Golden Knights Shea Theodore Reveals He Has Testicular Cancer

The 24 year old defenseman for the Golden Knights is recovering from surgery after being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Shea Theodore in a story in the Player’s Tribune stated that during routine screening an hCG hormone test came up positive which commonly is seen in pregnant women, but could also be a sign of testicular cancer. This triggered his doctors to look for an abnormality.  A testicular ultrasound confirmed a 5mm X 5 mm lump, half the size of a pencil eraser and was set up for surgery.

He writes:

After the surgery, when the doctors were able to do a biopsy on the mass in my testicle, they found that it was a mixed germ cell tumor: embryonal and seminoma, stage I. While the embryonal component can be very aggressive and spread to abdominal lymph nodes, mine was caught early because of the comprehensive blood testing they conduct at the Worlds. 

Stage I testicular cancer (not spread beyond the testicles), found early has a 99% survival rate after 5 years.

This is a developing story…..

 

Testicular cancer is the most common type of cancer to affect young men, aged 15-44.

Yet the USPSTF has reviewed the evidence for screening for testicular cancer and has recommended AGAINST routine screening.

However, many medical providers still urge young men to do self testicular checks monthly.

Symptoms of testicular cancer may include any of the following:

• Testicular lump
• Testicular pain or heaviness
• Testicular swelling
• Numbness or tingling in the area of the testicle
• Breast swelling
• Back pain
• Abdominal or groin pain
• and more

 

 

The earlier testicular cancer is found, the higher the survival rate.  This year, cancer.net predicts 9,310 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer in the US.

 

 

 

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

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Using the NFL Injury Report to Pick this Week’s Winners

The NFL Injury Report tells us all we need to know to make our picks.

For years I’ve been dissecting the NFL Injury Report and predicting who would win during the playoffs and Superbowl. When you’re a doctor who loves football, it’s not that difficult.

So my success has prompted me to make the risky move of posting my strategy and results.  There are varying levels of theory, just like layers of the epidermis.  And each deeper layer of prediction should confirm the simpler ones.  But if I can’t scientifically deduce the winner, I wing it.

Method 1 – Number game

Let’s take for example Thursday night’s game between the Packers and the Bears.  According the NFL injury report, there were 3 injuries reported for both teams, but an additional 3 Packers had limited or participation in practice. If specific injuries are not listed, we can sometimes count how many did not participate in practice.  A novice may just say 3 is less than 6 so the Bears will win.  But as a physician, this is not good enough.  We need to also look at the types of injuries.

Method 2 – Anatomy counts

According to the NFL Injury report, with Game 1 of the season, the Packers sustained injuries to the chest, hamstring and neck.  The Bears, however sustained injuries to the  groin, elbow and knee.  Yes, Lawrence Burton’s groin injury is very telling. Why?

Think about when you were playing football.  If you hurt a finger you still played.  If you sprained your knee, you toughed it out. But what happened when you sustained a groin injury.  You were leveled.  Probably couldn’t even get up.  So any injury involving the groin is physically devastating for a player, and from a psychological standpoint, the whole team.

If a groin injury specifically is not incurred and reported by the NFL injury report, then you look at the injuries closest to the groin.  A head injury is also very concerning so that will come after groin.  Hence the scale from most devastating to least in terms of injured body parts listed is:

Groin < head/concussion < hip< < glute < quad < hamstring  < eye < abdomen < chest < knee < shoulder < calf < arm < ankle < foot < wrist < hand < finger < toe.  

The Bear’s groin injury, according to our scale, was the most significant, so the team unfortunately wasn’t looking very good for Thursday night’s game.

 

Method 3 – Colors 

In case of a tie….meaning both teams sustained equal numbers of groin injuries or subsequent proximal body parts, we look to the main colors of the Jersey.  Black, Blue, Green and Yellow will fare worse than White and Red, Brown. In medicine, Black may happen with necrosis, Blue is associated with hypoxia, Green- mucous, Yellow – gonorrhea.  White and Red are fairly routine and healthy colors in medicine (bones and blood).  Silver and Purple are colors that are fairly neutral as we usually don’t see those colors on a routine basis in medicine unless with hair.

Therefore, the color scale from most problematic to least is:

Black < Blue < Yellow < Green < Orange < Purple < Silver < White < Red.

Again this is only used if predictions cannot be made due to an anatomical tie.  Again I must stress we do not use the color method unless we are unable to predict using the NFL injury report.

With Thursday night’s game, the Packers wore white and the Bears wore blue.   So based on jersey color, the Bears were again at a disadvantage.

Hence we saw the Packers start their season with a victory.

