SHOULD CHILDREN with disorders of sex development (DSD) —in which genitalia, chromosomes, or reproductive systems diverge from what is considered the norm for females or males—have reconstructive surgery before they are old enough to make their own decisions? Few questions in medicine evoke a more emotional and divided response. It is a question that may be asked more often than you might think.

No matter how ordinary his life looks from the outside, though, Ed Strudwick, 67, is not a typical senior. Three times each week since February 1972 he has undergone hemodialysis, a nearly 36-year time span that could possibly make him the longest-surviving dialysis patient in the world.

Overactive bladder (OAB) is usually associated with women, but it afflicts nearly one out of every eight American men. Its symptoms can also be confused with those of BPH, resulting in unneeded surgery.

For some men with localized prostate cancer, active surveillance has emerged in recent years as a viable management option. Defined as rigorous monitoring with the option of initiating potentially curative therapy should disease progress, this approach generally has been considered for patients with early, indolent disease (T1c or T2a tumors, a Gleason score of no more than 6, and a PSA level not greater than 10 ng/mL).

The most moving part of the ceremony at which A. Barry Belman, MD, received the 2006 Urology Medal at the American Academy of Pediatrics meeting last October was the series of photos that ac-companied it.

While obesity,While obesity, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia are well-established harbingers of poor cardiovascular health and death, so-called reverse epidemiology holds that these physiological states actually increase the chance of survival in many people including dialysis patients.

PHILADELPHIA—Pediatric urologist Howard M. Snyder III has pioneered treatment for complex urinary tract and urogenital anomalies. He developed and taught one-step hypospadias repair to generations of students, and made progress in diagnosing and managing patients with undescended testicles.

It’s increasingly clear that erectile dysfunction (ED) is strongly linked to a range of underlying ailments including systemic vascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. These disorders, in turn, are associated with diet, exercise, and other lifestyle and emotional factors.

After decades of controversy, the verdict is in: Low-carbohydrate, higher-fat diets do not increase women’s risk of CHD. But the source of fat matters: It should be vegetable instead of animal.

A mural featuring a sun-dappled lake, crimson and azure birds, lush flowers, and palm trees adorns one waiting room wall. In another, a comfy couch beckons; a cheery blaze crackles in the fireplace, and the aroma of hot coffee wafts from an adjacent kitchenette.