Blog Archive
A ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction refers to a blockage in the upper half of one or more of your ureters, the tubes that carry urine from the kidney to your bladder. Usually, UPJ obstruction is present at birth and may clear on its own. However, adults can develop UPJ obstruction...
This year, the American Cancer Society projects that more than 300,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. You may think you’re not at risk, but you are: All men are at risk. Prostate cancer screening identifies prostate cancer at its earliest stages, when it’s still...
Your prostate starts out as a walnut-sized gland that sits between your bladder and rectum. But as you age, it starts to grow. Up to 60% of men in their 60s have an enlarged prostate, also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). That jumps up to 90% of those over...
A vasectomy is one of the few ways you can (eventually) be 99% sure that you won’t have an unwanted pregnancy. During the vasectomy procedure, your urologic surgeon cuts your vas deferens tubes so that they can’t convey sperm through your urethra and into a woman’s vagina. Years ago, surgeons...
Although you may not think about it or hear about it much — especially when compared with other types of cancer, such as breast or prostate — kidney cancer is among the top 10 most common cancers in the United States for both women and men. In 2024, about 5,000...
Although prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men who live in the United States, when caught early enough, it’s highly curable. The prostate cancer death rate declined by 50% from 1993 to 2013 due to (we think) early detection and treatment. If you’ve been diagnosed...
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) — the medical term for an enlarged prostate — affects 5%-6% of men aged 40-64. However, that number quickly enlarges (sorry!) as you age: anywhere from 29%-33% of men aged 65 and over have BPH. Your prostate is a walnut-sized gland that’s located between your rectum...
When you’re one out of every 11 women and men in the United States who have kidney stones, you want to do everything possible to prevent the formation of the next painful stone. Developing good habits now can protect you in the future, especially as you age. By the time...
Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, making it virtually impossible for some women to get an abortion in the United States, more men than ever opt for vasectomies. That works out to more than half a million men every year who choose to move to “Snip City,” the land where...
Your urinary tract is the system that filters waste and removes excess fluids from your body through urination. Your urinary tract consists of: Kidneys These two bean-shaped organs sit on either side of your spine below your rib cage. They filter waste products from about 120-150 quarts of blood per...
Erectile dysfunction (ED) was something that happened to other men. Usually in commercials. Laughable commercials. Only now, you’re not laughing. Now, you find yourself at the mercy of erections that just won’t “stay.” You feel embarrassed, dissatisfied, and, frankly, a little scared. Is this what your future will look like?...
Hypospadias is a fairly common congenital defect of the urinary tract in male infants that affects the position of your urethral opening. Normally, urine exits through the tip of the penis. In hypospadias, your urethral opening may have been located at the underside of your penis head, further down the...
In 2024, the American Cancer Society estimates that there will be approximately 299,010 new cases of prostate cancer and 35,250 deaths from the disease in the United States. Approximately one in eight men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives. However, certain risk factors increase the odds,...
Kidney stones are common in the Western world and are growing in frequency. Eleven percent of men and 6% of women in the United States can expect to have at least one kidney stone during their lifetime. If you’re in that unfortunate and painful percentage, you may wonder what’s next....
If you’re among the nearly 10% of men and women in the United States who’ve had a kidney stone, you need to do all you can to keep your kidneys healthy to reduce your chance of a recurrence. You need to make many dietary adjustments and lifestyle changes to keep...
Every man — no matter how healthy, no matter his family history — is at risk for prostate cancer. Approximately 250,000 men are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the United States. The good news is that prostate cancer is slow-growing. If your doctor catches it in its...
A vasectomy is a simple in-office procedure that permanently sterilizes men so that they can’t have any more children. Unlike vasectomies in the past, today’s vasectomies don’t require scalpels or stitches. A no-scalpel vasectomy is fast, virtually pain-free, and doesn’t take long to recover from, either. Every year, about 500,000...
The fastest-growing, noncommunicable disease in the United States is kidney disease. Kidney disease kills more women and men in the United States each year than either breast or prostate cancer. And yet, how much attention have you paid to your kidneys and their function? If you’re like most adults, not...
Your prostate is a little gland that you’ve probably given little thought to. About the size and shape of a walnut, this small organ has a big job: It produces all the fluids you need for semen. Your prostate is located between your bladder and your rectum and wraps around...
About one in every eight men in the United States gets diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in his lifetime. Although, when you think about your prostate (if you think about your prostate), your focus may be on your cancer risk, you’re even more likely to develop an uncomfortable...
Each year, about 50,000 men and 30,000 women in the United States are diagnosed with kidney cancer. Almost 15,000 die from the disease annually. Although kidney cancer is relatively rare compared with other forms of cancer (e.g., 150,000 cases of colon cancer per year), your personal and familial history may...
