The Red Knob

Hope…

In the news this week – at last ’a breakthrough’ with regard to treatment for prostate cancer. Hailed in a BBC News  article as ‘the most significant advance in the field for 70 years’, and cautiously applauded in other news articles, it is claimed that the drug Abiraterone, which works by blocking the hormones which cause the cancer to grow, could be used to treat up to 80% of men whose form of the condition is resistant to chemotherapy. The drug is currently on trial throughout the UK.

Duelling banjo-strings…

If you can lay your hands on a copy of New Scientist for the week of 19th July 08, then there are a couple of interesting articles re men and health. The first concerns the role of the foreskin in HIV transmission – not exactly new news, as it’s been known for sometime that circumcised men have less chance of contracting HIV; the article examines the  debate for and against circumcision, the pro-lobby arguing that not only does removal of the foreskin provide a measure of protection against HIV infection (the inner lining of the foreskin being especially vulnerable to the virus), but also to other STIs and penile cancer too; female partners of uncircumcised men apparently have a moderately increased risk of cervical cancer due to the association with HPV (genital warts etc) infection – female partners of uncircumcised men also have a raised incidence of herpes and chlamydia.  The article, quotes Brian Morris from the University of Sydney,  as saying ’1 in 3 uncircumcised men will eventually require medical attention for a condition that could have been prevented by circumcision’.  There is no data or context in NS for this information – whilst phimosis, STIs, balanitis etc could indeed be causal factors, it is quite a claim to make. The research would make for engaging reading.

For their part (well, they’ve obviously retained it…) the anticircumcision lobby point out that lack of a foreskin decreases sexual pleasure, and that given this information circumcised men may consider that they are immune to HIV and other STIs (which they are not!), stop using condoms, and indulge in risk-taking behaviours. H’mm. As one of the researchers quoted in the article points out ‘we need quite a bit more data on the direct effects of circumcison on penile sensation’…Any volunteers? An interesting debate.  

Men and map reading… 

And finally; research on male and female brains. An article in NS -  ’Sex on the Brain’ advocates for not one type of human brain – but two.  Despite a sociology lobby that argues that behaviour is learnt from the cultures we inhabit (and of course it may well be…) scientific research has shown that male and female brains are actually hardwired differently and that there are differences in the chemical signals that transmit messages between the neurons. The article which implicates the amygdala – the brain structure that controls emotional, social and sexual behaviour,  as playing a major role in sex difference,  points out that on the one hand this could explain how and why men and women are susceptible to different mental health problems and why some drugs work better with one sex than the other - but on the other hand  means that current accepted research could be, as NS puts it ‘built on shaky foundations’ – the role of the hypothalamus previously being advocated as the part of the brain involved in sex differences such as regulating food intake and sex drive.

Fascinating stuff and worth a read. In the field of health work with men, demonstrating difference and the actual appliance (that is if it can get past the Marxist Feminist ‘pc’ police who have a monopoly on some aspects of health work with men…) of a gender sensitive approach that takes into account the fact that some masculine brains (without wishing to sound controversial – because that’s not The Red Knob way..I say ‘some’ because of the recent research on the brains of gay men – see BBC News: Scans see ‘gay brain differences’ ) are different to those of women – opens up a field of work that for too long has been inhibited by restrictive practice. Celebrate the difference  – and make use of it. What are we scared of?

Filed under: Blog, News, Op Ed