So what will happen this Sunday?  Let’s use what we learned to predict the winners!!

Football Fans May Be More Successful Lovers

 

Rams vs. Panthers

Panther’s are reporting a concussion injury

Prediction:  Rams

********************************

Titans vs Browns

Titan’s double knee injury compared to a Brown’s hamstring…..

Prediction:  Too close to call

********************************

Chiefs vs. Jaguars

The Jags’ multiple injuries make them no match

Prediction:  Chiefs

********************************

Ravens vs. Dolphins

The Dolphins have injured everything but their dorsal fins…

Prediction:  Ravens

********************************

Falcons vs Vikings

Stefon Diggs’ hamstring injury puts the Vikings at a huge disadvantage

Prediction:  Falcons

********************************

Bills vs Jets

Too many injuries close to Jets’ groins

Prediction:  Bills

********************************

Redskins vs Eagles

Concussions may sink the Skins

Prediction: Eagles

********************************

Colt’s vs Chargers

Groin injury vs losing your quarterback…..

Prediction:  Too Close Too Call

********************************

Bengal’s vs Seahawks

Concussion listed for the Bengals

Prediction: Seahawks

********************************

Lions Vs Cardinals

Even number of joints on this one…

Prediction:  Too Close To Call

********************************

Giant’s vs Cowboys

Hamstrings are too close to the groin for comfort

Prediction:  Cowboys

********************************

49’ers and Buccaneers

Not sure what to make of Evan’s illness, but I’ll assume its a cold

Prediction:  Bucks

********************************

Steelers vs Patriots

Patriots just signed Antonio Brown…..they’re going to the Superbowl

Prediction: Patriots

______________________________________________________________________________________

We pray that no one gets hurt and those who do recover quickly.  Here’s to a safe season of one of the best sports ever!!  FOOTBALL!!

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, iHeart and is a Board Certified Family Physician

Concussions Can Lead to Erectile Dysfunction

A recent study has found former NFL players to be at risk for erectile dysfunction if they sustained a concussion during sports.

Harvard researchers looked at 3,400 former professional football players and found in those who sustained some sort of head trauma, 18% had low testosterone (Low T), 23% reported erectile dysfunction (ED) and 10% had both low T and ED.

The cause of the low testosterone is not clear, but researchers believe it could be due to damage to the pituitary gland.  If the gland is damaged, signals to the testes where testosterone is produced could be disrupted.

Authors write:

One possible explanation, the research team said, could be injury to the brain’s pituitary gland that sparks a cascade of hormonal changes culminating in diminished testosterone and ED. This biological mechanism has emerged as a plausible explanation in earlier studies that echo the current findings, such as reports of higher ED prevalence and neurohormonal dysfunction among people with head trauma and traumatic brain injury, including military veterans and civilians with head injuries.

The more head injuries, the higher the risk of sexual side effects noted.  Medical providers need to be aware that among the issues that could arise down the line in those who sustain trauma to the head (i.e. headaches, mood swings, insomnia, depression), sexual dysfunction may need to be screened as well.

Could Dementia and CTE be Prevented with Oxygen Therapy?

 

Are Many Athletes at Risk for Depression?

 

ED Linked to Heart Disease

For years, men have voiced frustration when their medical providers insisted on a cardiac workup prior to initiating an ED prescription.  Some thought it was because they’d have a heart attack during sex.  But it’s not.  Erectile dysfunction is a vascular issue, and if the vessels of the penis are compromised, how does one know his heart vessels aren’t as well?

Now in a recent study from John Hopkins School of Medicine found an increase risk of stroke, heart attack and cardiac arrests in those men who suffered from erectile dysfunction.  Study author, Michael Blaha, professor of Medicine, states, “Our findings suggest that clinicians should perform further targeted screening in men with erectile dysfunction, regardless of other cardiac risk factors and should consider managing any other risk factors — such as high blood pressure or cholesterol — that much more aggressively.”

 

Last December, a study published in the Journal of Vascular Medicine, found the same risk factors leading to erectile dysfunction are also culprits in heart disease.

Risk factors shared by both erectile dysfunction and heart disease include:

• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Smoking
• Men over age 45
• Physical inactivity
• Stress
• Obesity
• Family history of heart disease

 

Last year, researchers from Mount Sinai Medical Center, Florida International University and Baptist Health South Florida reviewed multiple studies and found a link between erectile dysfunction and compromised blood vessels whose endothelium (lining) demonstrated impaired vessel relaxation. This is necessary for both erections as well as blood flow to the heart and rest of the body.

Moreover carotid media-intima thickness, a marker of atherosclerosis, appeared to be correlated to erectile dysfunction as well.

