Neutrogena For Men - Start Sampling

After a crazy week of business travel, I decide to simplify things and carry on my bag. Then I remember the 3 oz. Neutrogena liquids rule at the airport. Why 3 oz. anyway; is that the tipping point when hygiene products become explosive? I digress.
As I go for my last shot, I notice I’m picking up a barely touched tube of face wash … Neutrogena Face Wash for Men, to be exact. This product gained my loyalty after sampling it when working with Neutrogena a few years back. Love the stuff, so definitely not willing to just toss it. I offer it to my cameraman who’s local and not getting on a plane. He says, “No thanks. Soap’s all I need.” All I could think was, “Dude doesn’t know what he’s missing!” But, then a quick flashback reminded me … how could he know?
This seemingly inconsequential incident brought back memories of some unfinished business. Coming off that last project I had with Neutrogena, I also had the opportunity to pitch them a marketing strategy to penetrate the growing men’s personal care market – one of their under-performing areas. Then the usual holiday slow-down hit, followed by an un-usual slowdown – J&J, Neutrogena’s parent company, announced layoffs and any new marketing efforts were put on the back burner.
So, in the spirit of closure … Neutrogena, heed the Voice of Reason:
The men’s personal care market is still growing.
By 2012, U.S. retail sales of men's skin care is expected to increase more than 60 percent
Neutrogena’s value proposition derives from being recommended by dermatologists
Dermatologists are trusted advisors for women; not so much for men.
The Reason begs the question – so who are trusted advisors for men?
My barber. So, how about a sampling program in barbershops across the country? Like most men, whether it’s about a bbq joint, tv show, or skin care product, my barber says, “Check it out.” I do.
My gym. So, how about Neutrogena Body Wash in shower dispensers at the local gyms? Let men use, and get used to, the product … then offer samples to take home. Going to the gym is all about routine … make Neutrogena part of that routine … too easy. In The Reasoning, we call this Ritual Selection.
Neutrogena, I’ll keep it simple … men are creatures of habit and don’t like change – ask any woman who asks her man to put down the toilet seat. You make quality products; just get ‘em in our hands … you can become one of those habits we don’t like to change.

Little Evidence That Treating Varicoceles In Men Boosts Pregnancy Rates

A recent review of studies from the Netherlands finds no evidence that treating varicoceles - a somewhat common condition in men with fertility problems - improves a couple’s chances of conceiving a baby.
However, a U.S. commentator questions the review’s study selection and the way it defines infertility.
Fertility experts have long thought that varicoceles, an enlarged group of veins within the scrotum, could be a cause of male fertility problems. Varicoceles occur in 15 percent of all men, and in nearly 40 percent of men undergoing infertility treatment.
Surgery or embolization — a procedure that blocks blood supply to the varicoceles — is often performed in an effort to increase fertility.
“Every year thousands of men are operated on without sufficient scientific evidence that the surgery will have any impact,” said Johannes Evers, the lead review author. “There have been dozens of observational studies published showing a positive effect. However, high-quality, randomized trials were not able to confirm these positive conclusions.”
The review included eight studies involving 607 men. In addition to the presence of a varicocele, study authors looked at other fertility indicators such as quantity and quality of the man’s semen. Pregnancy and live birth were the main outcomes measured. Treatment was either by surgical removal of the varicocele or embolization, where a surgeon inserts a small coil or scarring agent into the vein to block it off.
“This review fails to offer evidence that treatment of varicoceles in men from couples with otherwise unexplained subfertility improves the couple’s chances of pregnancy,” Evers said. “Treatment of varicoceles in men cannot be recommended. The ‘first, do no harm’ principal should guide us as long as there is no evidence to the contrary.”
Evers is a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Academisch Ziekenhuis in Maastricht a city in the Netherlands.
The review appears in the latest issue of the Cochrane Library is a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.
“My suggestion for patients is to check for other factors that might impair fertility before treating the varicocele,” Evers said. “Varicoceles do not seem to decrease fertility, or at least removing them doesn’t seem to help. Don’t concentrate on the wrong issue when there are other more important fertility factors present.”
Joel Marmar, M.D., a professor of urology at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, New Jersey is concerned that what he calls a “clinical hodgepodge of therapy” makes the results of the review confusing.
“Not everyone with a varicocele is going to be infertile,” Marmar said. “Treatment guidelines written by the American Urological Association and The American Society of Reproductive Medicine suggest that only those with a varicocele that the physician could feel (palpable) and a documented sperm abnormality should be treated. This review had studies that included men with normal semen parameters and very small or subclinical varicoceles.”
Using the more stringent guideline criteria for infertility makes a difference, Marmar said.
“Looking at all eight [review] studies, the odds ratio that treatment would be successful was 1.1 [indicating no benefit from the treatment],” he said. However, the results changed when the reviewers looked at a subset of three studies that met guideline criteria, Marmar said. “When including only those men who had palpable varicoceles and semen abnormalities, the odds ratio doubled. These improved results were reported despite a variety of therapies being used.”
Including both surgery and embolization in the analysis further confused the outcomes as they related to treatment of fertility issues, according to Marmar: “These techniques may have different success and failure rates. When developing a study design, it may not be appropriate to mix treatment options together.”

