By Nick Madigan

For a grown man, David Murphy looked a little sheepish. Having to admit that he didn't take good care of his health was not something that came naturally.

Murphy, a 57-year-old publisher, had a lot of company yesterday at a conference - the first of its kind - that targeted the health concerns of African-American men. Any who showed up at the Baltimore Convention Center, and hundreds did, were provided with free screenings for all manner of ills, from diabetes to hypertension, immune deficiencies to heart disease.

"I'm not feeling 100 percent, and that's why I'm here," said Murphy, who publishes an online business and consumer guide, The Maryland Portal, and who admitted that he is uninsured and does not have a physician. "I'm being screened for everything. When you get to my age, you start getting the aches and pains, and you've got to get checked."

As a nurse was about to draw a droplet of blood from his finger, the only thing Murphy asked was not to be photographed "screaming and hollering."

The notion was apt, given the reluctance of many people to see a physician once in a while and to pay attention to whatever emerges from the visit.

"African-American men have a problem going to the doctor," said Joe Cooke, an educator in the HIV/AIDS unit of the state's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He said there were enormous health problems in the black community that were not being addressed, primarily because, he said, African-American men often disregard their higher propensity toward certain diseases that do not affect other races to the same degree.

"The disparities for all of this - prostate cancer, HIV, diabetes - are alarming, much higher than in the majority community," Cooke, 50, said after discussing his own cardiovascular system with a specialist. "We need to educate people. If you're not getting treatment for a lot of these killers, they're ticking time bombs waiting to go off."

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For the study, the researchers questioned over 1,000 men who had developed prostate cancer and 1,250 who had not about their sexual habits. They found that men who had ejaculated the most between the ages of 20 and 50 were the least likely to develop prostate cancer.

Law and Order's Jerry Orbach passes away from prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, excluding skin cancers, in American men.

More than that, the researchers also have an explanation for their findings. Apparently, ejaculating may prevent carcinogens accumulating in the prostate gland. The prostate provides a fluid into semen during ejaculation that activates sperm and prevents them sticking together.

According to Dr. Graham Giles, of the Cancer Council Victoria in Melbourne, who led the research team, fewer ejaculations may mean the carcinogens build up.

“It’s a prostatic stagnation hypothesis. The more you flush the ducts out, the less there is to hang around and damage the cells that line them,” he told New Scientist.

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So far in New Zealand,  Customs and Medsafe had intercepted one product destined for New Zealand that appeared to be a counterfeit version of erectile dysfunction drug Cialis.

The drug was believed to have been bought through the Internet. Samples were being tested by Environmental Science and Research.

Singapore reports the products - Power 1 Walnut, Santi Bovine Penis Erecting Capsule, Zhong Hua Niu Bian and the fake Cialis - are believed to have caused one death, up to 30 serious illnesses and 59 adverse reactions.

All four products contain glibenclamide, a prescription medicine used to treat diabetes.

Glibenclamide lowers blood sugar and can be deadly for users who do not have diabetes.

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“The U.S. and international efforts to combat malaria, an often invisible killer, are critical in the fight against a disease we deal with infrequently here in the United States. Malaria is no longer perceived as a threat to us – particularly when compared with the devastation wrought by HIV or cancer -- but in sub-Saharan Africa or Asia, malaria is anything but invisible. In these parts of the world, a child dies of malaria every thirty seconds.

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said some African countries have fallen behind in fighting the disease, which the World Health Organization estimates kills 1.3 million people each year, mostly children under age 5.

"In recent years, several African countries have made dramatic strides in malaria control, but the most affected nations remain off track to reach the goal of halting and reversing the incidence of the disease," Ban said.

"We need desperately to step up our efforts to roll back malaria."

More than 40 percent of the world's population in more than 100 countries is at risk of catching the mosquito-borne disease. Although malaria kills most of its victims in sub-Saharan Africa, the disease also hits people in much of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

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April 24, 2008 -- More than 400 African-American leaders are expected from across the country to participate in the Power Weekend sponsored by the American Heart Association/ American Stroke Association at the Ritz Carlton Buckhead in Atlanta, Georgia to discuss progress and future strategy concerning the "Power to End Stroke" campaign in the African American community.

According to the American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, the burden of stroke is greater among African-Americans than any other ethnic group in America. Blacks have almost twice the risk of first-ever stroke compared to whites, and blacks 34-54 years old have four times the relative risk for stroke. More than 100,000 African-Americans have a stroke each year and many don't know that they are at risk. The American Stroke Association states that stroke is the number 3 killer in the United States and a leading cause of disability.

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The survey takes approximately 30 minutes to complete and is anonymous, meaning that your responses cannot be traced to you. Individuals who complete the survey can choose to be entered into a drawing for one of ten $25 cash prizes.

Participation in this study is voluntary and may end at any time. In addition, you do not have to answer any questions you do not want to answer. Any individual may take the survey, and no person will be denied access to completing the survey. However, this survey is designed to gather the health care experiences of individuals who identify as same-gender-oriented (e.g., lesbian, gay). Participants who identify as bisexual, transgender, or intersex may feel that there are additional experiences that they have had with health care providers that are not asked about in this survey.

Obesity is under-diagnosed in people with diabetes overall and particularly in African-Americans, even though both conditions are more prevalent in African-Americans than whites

In comparing the African-American Type 2 diabetes population to the rest of the Type 2 diabetes population in the United States, the study uncovers several notable differences between the groups’ demographic, concomitant conditions and therapy profiles. In terms of age, the African-American diabetes population tends to be younger than other patients, with 73 percent under age 65 (compared with 57 percent under age 65 for other patients). It is also important to note that patients in this group are diagnosed at an earlier age – 47 vs. age 51 for other patients.

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"Sanitation is a cornerstone of public health," said WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan. "Improved sanitation contributes enormously to human health and well-being, especially for girls and women. We know that simple, achievable interventions can reduce the risk of contracting diarrhoeal disease by a third."

Although WHO and UNICEF estimate that 1.2 billion people worldwide gained access to improved sanitation between 1990 and 2004, an estimated 2.6 billion people - including 980 million children - had no toilets at home. If current trends continue, there will still be 2.4 billion people without basic sanitation in 2015, and the children among them will continue to pay the price in lost lives, missed schooling, in disease, malnutrition and poverty.

"Nearly 40% of the world's population lacks access to toilets, and the dignity and safety that they provide," said Ann M. Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director. "The absence of adequate sanitation has a serious impact on health and social development, especially for children. Investments in improving sanitation will accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and save lives."

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