By Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, CNN

(CNN) — When patients come to me with erectile dysfunction, or ED, their first concern isn’t usually about their health.

“Doctor, my partner is going to leave me,” they often say with worry.

I usually respond, “Relax, I’ve heard this a thousand times. Let’s start with a few questions.”

When a man already has high blood pressure or uncontrolled diabetes, the likely causes of ED are easier to pinpoint. But when the man is younger or otherwise appears healthy, I also look beyond the bedroom and start thinking about blood vessels — and the heart.

Those late-night supersize fries and other choices you make today may not cause a heart attack tomorrow, but they can contribute to blood vessel changes that show up earlier as ED.

That’s why I look at erectile dysfunction as a possible sign of deadlier health issues. Here’s why: The American Heart Association notes that sexual dysfunction can sometimes show up one to three years before more classic heart disease symptoms such as angina or chest pain. The American Urological Association guidelines go a step further: Men should be told ED can be a risk marker for underlying cardiovascular disease and other health conditions that may deserve evaluation and treatment.

The reasoning is most heart problems don’t start in the heart; they usually originate in the smaller blood vessels in the body. Over time, arteries can lose flexibility, the inner lining becomes less responsive, and plaque can build up from cholesterol and inflammation. Blood pressure, high blood sugar, smoking, poor sleep and stress all affect blood vessel health.

How erections work

One patient saying, “It’s not working,” can have different causes from another patient with the same symptoms.

Erections require the brain, nerves, blood vessels and muscles to work in perfect harmony. Sexual stimulation kicks off the process in the brain, triggering signals that travel down the spinal cord into the pelvic nerves. From there, chemical messengers tell the arteries supplying the penis to open so blood can rush into the spongelike chambers inside it. As they fill, the penis expands and becomes firm.

Meanwhile, that expansion compresses the veins that normally drain blood, helping trap blood long enough to maintain a rigid erection. After orgasm or when stimulation stops, the smooth muscle tightens, blood drains out and the erection goes away. If any step in that sequence is disrupted — signaling, blood flowing and then being trapped — the quality of the erection can drop.

Early detection of vascular disease

If blood vessels are starting to stiffen, narrow or lose their ability to open the way they should, erectile changes may show up early — sometimes before someone has the classic warning signs of heart disease. It’s why ED is sometimes discussed as an early sign of vascular disease — meaning disease of the blood vessels that supply blood throughout the body, including the penis.

Not every case of ED indicates heart disease, but when ED is new, persistent or progressively worsening — especially in those who say they otherwise feel fine — it can be a sign to take cardiovascular risk seriously. That’s because the same blood vessel changes that affect the heart can affect the penis, too.

Is sex safe for the heart?

For most people with stable heart health, sex is safe for the heart.

Sex can briefly raise heart rate and blood pressure. It typically requires three to five METs, or metabolic equivalents. One MET is th

By Dan Heching, CNN

(CNN) — With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it’s difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game.

The Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA and Actor (formerly SAG) Awards are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and while some elements have come into sharper focus – it’s “Hamnet” star Jessie Buckley’s best actress Oscar to lose, for instance – many other aspects of the race remain foggy to predict at best, like who might walk away with the best actor trophy opposite her.

And that’s not to mention the seemingly wide-open fields in both supporting actor races. A breakdown of top categories follows:

Best picture

Two titans seem sure to be big competitors on Oscar night, namely critical darlings “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.”

Pointed commentaries on racial inequality and American values, featuring a handful of buzzy performances and fueling strong word of mouth, these two Warner Bros. Pictures films (which come from CNN parent Warner Bros. Discovery) both had considerable momentum going into the season.

But while 14-time Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Battle” seemed like the one to beat a few months ago – especially after best picture wins at the Golden Globes (on the comedy side, inexplicably), Critics Choice Awards and the BAFTAs – Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners” has picked up more than a little renewed steam, mainly after the film’s decisive ensemble win at the Actor Awards on Sunday.

It’s been 15 years since the Academy opened up the best picture race to more than the previously fixed number of five nominees – vacillating between eight and ten best picture contenders, and settling consistently on ten for the last few years. This year, there are of course some other contenders in the ten-film category – including “Sentimental Value,” “Marty Supreme,” “Hamnet” and “Bugonia” – but the race seems set for the vampires versus the revolutionaries.

Best actress

In the clearest-seeming race of them all, Jessie Buckley’s portrayal of a grief-stricken mother and wife to William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) in Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” looks all but sure to net the Oscar, after she was previously up for best supporting actress in 2022 for “The Lost Daughter.” Buckley’s recent passionate and emotional speech at the Actor Awards, mostly directed toward her “Hamnet” costar Emily Watson, certainly only helped her chances.

In addition to Buckley, two of the other women up for best actress have been nominated before (the Academy loves return nominees), but if anyone might be able to pull off an upset, it’s a tossup between the two first-timers: Rose Byrne, who won best actress in the comedy category at the Golden Globes for her work as an overextended mother in the harrowing “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” and acclaimed Norwegian performer Renate Reinsve as a resentful daughter in “Sentimental Value.”

Best actor

This is where any confident handicapping ends, and the rest of the acting categories

By Issy Ronald, CNN

London (CNN) — US President Donald Trump sat alongside his German counterpart Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office on Tuesday and unleashed a broadside against some of his European allies.

“This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with,” he said of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer after once again berating London for denying the US permission to use British military bases in the Chagos Islands – an archipelago in the Indian Ocean – for offensive strikes against Iran.

Not content with criticizing one European leader, Trump laid into Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez too, threatening to impose a full US embargo on Spain in response to the socialist leader’s opposition to US strikes on Iran.