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is sometimes regarded as an inevitable side effect of aging in men. The statistics, too, seem to bear that out: Approximately 30 million men in the United States suffer from ED, and the incidence grows with age. By age 40, you have about a 40% chance of having ED. This increases...
Vasectomy is the simplest and safest way to ensure that you don’t have an unwanted pregnancy. Your female partners will thank you. But, after you get “snipped,” what is life like? Does vasectomy guarantee that you can’t get anyone pregnant? Will it affect your sex life or your potency? And, is...
Kidney stones are painful accumulations of minerals in your kidneys and ureters. About 19% of men and 9% of women in the United States develop at least one kidney stone during their lifetimes. You can usually “pass” a small stone on your own, but its passage may not be easy or pain-free. Larger...
Whether you’re in a relationship or not, there may come a time in your life when you consider a vasectomy. A vasectomy is a form of male sterilization that prevents you from impregnating a partner by making it impossible for sperm to exit your body. Doctors have used vasectomies to...
Anywhere from 229-627 per 100,000 older men develop a painful condition called ureteral stricture. Ureteral strictures are blockages in the ureter, which is the tube that carries urine through your penis so that it can exit your body. The blockage is usually caused by scar tissue within the ureter. How did you...
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), or an enlarged prostate, is an uncomfortable and sometimes embarrassing condition affecting about half of men over 50 and up to 90% of those over 80. The “benign” in BPH means that an enlarged prostate isn’t a dangerous condition, isn’t cancer, and doesn’t raise your risk for cancer. However,...
Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein that the cells in your prostate gland produce. Both normal cells and malignant (i.e., cancer) cells produce PSA. When you have an elevated PSA level, it could be a sign that you have malignant cells producing extra PSA. Although an elevated PSA goes hand-in-hand...
Up to 25% of men around the globe have experienced painful ejaculation at one time or another. With so many men in pain when they should be in ecstasy, you’d think you’d hear a lot more about painful ejaculation. But, if you’re like most men, you haven’t heard about it at...
About 30 million men in the United States have erectile dysfunction (ED). Although ED is most common as men age, even young men sometimes have trouble with ED. If you have ED, you either have trouble achieving an erection or maintaining that erection until you’ve completed a sexual act. Although ED may seem like...
Kidney stones are painful collections of minerals that lodge in your kidneys or ureters. Some kidney stones are small enough to pass on their own with patience, painkillers, and plenty of water. Others require medical treatment. However, treating kidney stones is complicated because not all kidney stones are alike. If you’re...
Diabetes is a disease in which you either don’t produce enough of the hormone insulin or have become resistant to insulin’s effects. Without insulin, you can’t move dietary sugars out of your bloodstream and into your cells, which need them for energy. If you have diabetes, you may also suffer...
If you want a form of birth control that’ll be 100% effective 100% of the time, the only solution is abstinence. Because that’s probably not something you or your partner want, you’re interested in getting a vasectomy. You’ve heard that sterilization via vasectomy is one of the easiest and most...
Kidney stones are clusters of minerals that form in or near your kidneys. You usually pass excess minerals through your urine and other waste products. However, if they’re large enough, kidney stones get stuck in your kidney or in a ureter (the tubes that connect your kidneys to your bladder), causing...
Like your ears and nose, your prostate never stops growing. This tiny little walnut-shaped gland increases in size as you increase in age. That’s why a majority of men develop benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), more commonly known as an enlarged prostate. You’re more likely to develop BPH the older you get....
Every year, more than half a million women and men in the United States head to the emergency room because of excruciating pain from a kidney stone. When you’re in the middle of a painful emergency, you’re probably not that interested in analyzing the type of kidney stone you have, why you...
A vasectomy is a form of sterilization. That’s why it’s one of the only forms of birth control that’s virtually 100% guaranteed to prevent pregnancy … eventually. However, you may have heard of cases where a friend (or a friend of a friend) got a partner pregnant after he was snipped. Is...
Your tiny prostate gland has a tremendous influence on your sexual and general health. No bigger than a walnut or a ping pong ball, this gland produces some of the fluids that make up your semen. The prostate is located at the back of your penis, just under the bladder....
Kidney stones are collections of minerals that lodge in your kidneys and ureters and may cause excruciating pain. More than 10% of men in the United States have suffered at least one kidney stone. If you’ve had a kidney stone, you don’t want to have another, but — according to...
A vasectomy is a simple procedure that severs the vas deferens tubes in your scrotum so sperm isn’t mixed into your semen when you ejaculate. You may choose to have a vasectomy after you’ve completed your family, or even if you don’ t have children yet but are 100% sure...
If you love junk food, you may have to choose between a Big Mac and your sex life. Erectile dysfunction (ED) is influenced by lifestyle factors, including the types of food you eat. Even though about 18 million men in the United States suffer from ED, you don’t have to...
