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Wellness

Know your organs

esticles are parts that are found on the bodies of male creatures. Male mammals, including men, have two testicles, supported in a sac of skin below the penis called the scrotum. Along with the penis, testicles are called reproductory organs or “sex organs”. Only males have testicles; females have ovaries. Testicles are a type of organ called glands. Like other glands, they make chemical substances called hormones that keep the body working. Testicles also make sperm which can join with ova to make new life. Their location Most glands, like women’s ovaries, are inside the body, but testicles are outside the main part of the body. This is because the testicles work better if they are cooler than the inside of the body. In cold weather, testicles pull up nearer to the body to keep warm. The testicles are firm, oval-shaped glands. Most testicles match in size, but some testicles are much larger or smaller than others. Normal sized testicles are between 14 cm³ to 35 cm³. Nearly all men have one testicle that hangs lower than the other one. Scientists think this may be so that they do not hit against each other. It can be either the left or the right that hangs lower, but in 85% of men, it is the left one. The left testicle usually descends first and this may affect which one hangs lower. The testicles hang in the scrotum by the spermatic cord. They are outside the body because they need to be cooler than the temperature inside the body, in order to make sperm. Making of sperms The testicles, inside the scrotum, are covered with a tough type of white protective skin called a membrane. The inner part of the testicles has many small

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Testicles

tubes called seminiferous tubules which are coiled (or twisted around). Sperm are made inside the seminiferous tubules. The sperm pass through some small tubes called ducts into another part at the back of the testicle, called the epididymis, which is where the sperm cells finish maturing. The sperm cells then travel along a tube called the vas deferens until they reach the urethra. The urethra is the main tube in the penis and leads to the opening at the end called the urethral opening. The urethral opening is also the way that urine leaves the body from the bladder. When a man feels sexual desire, sperm cells go through the ejaculatory duct. They are combined with liquid called seminal fluid from a gland called the prostate. The prostate also has muscles that push the sperm and fluid into the urethra. During sexual intercourse, seminal fluid containing the sperm comes out through the urethral opening when a man ejaculates. If the sperm from the testicles enters the vagina of a woman during sexual intercourse, it may pass into the uterus and join with a mature ovum (or egg) to begin a new baby. Other important functions Testicles have two important jobs in the body. Testicles make several types of chemical substances. Making of these substances is controlled by the pituitary gland which is a small gland in the brain. One substance made by the testicles is the hormone testosterone which is important in a male person’s body, because it makes him grow into a man and feel like a man during puberty. Apart from hormones, the other important substances made by the testicles are spermatozoa, which are generally just called sperm. The most important diseases of testicles are: Inflammation of the testicles; Testicular cancer; Fluid around a testicle; Spermatic cord torsion and Varicocele - swollen veins to the testes.

‘Uterine fibroids develop during childbearing years’ CONTINUED FROM PAGE 51 cause sudden, sharp pelvic pain or profuse menstrual bleeding. The medical expert warned women against using unorthodox methods in treating fibroids. “There are innovative treatments available in taking care of fibroids here in Nigeria. Women should stop patronising quacks and native doctors for such surgeries so as to prevent unnecessary loss of lives,” Dr Akinola advised. According to him, symptomatic uterine fibroids can be treated by a variety of modalities such as treating the symptoms, shrinking, destroying or excising the disease. He gave various medical treatment options that are available for women who have been diagnosed with the ailment. “There are anti-fibroid medications available particularly hormonal preparations including progesterone, gonadotropin releasing hormone analogue. This is a hormone medicine that causes you to have a very low level of oestrogen in your body. Fibroids shrink if the level of oestrogen falls. This can ease heavy periods and pressure symptoms due to fibroids. However, a low oestrogen level can cause symptoms similar to going through the menopause. “For pain relievers, simple analgesics like Paracetamol, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and occasionally narcotics can be used with tremendous benefits. “In low resource countries, newer treatment methods that are cost-effective and can reduce the burden of major surgeries for fibroids are welcome. Traditionally, myomectomy have been the mainstay of fibroid treatment. It is the open abdominal fibroid surgery with the safeguarding of the womb, especially in women seeking fertility treatments. This usually comes with other complications like bleeding, infection, removal of the womb and even death in inexperienced hands. “The option to use laparoscopic surgical excision brings many advantages, including shorter discharge

