MEN’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT: Dr Robert Coughlan, Consultant Rheumatologist at Merlin Park Hospital, Galway looks at the management of gout and ankylosing spondylitis as they present in men Gout and ankylosing spondylitis (AS) are two rheumatic diseases that are more common in men than in women. AS occurs in the second third and fourth decades, gout [...]

MEN’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT: Prof Eoin O’Brien outlines the benefits of ambulatory blood pressure management and looks at the development of the ‘flexipill’ as the next generation of drug treatment The technique for measuring blood pressure was introduced into clinical medicine in 1896 and has survived largely unchanged for over a century, despite being inherently inaccurate. [...]

MEN’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT: Mr David Bouchier-Hayes argues that many state-of-the art therapies for prostate cancer are done only sporadically in Ireland, including robotic laparascopic radical prostatectomy Prostate cancer continues to be a major healthcare problem, both for patients and those involved in the delivery of care to these patients. It remains the most common solid [...]

MEN’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT: Rory Hafford reports from Stockholm on the launch of degarelix and also takes a look at two other pharmaceutical agents used in the fight against prostate cancer Stockholm was cold on the day that the drug Firmagon (degarelix) was launched; but the reception it got from the world’s urologists was a decidedly [...]

MEN’S HEALTH SUPPLEMENT: Dr Robert Coughlan looks at the reasons why men develop osteoporosis and suggests treatment options Osteoporosis is a state of altered bone architecture that increases the risk of fragility fractures. Much of the literature concerning osteoporosis refers to women with postmenopausal osteoporosis, despite the fact that between a third and a quarter [...]

Shane Leavy reports on a recent talk in Ireland by the controversial Australian Dr Philip Nitschke, who took part in the world’s first legal, physician-assisted suicide in 1996 In 1996, an Australian man suffering from prostate cancer had a needle, attached to a computer, inserted into his arm. On the computer screen, there was a [...]

Aoife Connors investigates the claims made in a new study, which says GPs are prescribing aqueous cream incorrectly for eczema General practitioners are unknowingly prescribing aqueous cream as a leave-on emollient in the treatment of atopic eczema. A recently published study in the British Journal of Dermatology found that 88 per cent of doctors who [...]