As he was leaving after his vasectomy procedure, he suddenly turned around. With a big smile, and with the highest bird-chirp-shrill of a voice, he said: “Nice job, doc! Didn’t feel a thing!” And with that, he summed up the grass-roots understanding of what a vasectomy is: a male neutering exercise. Sorry guys, but that’s not the case!...Continue reading
I see a lot of couples for vasectomy reversal procedures. As they gather information before proceeding, typically the partner, not the patient, fires off most of the questions. These queries come in two forms: questions directed at me and those having to do with the procedure. The Dirty Dozen Thank goodness that I’m a data-driven-doctor, because my...Continue reading
As a surfer, I find spending time on the ocean wonderfully intoxicating. The power and pitch of the waves, the size of swells, the shimmer of the sea, all magnificent to behold. But, what’s beneath the water’s surface is truly a whole other world; one even more marvelous than floating on top. And so it...Continue reading
You may do it all the time, but not for academic reasons. Now they’re asking you to provide a semen sample to see how it measures up. If you feel like you’re being singled out, don’t. Truth is, there’s a long history of looking at semen under a microscope. The Dutch lens maker van Leeuwenhoekfirst peered at sperm...Continue reading
We humans like to count and label things. We order the stars above us into constellations. We organize time into hours, minutes and seconds. We name the colors of the rainbow. We track how many steps we take with widgets on our wrists. Maybe it gives us a sense of control over our big, wide...Continue reading
We’ve known about stem cells for half a century. They are cells that not only make copies of themselves but can also become other types of cells and tissues. This kind of biological feat is unique in science and has the potential to cure disease. So why haven’t we seen more scientific success and stem...Continue reading
Dear Mr. Dad: A few years ago, you wrote a column about male infertility. I remember being surprised, since I’d always thought women were the only ones who had fertility problems. But now, after several years of being unable to conceive, I just found out that, just like the man who’d written to you back...Continue reading
Believe it or not, we know a lot about vaginal lubricants. Here are two statistics: 2 of 3 U.S. women use vaginal lubricants to help with dryness. And, among couples trying to conceive, 1 in 4 use lubricants. But aren’t lubricants bad for making babies? Toxic Lubes It’s quite clear that in the laboratory setting...Continue reading
There are certain questions in life that have never been answerable until now. For example, given that many human diseases are treatable, how long can we actually live? It took the jet age for us to figure out just how much g-force the human body can handle. And it’s only been a hundred years or...Continue reading
It’s well known that women athletes can stop having regular periods if they exercise too much. Termed “exercise-induced amenorrhea,” this prevents pregnancy during times of extreme physiological stress. Think of it as Darwin would: Why would you want to bear children as a cavewoman running for your life? Survival Comes First The mechanism for this...Continue reading