Dr. Turek's Blog

Can Tomato Puree Improve Male Fertility?

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Tomatoes have had a good year in my field. This tasty little fruit-vegetable (yes, it’s both) has always been a workhorse dietary antioxidant. And when cooked into a sauce or paste, the all-star phytonutrients in tomatoes, including lycopene and Vitamins A and C, become even more concentrated. But could eating tomatoes also improve reproductive health? […]

How Good Are Genetic Screening Tests?

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Think of your genome — all the DNA in your body — as a big book. Twenty-three chapters long, containing hundreds of thousands of letters and tens of thousands of words, all telling your story. If you alter a paragraph, a sentence or even a letter in a word in your book, will it read […]

Can the Keto Diet Affect a Man’s Fertility?

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Name something you routinely do every day that has the single largest impact on your health. Sleep? Nope. Exercise? Nope. Eating? Yup. Do you doubt the power of food? Then please consider the French Paradox: the fact that heart disease among the French is incredibly low despite an American-equivalent, fat-loaded diet. And then there’s the […]

Patient Concerns About Vasectomy Reversal

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

She sat at the edge of her seat way tucked away in the corner of his room. Legs together and knees bobbing, she was very nervous about what was about to happen. “I feel a little guilty about putting him through a vasectomy reversal just for me,” she quipped. With an aim to reassure, I […]

The 9 Downsides of Anabolic Steroids

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

I prescribe steroids all the time…to men who need them. The goal is to bring low testosterone back to normal levels, to put the oil back in the engine. This therapy is based on the medical fact that the health benefits of normal testosterone levels are well recognized. But when the goal is to build […]

Erectile dysfunction pills

Can Erection Pills Be Bad for Your Health?

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

In life, there are opportunities taken and opportunities missed. The same is true in men’s health. The way men are built, they typically don’t come face to face with medical care unless their lives are threatened, or they’re in pain. The latest Cleveland Clinic survey pretty much sums this up: Over 60% of men neglect […]

Trouble Conceiving After Vasectomy Reversal

Not Conceiving After Vasectomy Reversal? Blame the Epididymis

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

OK, the vasectomy reversal worked and your gun is loaded again. But you’re still not conceiving. What’s up with that? Consider blaming the epididymis. The epi-what-a-mis? It’s a small, comma-shaped organ down there whose life was altered after the vasectomy. It used to help fertility, but the vasectomy changed all that. Pivot and Roll Within […]

Prostate Cancer in Infertile Men

Confirmed: Prostate Cancer Occurs More Frequently in Infertile Men

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Male infertility and prostate cancer are common diseases in men, both occurring in about 8-10% of the male population. Many of us have wondered whether there is any relationship between the two conditions and specifically whether fatherhood status alters prostate cancer risk. Does having lots of kids “protect” men from getting prostate cancer? Likewise, does […]

Sperm Mapping

The Safety of Sperm Mapping

Posted on by Paul Turek, MD

Hard to believe, but Sperm Mapping has its sceptics. Generally, they are few in number and they have never actually used the technique, but for some reason they appear wedded to the status quo. The basis of Sperm Mapping is fine needle aspiration (FNA), a tool that has been used in medicine for over 100 […]