This study examined risks associated with dual implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP), and an artificial urinary sphincter (AUS) in men with erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. This study concluded that surgical complications and device survival are similar between dual implantation and the implantation of only one device.

Previously, I’ve explored the potent antihypertensive effect of dietary flaxseed in hypertensive patients. This was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial where they disguised ground flax seed in baked goods, versus like flax-free placebo muffins, and got an extraordinary drop in high blood pressures. As you can imagine, the flax seed industry was overjoyed, praising the impressive findings, as was I. After all, high blood pressure is the single largest risk factor for death on the planet earth. Yes, we give people medications—lots and lots of medications, but most people don’t take them, as in 9 out of 10 people take less than 80 percent of their prescribed blood pressure pills. Just 8 percent.

It’s not difficult to understand why. “Patients are asked to follow an inconvenient and potentially costly regimen, which will likely have a detrimental effect on [their] health-related quality of life to treat a mostly asymptomatic condition.” So, they may feel worse instead of better, due to the side effects. The answer, then, is to give them more drugs to counteract the effects of the first drugs— like giving men Viagra to counteract the erectile dysfunction caused by their blood pressure pills.

How about using a dietary strategy instead, especially if it can be just as effective? And indeed, the drop in blood pressures they got in the flax seed study “was greater than the average decrease observed with the standard dose of anti-hypertensive [drugs].” And, flaxseeds are cheaper too, compared to even single medications, and most patients are on multiple drugs. And it has good side effects beyond their anti-hypertensive actions—but not all good. Taking tablespoons of flax seed a day is a lot of fiber for people who have been living off of cheeseburgers and milkshakes their whole lives, and it can take a little while for your gut bacteria to adjust to the new bounty. So, people who start out with low-fiber diets may want to take it slow at first.

Not all studies have shown significant blood pressure-lowering effects. There have been over a dozen trials by now, involving more than a thousand subjects. And yes, put them all together, and overall, there were significant reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures—the upper and lower numbers—following supplementation with various flax seed products. None were as dramatic as that six-month trial. The longer trials tended to show better results, and some of the trials just used flax seed oil or some kind of flax seed extract. The thought is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. “Each of the components of interest within flaxseed, [the omega-3’s, the cancer-fighting lignans, all the soluble fiber and plant proteins,] all contribute towards [the] blood pressure reduction.” Okay, but how? Why? What’s the mechanism?

Some common blood-pressure medications, like Norvasc or Procardia, work by reducing the ability of the heart to contract, or slowing the heart down. And so, it’s possible that’s how flaxseed works too. But no. “Dietary flaxseed reduces…blood pressure without cardiac involvement but [rather,] through changes in plasma oxylipins.” What are oxylipins?

“Oxylipins are a group of fatty acid metabolites” involved in inflammation, and as a result, have been implicated in many pro-inflammatory conditions including cardiovascular disease and aging. “The best characterized oxylipins in relation to cardiovascular disease are derived from the long chain omega-6 fatty acid [known as] arachidonic acid, found preformed in animal products, particularly chicken and eggs,” and can be made inside the body from junky omega-6 rich oils, such as cottonseed oil. But, elevated levels of pro-inflammatory oxylipins in older subjects are normalized by flax seed consumption.

That’s how we think flax seed consumption reduces blood pressure in patients with hypertension: by inhibiting the enzyme that makes these pro-inflammatory oxylipins. I’ll spare you from the acronym overload, but basically, eating flax seeds inhibits the activity of the enzyme that makes these pro-inflammatory oxylipins, called leukotoxin diols, which in turn may lower blood pressure. “Identifying the biological mechanism adds confidence to the antihypertensive actions of dietary flaxseed.”

But that’s not all oxylipins do. Oxylipins may play a role in the aging process. But we may be able to beneficially disrupt these biological changes associated with inflammation and aging with a nutritional intervention like flax seed. Older adults (around age 50) have higher levels of this arachidonic acid-derived oxylipin, compared to younger adults (around age 20). “These elevated concentrations of pro-inflammatory oxylipins in the older age group…may [help] explain the higher levels of inflammation in older versus younger individuals.” As we get older, we’re more likely to be stricken with inflammatory conditions like arthritis; and so, this elevation of pro-inflammatory oxylipins may predispose individuals to chronic disease conditions. But what if you took those older adults and gave them muffins—ground flax seed-containing muffins?

