effective treatments? These may include irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, interstitial cystitis etc.

The question arises, should the doctors use placebos knowingly? If yes, the more expensive ones?

And where do you draw the line? Should the doctor be allowed to have a shop displaying remedies in his clinic?

Please share your thoughts.