80% of Vasectomy Patients Didn't Complete All-clear Semen Tests

Vasectomy

A quarter of the men who had vasectomies at a US clinic didn't return for any follow up tests to make sure that the procedure had worked, according to research published in the April issue of the British� � � � � � � �"based urology journal BJU International.
And only a fifth of the 436 men turned up for both of the tests needed to finally put them in the clear, according to a study carried out by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute in Ohio, USA.
Of the 75 per cent that did attend their first, eight-week test, a quarter provided samples that still contained sperm. 80 of the 83 men were producing nonmotile (present but inactive) sperm, but three were producing motile (present and active) sperm, including one who was eventually diagnosed with a vasectomy failure.
65 of the 80 men producing nonmotile sperm were clear at their 12-week checks, but six months after their procedure eight men were still producing positive sperm samples. By ten months, all but the vasectomy failure were finally in the clear.
"Our results show that only three-quarters of the men in the study turned up for their eight-week sperm test, which means that a quarter of them had no idea whether the procedure had worked and whether their partner could still fall pregnant" says lead author Dr Nivedita Dhar, Chief Resident in Urology at the Clinic.
"It is impossible to assess the true vasectomy failure rate in the full study sample as many failed to turn up for follow-up tests, despite careful counselling.
"But what concerns us most is that a quarter of the men who had vasectomies did not return for any tests, despite us stressing the important of these follow-ups" adds Dr Dhar.
According to the researchers up to 90 per cent of urologists require two semen samples to confirm sterility and up to 95 per cent request further samples if nonmotile sperm are present. Doctors recommend that couples use additional contraception until vasectomy patients receive the all clear.
"The result of the study are consistent with other research which has estimated that non-compliance among vasectomy patients is between 25 and 40 per cent" says Dr J Stephen Jones, vice chairman of the Glickman Urological Institute, who directed the study.
"It may, however, be possible to improve full compliance among those who return for at least one test by simplifying the follow-up tests in line with current medical evidence and making sure that this is backed up by adequate counselling.
"For example, our study found that 65 of the men tested at eight weeks needed re-testing, but this fell to 15 when it came to the 12-week test. This suggests that a single test at 12 weeks may be adequate in the majority of cases.
"However, it is very important to stress that couples need to use additional contraception until the vasectomy patient has been given the all clear."