Four weeks later, their levels dropped to here, down to like 20-year-old levels, demonstrating “that a potential therapeutic strategy to correct the deleterious pro-inflammatory oxylipin profile is via a dietary supplementation with [flax].”

This study investigated the effects of folic acid supplementation on homocysteine blood levels and on erectile dysfunction (ED). Researchers suggested that homocysteine is associated with ED and folic acid can improve both homocysteine levels and ED.

In ancient Greece, the art of medicine was divided into three areas: cures through diet, cures through drugs, and cures through surgery. Garlic, Hippocrates wrote, was one such medicinal food, but that was to treat a nonexistent entity called “displacement of the womb.” So, ancient wisdom can only go so far.

Those who eat more than a clove a day do seem to have better artery function than those who eat less than a clove a day, but you don’t know if it’s cause and effect until you put it to the test.

Heart disease patients were randomized to receive either garlic powder or placebo tablets twice daily for three months. And, those lucky enough to be in the garlic group got a significant boost in their artery function: a 50 percent increase in function taking only 800 mg of garlic powder a day. That’s just a quarter-teaspoon of garlic powder; a 50 percent increase in artery function for less than a penny a day.

If regular, plain, boring garlic powder can do that, what about those fancy Kyolic aged garlic extract supplements? Thirty times more expensive, and they don’t work at all! Four weeks and zero significant improvement. It’s hard to improve on Mother Nature.

Garlic powder can improve the function of our arteries, but what about the structure of our arteries? Dozens of studies on garlic, all compiled together, show garlic can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood by more than 16 points. So, might garlic powder be able to actually slow the progression of atherosclerosis? Garlic powder tablet versus placebo for three months. The placebo group got worse, which is what tends to happen. Eat the same artery-clogging diet, and your arteries continue to clog. But, the progression of the disease appeared to slow and stall in the garlic group. Of course, it would be nice to see the artery wall thickening actually reverse, but for that, one might have to add more plants than just garlic to one’s diet. Still, though, that same quarter-teaspoon of a simple spice available everywhere may be considered as an adjunct treatment for atherosclerosis, the number one killer of both men and women in the United States and around much of the world.

What about garlic for high blood pressure? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials demonstrating garlic has “a statistically significant and clinically meaningful effect” on both systolic and diastolic blood pressure, reducing the top number by nearly seven and the bottom number by about five. That may not sound like a lot, but reducing diastolic blood pressure—the bottom number—by five points can reduce the risk of stroke by about a third, and heart disease by 25 percent.

Plant-based medicine can provide beneficial effects, with little or no side effects, and “compared to other medicine are relatively cost effective.” I’d say so, at as little as a penny per day.

This study investigated if orthostatic hypotension (OH) is associated with cardiovascular events (CVEs) in patients treated for hypertension (high blood pressure).

They found that OH is not associated with CVEs in these patients. 

This study aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of tamsulosin (Flomax) versus tamsulosin and tadalafil (Cialis) for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS). The main finding was that the combination treatment appeared to improve LUTS more than treatment with tamsulosin alone, with no difference in side effects.

This study evaluated the order of treatment with two different hormone therapy drugs in patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer that has spread. This study found that treatment with abiraterone acetate (Yonsa) then enzalutamide (Xtandi) delayed cancer growth or spread longer than the same drugs in the opposite order.

This trial will investigate the effect of exercise training programs to manage hypertension in patients with hypertension with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D). The main outcome will be the change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) after 3 months.

This study investigated the effect of body weight changes on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. 

They found that body weight changes were associated with a higher risk of CVD and mortality.

This study investigated if anti-hypertensive medications (AHMs) reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). They found that AHMs may reduce the risk of dementia.