Highlights of the Week's Men's Health News

Prostate Danger for Men With BRCA2 Gene

There's grim news this week for men carrying a faulty version of the BRCA2 gene. Medical News Today reports on a new study that found that men with prostate cancer caused by that gene are more than twice as likely to die from the disease as those carrying a faulty BRCA1 gene. Both those gene mutations significantly increase the risk that a man's female relatives—and that he himself—will develop breast cancer. (The National Cancer Institute has more detailed info about these genes.) Fortunately, only a small percent of men with prostate cancer have either BRCA gene. Still, it's worth knowing if you're one of the unlucky ones.

Men More Likely To Die in Floods and Thunderstorms

With the Midwest still swamped, Time reports that men are more likely than women to die because of floods and thunderstorms. The article says that of the 1,442 thunderstorm-related fatalities between 1994 and 2000, 70 percent were men. In fact, men die of nearly every type of accident (as well other leading causes of death) at significantly higher rates than women. More federal attention in the form of a men's health office might help address the disparity, but there are many steps—here are seven—that men can take on their own to start extending their lifespan.

Men's Health Tip: Catch Skin Cancer Before It Spreads

Men have higher rates of skin cancer, I reported this week as part of a U.S. News Web package about the health benefits and risks of sunshine. The difference is most pronounced for squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas, the types of skin cancer most strongly associated with exposure to ultraviolet light. And melanoma, which is more dangerous than the other types, tends to be especially lethal in men. That's probably because men wait longer before getting suspicious spots checked, giving the cancer a chance to spread. Here are eight tips for catching melanoma early.

AIDS Soars Among Men Who Have Sex With Men

A sobering new report published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows that while AIDS rates are down in other demographic groups, they are soaring among men who have sex with men—particularly among African-Americans. Today is National HIV Testing Day, and approximately 25 percent of people infected with HIV are unaware of their infection, according to the CDC.

This Week in the Blogosphere

In the Chronicle of Higher Education's Brainstorm blog, Marty Nemko (a contributing editor for U.S. News) suggests higher education is sexist for failing to embrace men's health needs. Wired's GeekDad blog asks dads which superpower they want most. The New York Time's City Room blog reports that many men who have sex with men are doing so without protection. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Dateline Earth blog touts the results of a Men's Health ranking that says Seattle has the nation's greenest drivers.