Young People Carry Disproportionate Burden Of Sexually Transmitted Infections

The Health Protection Agency has reported a 6% increase in the total number of new sexually transmitted infections (STIs) diagnosed in 2007 compared to 2006.
To coincide with the launch of the Agency’s fifth Annual Report and Accounts, figures are released today showing that across all age groups almost 400,000 (397,990) new STIs were diagnosed in UK genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics in 2007 – an increase from 375,843 in 2006.
The greatest burden continues to fall among young people (aged 16 to 24 years), who are disproportionately affected by STIs.
While just one in eight of the population are aged 16 to 24 years old, this age group accounts for around half of all newly diagnosed STIs in the UK – 65% of all chlamydia (79,557 of 121,986), 55% of all genital warts (49,250 of 89,838) and 50% of gonorrhoea (9,410 of 18,710) infections diagnosed in GUM clinics last year.
The Health Protection Agency, in its latest publication on sexually transmitted infections and young people, is advising that:
* All sexually active young people are screened for chlamydia annually and every time they change their sexual partner. Chlamydia, which can have no symptoms, remains the most common sexually transmitted infection.
* All gay men should take an HIV test annually and each time they believe themselves to have been at risk of infection.
* People can reduce their risk of catching an STI by having fewer sexual partners and avoiding overlapping sexual relationships.
* Everybody should use a condom with a new sexual partner and continue to do so until they have both been screened.
Professor Peter Borriello, Director of the Agency’s Centre for Infections, said:
“The number of people being tested for STIs has risen considerably over the past five years, giving us a better insight into the sexual health of the nation. More than one million sexual health screens were carried out in 2007 – a 10% increase on the previous year and one of the reasons why we have seen an increase in the number of diagnoses
“This increase in testing, together with the decrease we have seen in waiting times for GUM services, ensuring prompt treatment of infections, will help to reduce risk of transmission and the development of complications. If sustained this could have a significant impact on the control of sexually transmitted infections.
“However, we cannot rely on prompt diagnosis and treatment alone – a shift in behaviour is the only way that we will bring down this continued increase in infections.
“Substantial numbers of young people remain undiagnosed, untreated and unaware of the risk they pose both to their own health and that of their sexual partner.
“It is crucial that young people continue to be exposed to messages about safe sex, including condom wearing, and the importance of getting checked out at their nearest GUM clinic if they have had unprotected sex with a new partner.”
New HIV diagnoses in young people remain relatively low compared to older age groups (702 new diagnoses in 2007) although this is still almost three times the number recorded in 1998 (258 diagnoses).
Among young gay men, there has been a substantial increase in the number diagnosed with a STI over the past decade, with more than a doubling of HIV diagnoses between 1998 (128) and 2007 (281) and almost a tripling of gonorrhoea diagnoses (339 to 1001).
The National Chlamydia Screening Programme in England, which offers sexually active young people screening for chlamydia and undertakes sexual health activities mainly in the community setting, performed 270,729 screens in 2007 (January to December), a 93% increase on the 140,157 screens performed in 2006. 9.5% of young women and 8.4% of young men tested positive for chlamydia. This resulted in 24,236 chlamydia diagnoses in under 25 year olds.
Justin McCracken, Chief Executive of the Health Protection Agency, said:
“Monitoring of STIs and other infectious diseases forms only one part of the Agency’s work in safeguarding the UK’s public health. Our fifth annual report illustrates the many other areas in which the Agency has made significant progress in protecting people’s health over the last year.
“The Health Protection Agency brings together an exceptionally wide range of skills and experience across the entire public health protection spectrum.
“Firmly embedded at the heart of health protection locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, the Agency is in a unique position to champion public health and help to protect people from radiation, chemical and infectious diseases hazards.
“We are committed to building on the achievements of the first five years of the Agency’s development to create an expert body that is widely recognised as authoritative and effective at protecting the health of the public through helping reduce the burden of infectious disease, including sexually transmitted infections.”

New Drug Udenafil for Erectile Dysfunction in US Trials

A potential addition to the treatment options for erectile dysfunction (ED) is entering Phase III trials in the United States. Udenafil, a new long-acting drug under development for ED, will be evaluated in 80 sites throughout the country.
Erectile dysfunction, an inability to achieve or sustain an erection suitable for sexual intercourse, affects approximately 18 million men in the United States. Current drug treatment options for this condition now include a category of drugs called phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5) inhibitors. These drugs are Cialis® (tadalafil), Levitra® (vardenafil), and Viagra® (sildenafil). Udenafil is also a PDE-5 inhibitor.
Dong-A PharmTech Co. Ltd, announced that its US partner, Warner Chilcott plc, has started two Phase III trials for the new PDE-5 drug. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials will enroll approximately 1,120 subjects who have erectile dysfunction. Dong-A PharmTech hopes to complete these Phase III trials as well as other trials in the European Union and other major markets within two years. The pharmaceutical company also plans to initiate Phase 2b clinical trials that will evaluate the safety and efficacy of udenafil for treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and pulmonary arterial hypertension.
According to a clinical practice guideline issued by the American College of Physicians in an October 19, 2009 news release regarding treatment of ED, clinicians are urged to use PDE-5 drugs for men with erectile dysfunction unless they are taking nitrates.
A comparison among the different PDE-5 drugs, according to the ACP news release, indicates that “the evidence is insufficient to compare the effectiveness or adverse effects of different PDE-5 inhibitors for the treatment of ED because there were only a few head-to-head trials,” noted guideline lead author Dr. Amir Qaseem, who is also senior medical associate with the ACP.
Udenafil was approved for treatment of erectile dysfunction in Korea in November 2005 under the trade name Zydena®. The drug was also approved for marketing in Russia in July 2008. If udenafil is approved in the United States, it will compete with Cialis, Levitra, and Viagra for treatment of erectile dysfunction. According to an analysis by the American College of Physicians of 130 studies that evaluated PDE-5 inhibitors alone or in combination, treatment with the currently available drugs resulted in statistically significant and clinically relevant improvements in sexual and erectile function in men with ED, regardless of the cause (e.g., depression, diabetes, prostate cancer).