Merz sat next to Trump and remained mostly silent, later telling reporters he “addressed both issues very clearly in a personal conversation … because he didn’t want to air the conflict publicly.”

His words mark yet another rift between Washington and Europe and highlight the delicate balance European leaders have attempted to strike since the US and Israel began bombing Iran on Saturday.

On the one hand, they have sought to support their Gulf allies and placate Washington, under whose NATO security umbrella they remain and whose involvement in any potential peace deal for Ukraine is still essential. On the other hand, the Europeans are minimizing their involvement in a war many of them have refused to say is legal and which is deeply unpopular domestically.

Germany, France and the UK – the E3 countries – stopped short of explicitly condoning or condemning the US-Israeli strikes in a joint statement. Instead, they condemned Iran’s retaliation, reiterated their criticism of the country’s regime, called for a “resumption of negotiations” and said they remained in “close contact with our international partners.”

Still, even as they have framed their involvement as defensive, they risk being sucked into a spiraling regional war.

The UK agreed to allow the US to use its military bases for “defensive strikes” on Iran missile sites, Starmer said Sunday. And in response to a drone hitting a British military base in Cyprus on Tuesday, the UK sent helicopters with anti-drone capabilities and a warship, which will take about a week to reach the Mediterranean island.

In the meantime, a French frigate arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday evening, France’s President Emmanuel Macron said, adding that he was also sending “additional air defense assets there.”

French and British air defenses based in the region have also engaged in limited operations, helping to shoot down Iranian drones and missiles, cautious to remain within the bounds of legal warfare.

The Trump administration’s rationale for attacking Iran has been noted as vague and shifting. Trump and his senior officials have contradicted each other, stretching the bounds of logic – and US intelligence estimates – to define the “imminent” threat Iran and its nuclear program posed, without giving any evidence. They have brushed aside US intelligence which suggested Iran would need until 2035 to develop an int

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Near to slightly above normal temperatures are expected Wednesday through Friday. Temperatures will be more mild Thursday and Friday as well, before warming further for the weekend.

A big topic of discussion for Wednesday is wind speeds that will pick in the evening lasting until Thursday. A wind advisory will go into place at 6 p.m. Wednesday, for portions of Santa Barbara county and interior areas of Ventura county. Winds will be northerly and will 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.

A high wind warning will go into effect by 4 p.m. for the interior areas and mountains of Santa Barbara, as well as portions of Oxnard. Wind speeds will be 30-45 mph with gusts up to 65 mph. Now is the time to bring in any items that can be easily blown over.

Winds will calm by Thursday afternoon, but may pick up on Friday and come from the northeast, resulting in dry, Santa Ana winds.

Overall, we have a great second half our work week to look forward to and keeping a close eye on those winds.

The post Wind alerts issued for many parts of Central Coast, warming ahead for the weekend appeared first on News Channel 3-12.

By Jen Rose Smith, CNN

Montreal (CNN) — By the time DJ Brinassa dropped her throbbing house beat, the barely clad Friday crowd at Montreal’s newest going-out spot was already glistening with sweat.

It wasn’t just the subtle glow that comes from a night on the dance floor. At 10 p.m. inside RECESS Thermal Station — a sauna and cold plunge that hosts regular DJ events and other gatherings — attendees were sweating freely in a circular sauna, forming an arc of gym-honed bodies illuminated by its flattering, club-like lighting.

A shirtless employee sporting artful tattoos and multiple necklaces wafted air through the sauna, dancing as he waved a massive folding hand fan. In a lounge outside, couples snuggled into cozy chairs by the DJ booth. Singles mingled over herbal tea, and read icebreaker prompts from branded cue cards.

RECESS, which opened in September, is one of a new wave of businesses debuting across North America that are often called “social bathhouses”: venues reimagining saunas and other bathing rituals as not just a wellness experience, but also as a night out, a first date or a way to build community.

“There’s a possibility of meeting new people. There’s a high energy, or vibe. You can dance,” said RECESS cofounder Adam Simms, of the social evenings. “There’s just some beautiful connections to come out of that.”

They’re cropping up swiftly. Months after the opening of its first social bathing spot, Montreal will get another one when JOY Wellness Club launches this spring. Bathhouse, whose New York City locations are already known for their buzzy scene, is opening a Philadelphia outpost later this year. Swelling the already strong New York City cohort, The Altar is coming to Fifth Avenue in 2026 with a 50-person sauna and the tagline, “Health as a cultural gathering space.”

The wording reflects a growing awareness that loneliness and social isolation are harming our health — leaving many seeking fresh opportunities to connect.

“In the pandemic, we had this monumental shift where we were in front of our screens all the time,” said Simms. “People understand that they need community, they need support, they need to be able to reenergize. I think RECESS and projects like it enable that.”

A hot trend with ancient roots

It’s a big trend in wellness this year. Yet the idea that sweating together builds bonds is hardly new.

“As soon as we were able to create heat, we were creating structures to sweat in together,” said Robert Hammond, president of Therme US, part of the Therme Group that operates spas across Europe, and has major bathhouse projects planned in Dallas, Washington, DC, and Toronto.

That precedent goes from the Ottoman-era hammam to Roman thermae, North American sweat lodges and Finnish saunas. In many places, such practices waned over time; in some, indoor plumbing in private homes helped displace communal bathing.

“It’s what I call a ‘long forgetting,’” said Mikkel Aaland, a Norwegian-American photographer and writer who has spent 50 years documenting sweat bathing traditions around the world, including in the 1978 book “Sweat” and l