“A father is a guy who has snapshots in his wallet where his money used to be.” Now there’s the essence of fatherhood. I have a similar albeit less poignant story about what it means to be a father. The Immortal Cinderella When my daughter was little, she had a plastic Cinderella statue that she...Continue reading
Category: Fatherhood
Human Oral Papillomavirus—Now There’s a Real Mouthful
Now let’s be clear. Michael Douglas is not a doctor, nor does he play one on TV. But when he recently blamed his bout with throat cancer on having contracted Human Papillomavirus (HPV) from performing oral sex, he may have been on to something. In fact, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation, HPV may be...Continue reading
Sperm Stories,Part III
In Part I and Part II of Sperm Stories, we talked about some of the factors that can affect sperm quality and quantity. In Part III, we’ll go beyond testing sperm and talk about some interesting stories—good and bad—that have to do with using sperm in the manner nature intended: to create babies.Continue reading
Sperm Stories, Part II
In Part I of Sperm Stories, we talked about how temperature—both cold and hot—affects sperm production, swimming speed, and quality. In this article, we’ll take a look at several recent studies explore non-temperature-related factors.
Stereotypes 101, Part II: Women Prefer Big Men with Deeper Voices (and Men Prefer the Opposite in Women)
Okay, we’ve established that women find men with heavy stubble most attractive and men with full beards as the most masculine and best-suited for fatherhood. Since you’re going to be shaving less, consider spending all that free time working on dropping your voice an octave or two. Turns out that women prefer men with husky,...Continue reading
Sperm Stories, Part I
No one is quite sure why, but over the past few decades, there has been a major decline in the quality of men’s semen (the fluid that contains the sperm) and fertility rates throughout the industrialized world. As you might expect, there’s no shortage of theories, explanations, and proposed solutions. In this article, we’ll look...Continue reading
Stereotypes 101, Part I: Women Prefer Men with Heavy Stubble
If you’re debating whether to grow out that beard (or shave it off, if you have one), put the razor down and back away slowly. A new study has just confirmed that women prefer men with about 10 days worth of stubble over those with light stubble, a clean-shaven face, or a full beard.
PTSD: Affects Vets’ Spouses Too
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), about 25 percent of vets returning from the recent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from PTSD. That’s about 500,000 veterans. If we include family members, that number more than doubles. Not surprisingly, returning veterans—particularly those with PTSD—have a higher divorce rate than non-veterans. And...Continue reading
How Much Are Your Balls Worth?
At one point or other, most of us have said something like, “I’d give my left nut if I could….” That always seems like a pretty safe comment. After all, chances are pretty slim that we’d actually have to sacrifice a testicle for whatever it is we want. And even if we did, we’d still...Continue reading
Stressing about Low Sperm Count? That Might Just Be Causing the Problem
We all know that stress isn’t good for us. And if asked, we could probably do a pretty fair job of rattling off why: it increases your heart attack risk, can cause problems in at work and in your personal relationships, can lead to depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Now we can add one more:...Continue reading