Both studies remind us that if one bodily function is impaired, other organs may be quietly suffering the same impairment.

I like to credit the pharmaceutical companies that created erectile dysfunction drugs with saving millions of men’s lives as:

1. Men who would refuse to come into any doctor’s office now had an incentive to, resulting in a long-overdue check-up
2. Those who saw providers who required an EKG or diabetic screening, and unknowingly suffered from a serious cardiac risk factor, could now be diagnosed.
3. ED drugs allowed those men who couldn’t enjoy sex to now get some much-needed physical activity

Young men aren’t immune to cardiovascular disease and need to be screened as well if they have issues starting or maintaining erections.

Great Gift!!!

The Ultimate Medical Student HandBook

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

Lightsabering Is Now Officially A Sport

Image from Movies.com

Star Wars fans can now finally scream “It’s about time!!!!”

The French Fencing Federation has officially recognized dueling with lightsabers a sport.

Points are given based on where the light saber hits.  Rounds run 3 minutes and whoever scores the most points wins (or whomever hits 15 points first.)

The Associated Press reported the following:

Combatants fight inside a circle marked in tape on the floor. Strikes to the head or body are worth 5 points; to the arms or legs, 3 points; on hands, 1 point. The first to 15 points wins or, if they don’t get there quickly, the high scorer after 3 minutes. If both fighters reach 10 points, the bout enters “sudden death,” where the first to land a head- or body-blow wins, a rule to encourage enterprising fighters.

Blows only count if the fighters first point the tip of their saber behind them. That rule prevents the viper-like, tip-first quick forward strikes seen in fencing. Instead, the rule encourages swishier blows that are easier for audiences to see and enjoy, and which are more evocative of the duels in “Star Wars.” Of those, the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in “The Phantom Menace” that ends badly for the Sith despite his double-bladed lightsaber is particularly appreciated by aficionados for its swordplay.

Lightsabering embodies a variety of physical elements that utilize most muscle groups and requires balance. It qualifies as cardio, getting heart rate going, and the average participant finds it exhilarating.

Enticing young people to exercise may be made easier with this fun sport.  I’m a huge fan and hope this sticks!

Check out these guys…they’re fantastic!!!

 

 

 

Learning Medical Spanish is Easy!!!

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

 

 

Medicine Can Easily Predict This Year’s Super Bowl Winner

The NFL Injury Report tells us all we need to know to make our picks.

For years I’ve been dissecting the NFL Injury Report and predicting who would win during the playoffs and Super Bowl. When you’re a doctor who loves football, it’s not that difficult.

So my success has prompted me to make the risky move of posting my strategy and results.  There are varying levels of theory, just like layers of the epidermis.  And each deeper layer of prediction should confirm the simpler ones.  But if I can’t scientifically deduce the winner, I wing it.

Method 1 – Number game

Let’s take for example the AFC/NFC Conference Championship games between the Chiefs and the Patriots and the Saints and Rams.  According the NFL injury report, the Saints had 2 injuries while the Rams had zero.  Then there was 1 injury reported for the Chiefs and 0 for the Patriots.  A novice may just think 0 is less than 2 or the Saints and 1 for the Chiefs so the winners would be the Rams and Patriots.  But as a physician, this is not good enough.   We need to also look at the types of injuries.

 

Method 2 – Anatomy counts

According to the NFL Injury report during the playoff game between the Cowboys and the Rams, the Boys sustained an injury to the groin and the Rams, a thigh.  These are very telling. Why?

Think about when you were playing football.  If you hurt a finger you still played.  If you sprained your knee, you toughed it out. But what happened when you sustained a groin injury.  You were leveled.  Probably couldn’t even get up.  So any injury involving the groin is physically devastating for a player, and from a psychological standpoint, the whole team.

If a groin injury specifically is not incurred and reported by the NFL injury report, then you look at the injuries closest to the groin.  A head injury is also very concerning so that will come after groin.  Hence the scale from most devastating to least in terms of injured body parts listed is:

Groin < head/concussion < hip< < glute < quad < hamstring  < eye < abdomen < chest < knee < shoulder < calf < arm < ankle < foot < wrist < hand < finger < toe.  

The groin injury reported on the Cowboy’s roster unfortunately sealed their fate.

If specific injuries are not listed, we can sometimes count how many did not participate in practice.

