Men Health

Eating foods rich in the trace mineral selenium may help men ward off advanced prostate cancer, a new report suggests. A study of 33,737 men found that "higher selenium levels were associated with a reduced risk of advanced prostate cancer," researchers from Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Prostate cancer causes nearly 40,000 deaths annually in the U.S.

Jack Brans does not recall his childhood fondly. The New Orleans resident had difficulty concentrating in school and was often disruptive. Frequently depressed, he underwent sharp, violent mood swings. At puberty, he grew breasts. "When we played any game 'shirts and skins,' I always tried very hard to be shirts," he said. "Gym was a nightmare." Ugly varicose veins on his legs meant that he always wore long pants and long socks, never shorts.

His treatment for a small blood clot successfully completed, Los Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony was released from the hospital Friday with words of thanks for his medical care and the prayers of well-wishers. No sooner had Mahony, 62, been released than he went to his downtown residence and then to his office on Wilshire Boulevard, said Father Gregory Coiro, spokesman for the archdiocese. The Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles was admitted to Providence St.

When the Valley Community Clinic in North Hollywood first opened its teen clinic to males in 1993, young men were supposed to walk through the doors for free birth control and counseling on how to prevent pregnancy and disease transmission. "It was a disaster," said Connie Kruzan, director of youth services at the clinic. She said the guys simply didn't show up. The few men who did trickle in were accompanying their girlfriends. "And what do they see when they come in?

USC researchers have found a protein marker that can help predict when localized prostate cancer is likely to return after treatment. Dr. Richard J. Cote and his colleagues studied levels of the protein, called p27, in tumor cells removed from 96 men. They report in today's Journal of the National Cancer Institute that men with the highest levels of p27 were the least likely to have a recurrence.

With his surgeons announcing that his cancer had not spread, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony walked out of the hospital Thursday, three days after an operation to remove his prostate gland.

* National Institute on Aging Information Center P.O. Box 8057, Gaithersburg, MD 20898-8057 (800) 222-2225 Call or write to receive a list of free publications. * American Diabetes Assn. 1660 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314 (800) 342-2383 * American Dietetic Assn. 216 W. Jackson Blvd., Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606-6995 (800) 366-1655 for referral to a registered dietitian or access to prerecorded messages.

Saturn, Uranus, Neptune. As an aerospace engineer and interplanetary navigator, I've been to all those places via the Voyager mission. Done 'em! My life is fraught with adventure every few years, one planetary encounter after another. But I've never done Pluto. Never been to that deep dark place full of shadow, cold and potential finality. I get a chance now.

What Viagra may give, tobacco taketh away. So says the California Department of Health Services. State health officials, trying to pound their anti-tobacco message through to young men, unveiled new television commercials Monday making the point that smoking is a leading cause of impotence. The new ad, part of the state's $22-million-a-year anti-smoking campaign, portrays a black-tie gala. A debonair man wearing a tuxedo eyes an elegant young woman dressed in a clinging gown. She gazes at him.

Using Father's Day to drive home his message about improving men's health, President Clinton on Saturday released the first portion of almost $60 million in prostate cancer research grants. Clinton said the largest-ever federal research awards for finding better treatments for the disease will pay for "new studies to determine the cause of prostate cancer [and] develop new methods of prevention and detection.