time, lesser pain relief requirements, small surgical incisions and therefore minimal scarring. It however, requires longer time, special expensive equipment and expertise that are not widely available. Significant proportions of women with abnormally large symptomatic fibroids unfavourably consider removal of the womb as a treatment modality even in those who have completed their families. “The recent conservative methods for treating fibroid include Uterine Artery Embolisation (UAE). It is increasingly being considered to treat fibroid in a few centres around the world. UAE is the most signifcant therapeutic innovation for fibroids. It is a procedure where small particles (embolic agents) injected into the arteries supplying the uterus cut off blood flow to fibroids, causing them to shrink. This technique, performed by an interventional radiologist, is proving effective in shrinking fibroids and relieving the symptoms they can cause. Advantages over surgery include no incision and a shorter recovery time. Complications may occur if the blood supply to your ovaries or other organs is compromised. UAE is not applicable in all cases, especially for women seeking fertility treatment because of possible iatrogenic loss of ovarian functions and decrease of egg reserve. Furthermore, the procedure is not widely available and is relatively more expensive. “Other newer and non-invasive treatment options that are largely experimental and therefore not widely practised include percutaneous laser ablation, cryoablation, transvaginal uterine artery occlusion and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound. These treatment modalities are used in selected group of women.” In all, medical experts are of the view that there’s no single best approach to uterine fibroid treatment. “However, Hysterectomy which is an operation to remove the uterus remains the only proven permanent solution for uterine fibroids; but Hysterectomy is major surgery and ends your ability to bear children,” experts add.

Sunday Mirror www.nationalmirroronline.net

Your

BONE Health

with Dr. Olatunji Idowu

What is Osteoporosis? (8)

Bone density changes so slowly with treatment that the changes are smaller than the measurement error of the machine. In other words, repeat DXA scans cannot distinguish between a real increase in bone density due to treatment or a mere variation in measurement from the machine itself. The real purpose of osteoporosis treatment is to decrease future bone fractures. There is no good correlation between increases in bone density with decreases in fracture risks with treatment. For example, alendronate has been shown to decrease fracture risk by 50% but only to increase bone density by a few percent. In fact, most of the fracture reduction with raloxifene is not explained by raloxifene’s effects on bone mineral density. One density measurement taken during treatment will not help the doctor plan or modify treatment. For example, even if the DXA scan shows continued deterioration in bone density during treatment, there is not yet research data demonstrating that changing a medication, combining medications, or doubling medication doses will be safe and helpful in decreasing the future risk of fractures. Even if bone density deteriorates during treatment, it is quite likely that the patient would have lost even more bone density without treatment. Recent research has shown that women who lose bone density after the first year of HRT will gain bone density in the next two years of therapy, whereas women who gain in the first year will tend to lose density in the next two years of therapy. Therefore, bone density during treatment fluctuates naturally, and these fluctuations may not correlate with the prevention of fractures due to the medication. For all of these reasons, as surprising as it may sound to many people (and even some doctors!), rechecking bone density is not at all like checking blood pressure during treatment of high blood pressure (hypertension). Routine bone density testing during treatment is unlikely to be helpful. In the future, however, if ongoing research brings new technology or new therapies, testing decisions may change. What are complications of osteoporosis? The primary complication of osteoporosis is bone fracture. This may lead to no symptoms or be associated with severe, intractable pain. Recurrent fractures are common and can lead to deteriorating skeletal structure. Occasionally, fractures of the spinal vertebrae can push bone into adjacent nerves and/or spinal cord. This can require neurosurgical intervention. Osteoporotic vertebral fractures can also be relieved by vertebroplasty (kyphoplasty) procedures whereby the collapsed vertebra is inflated by a balloon and bone cement (methylmethacrylate) is injected to reform structure to the vertebra. Repeated vertebral compression fractures can lead to severe deformity of the spine of the chest (kyphosis) that can compromise breathing along with cause extreme loss of height. This can increase the risk of problems with any respiratory infections. What is the prognosis (outlook) for patients with osteoporosis? The outlook for patients with osteoporosis depends greatly on where fractures occur. Additionally, if treatment is begun when the bone disease is detected early, the outcome is better. Hip fractures are a particularly dangerous consequence of osteoporosis in the elderly. Approximately 20% of those who experience a hip fracture will die in the year following the fracture. Only one-third of hip-fracture patients regain their pre-fracture level of function. One-third of hip-fracture patients are discharged to a nursing home within the year after fracture. Newer medications, medications with different methods of delivery, and research into the optimal management of osteoporosis will bring even better options for care for patients with osteoporosis in the future. If you have any problem or question about your musculoskeletal system (bones, joints and muscles) do send me a mail at tunjiidowu@live.com for advice. Meanwhile, your comments and feedback on the issues discussed are highly welcomed.