Men: Don't Ignore These Health Threats

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As men age, this disregard spills over into the way they treat their health.  Healthcare for men tends to be reactive rather than proactive.  This means, unless something is broken, or chronically hurting, there is no reason to visit the doctor.  We are here to tell men to get it together, and get proactive.  It’s time to take charge of your health. More men suffer and die from chronic illnesses than women. They’re 1.3 times more likely to have cancer than women and 2 times more likely to die from liver disease. The evidence is clear and the risk is high; men need to be more attentive to their health. In prostate cancer alone, there are 233,000 new cases in the U.S. every year and 1 out of 7 men are diagnosed. Due to these hard facts, getting an annual PSA screening is essential.

1. Heart disease: 

  • Leading cause of death for men in the United State, killing 307,225 men in 2009 – 1 in every 4 male deaths.
  • 50% of men who die of heart disease have no previous symptoms.
  • Between 70% and 89% of sudden cardiac events occur in men.
  • Leading risk factors: High LDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes are some of the risk factors for heart disease.

Men need to focus on eating a heart healthy diet, being active and also getting routine screenings for their heart. This can be done at a regular yearly physical but if men have a strong family history of heart disease, heart attack and stroke, they should get this done more often. 

2. Mental health is arguably the health issue men ignore. Besides serious conditions like depression and Bipolar disorder, anxiety and stress management, while less focused on, can be just as severe and debilitating. Men tend to have this mentality that they need to suck it up rather than seek help or consult with family and friends. Stress hormones like cortisol can vastly damage the vascular system as well as other regions in the body, leading to a higher risk of long term issues like obesity, heart disease and stroke. 

3. Erectile dysfunction

  • Two-thirds of men older than 70 and up to 39% of 40-year-old men have problems with erectile dysfunction.
  • Leading risk factors: Most often caused by atherosclerosis, damaged nerves after surgery, neurological or psychological factors, certain medications, or chronic illness.

Impotence, aka erectile dysfunction, aka ED, is not often the easiest topic to discuss but it effects more men than we likely realize.  As many as 50 million men in the US and Europe suffer from impotence, or erectile dysfunction.  Statistically, this number includes only about 5% of men less than 40 years old and up to 25% of men by the time they reach 65 years of age. By definition, impotence is the inability to get or keep an erection firm enough for sexual intercourse.

General tests men should get done: 
 

  • A complete blood count [which helps detect blood diseases such as anemia, infections and immune-system disorders], every year, or every other year.

  • An electrolyte panel [which helps detect acute and chronic illnesses], every 1-2 years.

  • A colonoscopy at age 50 [to screen for colon cancer], unless he has other risk factors that point to the need for an earlier exam. [And every 10 years after that, according to the American Cancer Society].

  • Cholesterol levels checked every five years, or more frequently, depending on a man’s particular risk factors.

  • Thyroid levels should be checked every five years to screen for thyroid disease and cancer.