If you read the prostate chapter in this book, you’ll understand that you should get another test between a PSA and a prostate biopsy. This book is loaded with advice, whether it’s ophthalmology, hearing, sleep, foot care, testosterone replacement, or hair loss.
Susan: What made you write this book at this time?
Dr. Brandis: I see men come into my office every day looking for a change. Something in their life isn’t working, whether they’re in their 40s, 50s, or 60s. Suddenly, their penis isn’t working anymore, their relationship isn’t working, or they’re putting on weight or losing muscle. The 40s, 50s, and 60s are critical in a man’s life when things don’t work all of a sudden.
The 21st Century Man is the book that will help you understand how to make things work again. It has incredibly unique perspectives on exercise, food, relationships, specialty medicine, and stuff that cause death in men, whether heart disease or cancer.
Real experts in their fields write these, not people who claim to be experts. These guys and gals train at top institutions every day and treat thousands of patients every year. They understand these diseases the best.
Susan: When I read the book, I noticed the experts you chose were not only leaders in their field but also people who were doing much more cutting-edge thinking.
Dr. Brandis: For example, I helped pioneer surgical robotics and MRI-guided prostate biopsies in the prostate chapter. But right now, MRI-guided prostate biopsies aren’t quite yet the standard of care. They will be in two, three, or four years, but the insurance companies have to catch up, and everyone in the country has to get one of these machines. So, there are still so many urologists who are doing regular old prostate biopsies or going from an elevated PSA to a prostate biopsy without getting an MRI.
Susan: A prostate biopsy, as I understand, is a big metal rod that’s wedged up into your prostate and takes samples of prostate material. It cores it out of you like an apple core. It’s barbaric.
Dr. Brandis: It’s medical technology, but I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy if they didn’t need it.
For example, I used to have 33% of my biopsies positive, and since I started doing MRI-guided prostate biopsies, it went up to 85%. Many men get unnecessary prostate biopsies because they don’t get an MRI before a prostate biopsy.
If you read the prostate chapter in this book, you’ll understand that you should be getting another test between a PSA and a prostate biopsy. This is what Dr. Brandis is telling me. This book is loaded with advice, whether it’s ophthalmology, hearing, sleep, foot care, testosterone replacement, or hair loss.
For this reason, (points to head) I didn’t write the hair chapter.