More than 10% of men in the United States suffer from kidney stones, which are lumps of minerals that collect in your kidneys and travel into your ureter, where they block the flow of urine. Kidney stones can be excruciatingly painful; even small ones may take months to pass on...
Your prostate gland — a little structure about the size and shape of a walnut — is situated between your penis and your bladder. It produces and secretes a fluid that nourishes sperm and carries it through your urethra in the form of semen during ejaculation. Although the prostate grows...
When you get an erection and sustain it for long enough to complete a sexual act, your body and brain have to accomplish a number of complex processes. If one step fails, your erection does, too. Healthy erections are a sign of a healthy body. If you have erectile dysfunction...
Increased screening for cancer — including prostate cancer — has led to early detection and more successful treatments. By testing levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood, your urologist gets an inside look at the health of your prostate. A high PSA could indicate cancer. It could also be...
Kidney stones are collections of minerals that develop in your kidneys due to a variety of factors, including overconsumption of some types of foods and lack of hydration. Kidney stones range in size from a sand grain to a golf ball. The largest kidney stone ever removed was five inches...
A vasectomy is a simple surgical procedure that’s the most effective form of birth control other than abstinence. These days, most urologists perform a type of vasectomy called the no-scalpel vasectomy, in which they simply puncture the scrotum and sever and cauterize the vas deferens tubes, which carry sperm to...
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 248,530 men in the US will be newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021, and 34,130 men will die from it. Those are scary statistics, overall, but how does that translate to you, as an individual man? Are you at risk? Alex Lesani,...
Kidney stones are mineral deposits that lodge in your kidneys or ureters. No matter what they’re made of — calcium, oxalate, phosphate, or other minerals — kidney stones can be painful. Bigger stones tend to cause more pain and symptoms, but even small kidney stones can be excruciating until they...
From the time they’re boys, men are trained to keep a stiff upper lip, grin and bear it, and otherwise avoid complaining, whining, or expressing their true feelings. In fact, according to men surveyed by the Cleveland Clinic, 41% were told as boys that “men don’t complain about health issues.” ...
Painful ejaculation is a lot more common than you’d think. Based on a PubMed search, somewhere between 1-25% of men around the world experience painful ejaculation, either alone or with other symptoms. That’s a lot of men. And a lot of pain. If ejaculation causes pain in your penis, scrotum,...
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a frustrating condition that interferes with your ability to bring a sexual act to a satisfying conclusion. Although most men have episodes of ED periodically throughout their lives, these tend to increase with age; more than 50% of men aged 40-70 have regular ED. However, ED...
Whether you already have children and are finished growing your family, or whether you’re determined never to have a child, a vasectomy helps you reach your goal. This simple procedure severs your vas deferens tubes so you can’t ejaculate sperm anymore. If you’re ready for a vasectomy, Alex Lesani, MD,...
Kidney stones are hard clusters of minerals that accumulate in your kidneys over time. Kidney stones are not a normal occurrence and can cause a lot of pain. Passing a large kidney stone through urination may be excruciating. Alex Lesani, MD, an expert urologist in Las Vegas, recommends lifestyle changes...
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the medical way of saying that your prostate gland is too large. Unlike other parts of your reproductive anatomy, your prostate continues to grow as you age. And also unlike other parts of your reproductive anatomy, you don’t want it to get too big. An...
Your ureters are a set of two narrow tubes, each about 8-10 inches long, that run from your kidneys to your bladder. Each kidney has one ureter. If you develop a condition called a ureter stricture, scar tissue or another type of obstruction builds up in one or both of...
The rate of kidney cancer — also known as renal cell carcinoma — has been on the rise since the 1990s, possibly due to better and more accurate diagnostic techniques. The good news is that, when caught early, kidney cancer can be treated and even cured. The bad news is...
You’re ready. You’ve had all the children you want to have (even if that’s none), and you’re now looking for a permanent, reliable form of birth control. A no-scalpel vasectomy provides that, and more. Alex Lesani, MD, a skilled and compassionate Las Vegas, Nevada urologist, is an expert in the...
If you have urinary incontinence, you may find yourself running to the bathroom multiple times a day and barely making it in time. Or, you might not be able to get a full night’s sleep because you keep waking up to head to the head. Or, you leak urine when...
Prostate cancer kills about one in every 41 men in the United States. The good news is that 3.1 million men have been diagnosed with the disease, but they’re still alive. When caught early enough, prostate cancer isn’t just treatable, it’s often curable. Although there’s no proven way to avoid...
Even though you know that it’s common for men to develop erectile dysfunction (ED) as they age, when it happens to you, it can feel like the end of the world. And, in a sense, it is. It’s the end of the world in which you could easily and effortlessly...
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) you have about a 1 in 10 chance of developing at least one kidney stone — a crystal made of minerals and salts that forms in your kidney — during your life. Passing a kidney stone can be an excruciating experience. Some...
