Spotlight: What Prince Taught Us About Sexuality

The desire to be one of the girls is still largely taboo within male heterosexual culture, and one of the gifts Prince has left us is the template for how to approach these instincts and desires without shame. Part of the power of Prince's queer beacon during the '80s was precisely this: despite not being gay, he implied to his male audience that whatever their relationship to femininity was, there was no need for any shame around it.
Music OMH, April 23, 2016

Last week, researchers at Georgetown University announced a 71-year-old man was the first HIV patient to be diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Dr. R. Scott Turner, Ph.D., a neurologist at G.U., says the patient could dispute what researchers know about HIV and dementia, namely how some patients may be misdiagnosed with HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND) when they may be developing Alzheimer's disease, or both. "Chronic HIV infection and amyloid deposition with aging may represent a 'double-hit' to the brain that results in progressive dementia," Turner said in a press release. It's an important designation because there are four drugs approved to treat Alzheimer's, while HAND is treated with antiretroviral drugs. While the finding is important, this man may not be the first person with HIV diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

HealthLine, April 22, 2016

Gardasil 9 vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV) has the potential to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer as well as overall healthcare costs if its use is more widely adopted, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Using a transmission model that took into account the factors affecting HPV transmission and progression of cervical cancer, the researchers found that a switch to Gardasil 9 would decrease incidence of cervical cancer by 73%, compared to 63% with older vaccines, and reduce mortality by 49% versus 43%.

Clinical Advisor, April 22, 2016

The number of suicides in the United States has been on the rise since 1999 in everyone between the ages of 10 and 74, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report is the first since 1999 to look at suicide rates among all age groups, she said.The number of suicides increased among all racial groups except for black males, who saw an 8% decline in suicide rate from 10.5 to 9.7 per 100,000 between 1999 and 2014, respectively. The largest increases were among American Indians and Alaska Natives; in this group, the  suicide rate climbed by 89% among women and 38% among men. Suicide rates among white women and white men increased by 60% and 28%, respectively. A contributor to the rise in suicide rates could be the growing number of   overdose deaths from opiate painkillers , which are considered suicide if a medical examiner or coroner determines that they were probably intentional, Moutier said. "Access to lethal means is one of the most significant risk factors for an individual to die by suicide," she added.

CNN, April 22, 2016

Boys will be able to get free vaccinations against HPV infection and the cancers that can result from it starting in September. Health Minister Eric Hoskins said the human papilloma virus program - now limited to girls - is being expanded to all students in Grade 7.

When boys are young they often follow their fathers around, asking endless questions and trying to be "just like Dad". But as boys get older, much can go unsaid - especially when it comes to struggles and challenges in their lives.While one in four young Australians experience mental health issues, only 13 per cent of young men are likely to seek help.Youth mental health service provider headspace is now turning to fathers to help encourage young men to get support when they need it."Young men ask for help differently than young women," clinical psychologist for headspace ACT Tim McLauchlan told 666 ABC Canberra's Drive program. "They're not as likely to admit they have problems; the y're not as likely to seek a conversation with someone about that when it's going on"

ABC, April 21, 2016

HPV vaccination rates increased among high-risk urban youth with health-seeking behaviors, highlighting the significant influence health care providers have over vaccine adherence, according to research presented at the Annual Conference on Vaccine Research. "Providers need to think about any opportunity to vaccinate and think about bundling of services as people are come into the clinic for any other health check [sexually transmitted infection (STI) or other vaccine] ," Holly B. Fontenot, PhD, RN/NP, assistant professor at the William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College, told Infectious Diseases in Children. "So, if patients are there for STI or HIV testing, then the health provider need to stop and think about what else they might be missing in terms of vaccination."

Helio, April 21, 2016

HPV vaccinations should be made available to adolescent boys as well as girls, the HPV Action coalition has said. The HPV Action coalition is made up of 44 organisations, including the British Dental Association (BDA), and is fighting for the UK vaccination programme to offer gender-neutral vaccinations for the Human Papillomavirus (HPV). HPV can cause numerous diseases, including oral cancer, and has been found to be the cause of 5% of all cancer cases, leading the BDA to call on the dental profession to support HPV Action's calls.'Dentists are on the front line in the battle against oral cancer,' Russ Ladwa, chair of the BDA's Health and Science Committee, said.

Dentistry, April 21, 2016

Medscape Multispecialty, April 21, 2016

Neuroimaging biomarker tracks autism treatment effectiveness in boys

A new method using neuroimaging to track brain function in boys affected by autism could provide doctors with a biomarker for how patients are responding to behavioral or drug treatments, according to results of a study published online in   JAMA Psychiatry. Such a tool has eluded autism researchers until now, said study co-author and professor Kevin Pelphrey, PhD, of George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "This is significant because biomarkers give us a 'why' for understanding autism in boys that we haven't had before," he said in a press release. "We can now use functional biomarkers to identify what treatments will be effective for individual cases and measure progress."

Health Imaging, April 20, 2016

AUSTRALIA: Rape culture: what makes a boy a man?

There is a war we need to fight to change the mindsets of boys, young men, and wider masculinity, to end the awful history of sexual violence against women and girls. The peer group language has to be opened up, talked about, and changed. Former PM Tony Abbott's inability to filter the sleaze out of even his public comments is a good example of this. It's not just a context issue: mistaking the wider public for a peer group where that kind of comment would go down well. The problem is that it may reveal true attitudes that underlie the veneer. Of course it starts in boyhood.

Sydney Morning Herald, April 19, 2016

Nova Scotia funds consent education for young men

Nova Scotia's strategy is in part a response to the 2013 death of Rehtaeh Parsons

It is a sea change in governmental response to sexual assault: Nova Scotia is funding new programs to teach young men about consent and "positive masculinity," in a bid to address the causes of sexual violence rather than just its aftermath." Our youth, male and female both, felt there was a need to educate young boys," Juliana Julian, health director of Paqtnkek Mi'kmaq Nation, said Monday. "We were talking about consent but we were missing half of population."

CBC News, April 18, 2016

JAMAICA: Fatherlessness a huge problem, says health official

A holistic male development initiative is being developed in Jamaica to address problems affecting young males. The initiative, titled 'Man-Up, a Call to Healthy, Responsible Manhood' was launched at a male retreat in February, with the intention of being rolled out in schools, colleges, youth groups and churches. It claims the absence of a father has implications for the majority of social and public health challenges, including crime and violence, mental illness, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, child and adult sexual abuse, gender-based violence, teen suicide, youth incarceration, poor performance in schools, unattached youth, gang membership.

Jamaica Observer, April 18, 2016

The Weekly News Roundup is produced by The Partnership for Male Youth and is released every Monday. 

For more information contact Dennis J. Barbour, JD. News Roundup editor and President/CEO of the Partnership, at [email protected].

The  Partnership for Male Youth is a collaboration among 23 national organizations and representation from six federal agencies. It is led by a multidisciplinary and multispecialty steering committee and advisory council. The Partnerships's flagship effort, released in January 2014, is  The Health Provider Toolkit for Adolescent and Young Adult Males.