Older Men

Last month, the federal government halted a major study of hormone replacement therapy in healthy women, saying the treatment under study seemed to do more harm than good. But while that action generated headlines and alarm, few people noticed just a few weeks earlier when the government decided not to go ahead with a different study of hormone replacement - in older men. The hormone is testosterone, and its use is soaring. Doctors wrote 1.5 million prescriptions for testosterone and drugs like it in 2001, up from 806,000 in 1997.

The Preakness it's not. No mobs of young people in the infield or fancily dressed women in colorful hats in the grandstand or even live horses running around Pimlico's dirt track. Still, hundreds of dedicated race fans showed up at the Northwest Baltimore track Saturday to watch and bet on simulcast broadcasts of horses running in Delaware, New Jersey and New York, as they waited for a horse with the unlikely name of Drosselmeyer to win the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes, racing's third leg of the Triple Crown.

WHEN MINNESOTA high school teacher Julie Feil stood before a judge after pleading guilty to having a three-month sexual relationship with a 15-year-old boy who was in her English class, she spoke of love and intimacy and immense pain. "I broke the law by sharing a physical and emotional intimacy with someone I believed would love me and support me always," the tearful 32-year-old Hastings, Minn., woman said at her August 1998 sentencing hearing. "I loved him the best way I knew how, and I've spent the last five months fighting for that incredible love that forced me to cross the boundaries that separated us."

Gary Steele didn't attribute much significance to the pass he'd just caught. He was merely doing his job as the sophomore tight end for Army's football team. But in the stands at Michie Stadium, two older men gently knocked knees. It was a subtle gesture between friends, both of whom had spent time at West Point as Buffalo Soldiers in the 1940s. One of the men was Steele's father, the other his godfather. They had never dreamed they'd see a black cadet, much less a member of the family, catch a pass on that field.

Q: Although I am only 50 years old, my interest in sex and my strength have decreased in the past year. Could I be going through a kind of male menopause?A: The menopause in women results from a rather abrupt and near total loss of ovarian function that leads to a dramatic fall in the formation and blood levels of the female hormone estrogen.By contrast, as men age, there is a decline in blood levels of the male hormone testosterone, but the fall is relatively small and slow in most men.As a result, testosterone levels in most older men are maintained in the same range that is considered normal in younger men.It is true that, as they age, men tend to develop a decrease in libido (sexual desire)

Jennifer Williams, a young mother of two, lives in an East Baltimore neighborhood where corner stores and carry-outs are the only places to shop. Yet Williams and other carless residents of inner-city "food deserts" are not as stranded as they might seem. They regularly shop at full-sized supermarkets miles from home by catching rides in hack cabs. "I go all the time - twice a week," she said. Illegal and notoriously dangerous, unlicensed cabs are an unlikely ally in the search for affordable and healthful food.

Up a winding drive in Davidsonville, within a mile of U.S. 50, an electronic gate secures the Maryland Health Society's 100-acre compound. Ringing the pool, clubhouse and volleyball court are 20 cabins, half of which are privately owned, the rest owned by the club. A dirt road leads toward the Patuxent River, and recreational vehicles are tucked in the woods, which are threaded with hiking trails. A typical summer camp scene - aside from the dress code. This summer, the Maryland Health Society begins its 70th year as an outdoor nudist camp, remaining dedicated to its founding principle that nude recreation is healthy, relaxing and fun. "Right now, we are at the peak of quality in our membership," says Conrad Kohlheyer, 71, one of the oldest of the club's 70 members.

A former U.S. Naval Academy mechanic who attempted to meet and engage in sex with a police officer posing as a 14-year-old girl pleaded guilty to child pornography in Baltimore federal court yesterday. Authorities said that Steven Diles, 42, of Annapolis, contacted an undercover New York City police officer almost three years ago through an America Online chat room called "I love older men." Diles, prosecutors said, believed the officer was a 14-year-old girl. After chatting, Diles traveled to Queens to try to meet the agent, and he was arrested Oct. 15, 2004, by local authorities, court papers show.

A popular hormonal treatment for prostate cancer does nothing to extend the lives of men over 65 with early-stage tumors and may actually be harmful, according to a study published today. The report, which reviewed the cases of almost 20,000 older men with early disease, further casts into doubt the common public perception that doing something for cancer is always better than doing nothing. Most older men whose cancers have not spread beyond the prostate gland would do better to forgo treatment and have their condition monitored, according to authors at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

Cecil Singleton had settled in to watch an episode of "Parenthood" when he caught a TV news teaser featuring the words "Elmo sex scandal. " A man had accused puppeteer Kevin Clash - the man behind the world's most popular Sesame Street puppet - of having a relationship with him when he was 16. Sitting at his New York apartment, Singleton, 24, had a sick feeling and began researching the claims against Clash. He, too, claims he had an underage but consensual relationship with the Baltimore County native - one he thought was an exception.