 

Method 3 – Colors 

In case of a tie….meaning both teams sustained equal numbers of groin injuries or subsequent proximal body parts (or no injuries are being reported for the week), we look to the main colors of the jersey.  Black, Blue, Green and Yellow will fare worse than White and Red, Brown. In medicine, Black may happen with necrosis, Blue is associated with hypoxia, Green- mucous, Yellow – gonorrhea.  White and Red are fairly routine and healthy colors in medicine (bones and blood).  Silver and Purple are colors that are fairly neutral as we usually don’t see those colors on a routine basis in medicine unless with hair.

Therefore, the color scale from most problematic to least is:

Black < Blue < Yellow < Green < Orange < Purple < Silver < White < Red.

Again this is only used if predictions cannot be made due to an anatomical tie.  Again I must stress we do not use the color method unless we are unable to predict using the NFL injury report.

So in light of the NFL Injury report failing to list the injuries for Sunday’s game, we must go with the colors.

This Super Bowl, the Patriots will be wearing white while the Rams will be in vintage blue and yellow.

The prediction….another Patriots win.

Hey… don’t throw shade…..its science.

 

Learning Medical Spanish is Easy!!!

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

Superbowl and ASMR: What’s the Connection?

A Superbowl commercial is predicted to cause millions of football fans to “tingle.”

Zoe Kravitz in an ad for Michelob Ultra Pure Gold whispers into two giant microphones and opens a bottle of beer in slow motion, attempting to invoke an ASMR, autonomous sensory meridian response.

 

ASMR provides stimuli that sends a tingling from your scalp down to your neck and back. It’s been touted to help one overcome depression, anxiety and insomnia.  Although not many studies have proven this, many people find certain sounds to be very soothing.

ASMR may excite one while at the same time decrease one’s heart rate.

According to theasmr.com, the most common triggers include:

• Whispering
• Scratching and Tapping
• Blowing
• Physical Touch
• Personal Attention
• Page Turning
• Hand Movements (visual ASMR)
• Hair Play
• Role Playing
• Concentration
• Eating
• Sticky Fingers

Although ASMR may work for some, I predict during the Superbowl most won’t want to stimulated as the game itself is three to four hours of yelling, screaming, booing and jumping up and down….that’s enough excitement for me. Keep the whispers to a minimum.

 

 

Learning Medical Spanish is Easy!!!

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

 

 

 

 

Football Fans May Be More Successful Lovers

For those of us who are football enthusiasts, we may be at an advantage when it comes to relationships.  Makes sense….when things go sour with our partner we turn to football.  When we get sidelined we wait for a signal to get back on the field.  And we instinctively “suit up” before each encounter to protect us from the blows we may incur.  So the question arises, do football fans fare better in relationships?

 

We know the field

Before any play, we need to position ourselves correctly on the field.  Being too close to the “end zone” when you’re supposed to be yards away can give you a severe penalty.

So we start at the line of scrimmage and respect the “neutral zone.”

 

 

An infraction of this space could again inflict a costly penalty.  There’s a time and a place when beginning a play and entering this zone is allowed.

 

 

True our goal is to get to the end zone but it will take some strategy, finesse, and opportunity.  Some good drives will get you a long way, and patience and persistence is key.

 

 

We study our competition

Before any play we size up our competition.  Some may block your advance but most you can overcome.  As long as you know your routes and can keep other players at bay, you have a chance of advancing.

 

How do we fumble?

Holding a ball loosely and carelessly could cause it to easily fall into another player’s hands.

 

But if you hold it too tight it may squeeze out the first opportunity it gets.  A proper cradling, warmth, and protection may be the right recipe.

 

 

We need to rely on others during a fumble

Losing the ball is devastating and someone else can pick it up and run with it.  It takes your buddies to help you regain possession so you can start over.

 

 

Treat your partner right and don’t lose them to begin with.

 

We are always prepared for an interception

The field is fluid and players are out there watching, waiting to grab your ball and take advantage of the yardage you acquired.

 

 

Always be mindful of your position and don’t take your possession for granted.

We adapt when we’re in the red zone

Although the red zone is not officially marked on the field, we understand it to be the 20 yards closest to the end zone, or time during a relationship where you can either advance to your goal or fail miserably, losing all the time and work you put into the relationship.  Being too aggressive may cause a fumble, interception or even injury.  Being too chill could prevent you from ever making a touchdown.

So us football folk know how to stop, huddle, and plan,  hopefully resulting in the ball sailing into the end zone without a hitch.

 

So if you’re in the dating scene and find yourself getting encroached, needing to scramble, or facing a blitz, watch some football and learn how to treat your date right.  It might get you a whole new set of fresh downs…….

 

 

Daliah Wachs, MD, FAAFP is a nationally syndicated radio personality on GCN Network, KDWN, and iHeart Radio.

She is also a Board Certified Family Physician and Assistant Professor at Touro University Nevada