Recent content by sbstrum_MD

I am a hematologist/oncologist that jsut retired after 60 years of medicine, with 40 of those years focused on prostate cancer and other diseases of men. This is a good video and I especially like seeing the peer-reviewed literature referred to. I would ask the physician to add to this the...

I am a physician and just retired after 60 years overall in cancer medicine with 54 of those years in clinical care of patients. I have been intrigued with herbal agents and remain so for most of those years. I cannot identify any single or combination herbal agent as an effective diuretic. In...

Stephen B. Strum, MD, FACP: I hate to invoke something as basic as education and experience, but that is foundational to any discussion. When one is involved in another human life, the integrity of that life is the Prime Directive. This means observing what you are doing and that also goes...

Sorry, as someone that has been in cancer medicine for 60 years, platelet numbers do matter. High platelets can result in thrombosis or in bleeding. Other factors come into play here as well and relate to what medications & supplements the patient is taking. For example, a patient taking...

First of all, the hemoglobin and hematocrit are telling you the same thing. So if you call the Hgb normal, then the HCT is normal. Hgb x 3 essentially = hematocrit; or viceversa, HCT/3 ≈ HGB. Your HCT of 50.4 ≈ Hgb 16.8. I would not consider that normal nor would I consider a HCT of 50%...

Sorry, I thought your question was addressed to me and then realized just now that it was not. But commenting on Cataceous's input, I do not think I would have bothered advising a patient with a prolactin of 11 to start cabergoline. Lab tests such as prolactin are subject to major variation...

My most recent prolactin (PRL) level was 2.9 (normal < 15.2) on a dose of cabergoline 0.25 mg twice a week (biw). I also was on anastrozole (Arimidex®) 0.5 mg biw with an E2 of < 5.0. Recognize that I am an old timer, soon to be 81 years old, and surviving a usual fatal disease diagnosed in...

What I have seen working in major cities in the US and also giving presentations in Europe and Australia is that few physicians ever check prolactin levels. I would be delighted but shocked if any MD questioned could reply with evidence of knowledge about prolactin receptors or what drugs like...

I never received anything from the pharmaceutical company sponsoring cabergoline. In fact, a major regret in my life as an investigator for many block buster drugs was that I thought it unethical to purchase stock in these companies. If I would have done that I could have built an outstanding...

The above is wrong. There is clear-cut evidence that TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) with high testosterone levels will stimulate E2 production via aromatase. Those high E2 levels are absolutely stimulants of prolactin. My goal as a physician is to bring happiness associated with...

My experience with significant lowering of prolactin using cabergoline (Dostinex®) is in a study population of older men and the vast majority were being treated for prostate cancer. This is a seriously different cohort of men than in the publication cited above. I am attaching the full paper...

Bromocriptine is not an easy drug with nausea and vomiting a major side effect. This is in stark contrast to cabergoline that is very patient friendly. I was an investigator for cabergoline with the pharmaceutical company that eventually got FDA approval. I am pissed that this drug is...

I have never seen any ill effects form the use of cabergoline (Dostinex®) given at doses of 0.25 mg biw or tiw (twice or three times a week). Many of my patients are on this regimen for years. One thing I do note that if you are on cabergoline for many months, often you can stop it and still...

The dose of cabergoline (Dostinex®) you cite above is quite reasonable. Most men on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) will have an increase in prolactin unless they are monitored for estrogen increase that is routinely related to aromatization of T to estradiol. It is called aromatization...

See my comments in the context of your message above: Gman86: Primobolan decreases E2. Forget the exact mechanism by which it does this, but most DHT derivatives will lower E2 in ur serum and on a blood test, or inhibit E2‘s effects, but won’t visibly show a lowering of E2 on a blood test. ss...