As men get older, a walnut-sized gland that lies underneath the bladder, called the prostate, tends to enlarge. Your prostate produces semen, which mixes with sperm when you ejaculate. Your urethra — the tube you use to urinate — runs straight from your bladder through the center of your prostate....
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that one in 10 people will develop at least one kidney stone in their lifetime. If you’ve already had a kidney stone, you know that these hard masses that form from crystals in your urine can be excruciatingly painful and may require surgery....
You’ve decided you don’t want any children in your future, and the best way to guarantee that outcome is to get a vasectomy. A vasectomy is a simple, usually irreversible, procedure in which your doctor cuts away part of your two vas deferens tubes and seals the ends of each...
According to the National Cancer Institute, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer that affects men in the United States, and the second-leading cause of cancer death in that group. Researchers developed the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to help doctors detect prostate cancer as early as possible. Early detection...
Kidney stones are often described as one of the most painful conditions in the human experience. As the crystals travel through your urinary tract, they irritate your kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra at every inch of their journey. Kidney stones range in size, but larger stones cause more pain and...
Urinary tract reconstruction may be necessary for numerous reasons. Maybe you have a condition that caused damage to your urinary tract, or you might have scarring that has narrowed your urethra. Regardless of the reason, if you need this procedure, you’re likely feeling nervous. Dr. Alex Lesani is a skilled...
Have you been experiencing discolored urine lately, particularly a brownish color? Are you concerned that this may be a sign of something serious, such as kidney cancer? While it may be alarming to see urine that is strikingly different from the usual yellow or clear-ish yellow color, brown urine isn’t...
Are you suffering from flank pain, difficulty urinating, or other signs of bladder dysfunction? Your urinary tract could be scarred or narrowed, requiring surgery to fix it. Today's surgical techniques allow for fast, accurate surgery done in record time for a swifter recovery. Dr. Alex Lesani, is an experienced surgeon...
Erectile dysfunction is one of those medical problems that’s so wrapped up in our emotions and our self-esteem that it can be really difficult to discuss, let alone admit we have it. And as a result, lots of men with ED feel isolated and alone, almost as if they’re the...
About 175,000 men are expected to develop prostate cancer this year, according to estimates from the American Cancer Society, and about 32,000 men are expected to die of the disease. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer-related death in American men, following lung cancer. Spread out over a lifetime,...
You may be nervous to learn that you have an enlarged prostate, but the truth is, you very likely don’t have anything to worry about. Nearly all men experience prostate enlargement as they age, and an enlarged prostate doesn’t mean you have prostate cancer or that you have a higher...
At the offices of Alex Lesani, MD, we know you’re going to have questions — and probably some trepidation — about whether a vasectomy is right for you. While the procedure itself is fairly common and not very complicated, you’ll want to keep several factors in mind. To help you...
The excruciating pain of a kidney stone is so intense that it leads to more than 1 million emergency room visits each year in the U.S. Some people even compare the pain of passing a kidney stone to the experience of childbirth. Although kidney stones often pass on their own,...
Men who want to stay proactive about their health should consider having routine PSA tests as they get older. At his practice in Las Vega, Nevada, Dr. Alex Lesani offers this simple blood test right in his office to help identify the earliest signs of cancer or other conditions that...
Before the 1990s, urologic surgery meant traditional incisions and longer recovery times. With the advent of laparoscopic urologic surgery came the foundation for groundbreaking technologies and techniques that have created a wide range of new possibilities when it comes to minimally invasive surgery. At his practice in Las Vegas, Nevada,...
About 500,000 vasectomies are performed each year in the U.S., helping men and couples take control of their health and their futures. And increasingly, more and more of these procedures are being performed using an innovative, state-of-the-art technique that doesn’t use a scalpel or large incisions. Called “no-scalpel” vasectomy, the...
Nearly nine percent of people in the U.S. have had at least one kidney stone, and if you’re among them, you know just how painful they can be. Depending on the size of your stone and where it’s located, it might pass on its own — maybe with the help...
Kidney stones typically cause a lot of pain, along with other symptoms like fever, vomiting, and problems urinating. While very small stones often pass on their own, flushed out when you urinate, stones that get “stuck” in your urinary tract need medical intervention in order to get rid of them. Without...
The prevalence of kidney stones has doubled in the last 40 years, from just 3.8 percent to 8.8 percent. Now, 19 percent of men and 9 percent of women will have a kidney stone in their lifetimes. As the numbers of diagnoses increase, so do non-invasive treatments. Let’s take a look....
If you’re one of the 18 million American men struggling with erectile dysfunction, you may be seeking solutions to your particular case. Since ED is a symptom of other conditions rather than a standalone disorder, it has many potential causes, and unfortunately several of these tend to occur in clusters,...