ThirdAge Health Headliners of the Week

As we do every week, we've culled the most important articles we brought you based on breaking stories from around the world that can help you and your family stay well. Whether you missed these items the first time they appeared or you caught them and could use a refresher, our goal is to help you stay up-to-date on medical research that can impact your life.

We hope you'll like what you find and come back every Friday for a new installment!

Restoring Orgasm for Boomer Men Up to 75% of men who have prostate surgery experience orgasmic dysfunction as a result. In addition, some antidepressants can disturb male sexual function, and the effects of aging plus any number of psychological issues can also cause problems. Consequently, the total number of Boomer men who have trouble in bed is considerable.

Now there appears to be hope on the horizon, according to a new study done by Tung-Chin Hsieh, MD of the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and colleagues and presented at the 2012 meeting of the American Urological Association.

http://www.thirdage.com/sexual-health/restoring-orgasm-for-boomer-men

A Cream to Boost Female Arousal? Are you a postmenopausal woman who's wondering what happened to your libido? Then you're in good company. A debate still rages in the medical community about whether the label "female sexual arousal disorder (FSAD)" is bogus or not, but on a personal level plenty of Boomer females can attest to feeling hot only when it comes to flashes – but not in the bedroom as of yore.

Take heart! According to recent research, there may be a simple remedy that will rev up your sex drive again.

http://www.thirdage.com/sexual-health/a-cream-to-boost-female-arousal

A Shopaholic Drug? For anyone prone to impulse spending sprees that take a toll on the household budget, help may be on the horizon. A group of psychiatrists at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis led by Dr Cecilia D’Felice tested a drug originally intended to treat – wait for it! – Alzheimer's and found that the study participants were a whopping 50% less likely to buy stuff on a whim that they didn't need and couldn't afford.

http://www.thirdage.com/mental-health/a-shopaholic-drug

Pain Meds May Prevent Melanoma Do you regularly take prescription pain meds such as Aleve, Naprosin, and Celebrex, possibly because of arthritis or other age-related aches and pains? A surprise added benefit may be that you're less likely to get skin cancer. Although this is not a license to abandon safe sun practices – keep slathering on that sunscreen and wearing your broad-brimmed hats! – it is a glimmer of good news just in time for summer.

http://www.thirdage.com/skin/pain-meds-may-prevent-melanoma

"Biggest Loser" Diabetics Off Their Meds Are insulin and other meds are a life sentence for diabetics? No! Contestants on the hit TV show "Biggest Loser" are proof positive that shedding pounds can also free overweight diabetics and prediabetics from all those injections and pills. In a dramatic example of this phenomenon, MedPage Today cites the case of one man who needed six insulin shots a day as well as other multiple prescriptions but was off all medication by the third week of starting an intense exercise regimen.

Even more impressive, by week 5 "all diagnostic criteria for prediabetes, diabetes, and hypertension were absent in each participant, despite discontinuation of all diabetes and hypertension medications," according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists in Philadelphia by Robert Huizenga, MD, the medical advisor for the show.

http://www.thirdage.com/diabetes/biggest-loser-diabetics-off-their-meds