By Morgan Nwanguma
Beginning from infancy to old age, women tend to be healthier than men. Out of the 15 leading causes of death, men are ahead of women in all of them apart from Alzheimer’s disease, which a lot of men don’t live long enough to develop. Even though the gender gap is closing, men still die five years earlier than their wives, averagely.
While the explanations are partly biological, men’s methodology to their health plays a part as well, experts tell WebMD.
“Men put their health last,” says Demetrius Porche, DNS, RN, editor in chief of the American Journal of Men’s Health. “Most men’s thinking is, if they can live up to their roles in society, then they’re healthy.”
Men see the doctor less than women and are more inclined to have a serious health issue when they do go, according to studies. “As long as they’re working and feeling productive, most men aren’t considering the risks to their health,” says Porche.
On the other hand even if you’re feeling well, a little planning can aid you remain that way. The main threats to men’s health are not secrets: they’re known, common, and every so often avoidable. According to WebMD the following is a list of the main health threats to men, and how to prevent them.
Cardiovascular Disease: The Foremost Men’s Health Risk
They call it atherosclerosis, meaning “hardening of the arteries.” But it could as easily be from the Latin for “a man’s worst enemy.”
“Heart disease and stroke are the first and second leading causes of death worldwide, in both men and women,” says Darwin Labarthe, MD, MPH, PhD, director of the Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at the CDC. “It’s a huge global public health problem, and in the U.S. we have some of the highest rates.”
In cardiovascular disease, cholesterol plaques slowly block the arteries in the heart and brain. If a plaque becomes unsteady, a blood clot is created, obstructing the artery and leading to a heart attack or stroke.
One out of every five men and women will die from cardiovascular disease, according to Labarthe. For no certain reasons, nevertheless, men’s arteries develop atherosclerosis before those of women’s. “Men’s average age for death from cardiovascular disease is under 65,” he says; women catch up about six years later.
Also in adolescence, girls’ arteries appear in good health than boys’. Experts believe women’s naturally higher levels of good cholesterol (HDL) are partly responsible. Men have to work harder to reduce their risk for heart disease and stroke:
· Check out your cholesterol, starting at 25 years and every five years.
· Put your blood pressure and cholesterol under control, if they’re high.
· If you smoke, discontinue.
· Increase your physical activity level to 30 minutes per day, most days of the week.
· Consume more fruits and vegetables and less saturated or trans fats.
“There’s a saying that ‘children should know their grandparents,'” says Labarthe. “This is fatal or disabling condition that causes lost family time and working time. But a large number of these events are preventable.”
Lung Cancer: Remains a Health Risk to Men
Lung cancer is a dreadful disease: ugly, aggressive, and almost always metastatic. Lung cancer spreads early, usually before it grows large enough to cause symptoms or even show up on an X-ray. By the time it’s found, lung cancer is often advanced and problematic to cure. Not up to half of men remain alive a year after.
Thus … are you still smoking?
Tobacco smoke leads to 90% of all lung cancers. With appreciations to falling smoking rates in the U.S., fewer men than ever are dying of lung cancer. But lung cancer has remained the leading cancer killer in men: more than enough to fill the Super dome on an annual basis experts say.
Lung cancer has no effective screening test available, even though a key research is going on to learn if CT scans of the chests of high-risk people can detect cancer early enough to enhance survival.
Giving up smoking at any age diminishes the danger for lung cancer. Few preventive measures are as effective — or as challenging — as discontinuing smoking. But new tools are accessible that work to help men stop the habit. Your physician can tell you more.
Prostate Cancer: A Foremost Cancer amongst Men
This remains one health issue men can own completely — after all, women don’t have prostates. A walnut-sized gland at the back of the penis that secretes fluids needed for ejaculation, the prostate is prone to complications as men grow older.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men aside skin cancer. Nearly 200,000 men will contract prostate cancer each year in America.
Nonetheless while one out of six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, only one in 35 will die from it. “Many prostate cancers are slow-growing and unlikely to spread, while others are aggressive,” says Djenaba Joseph, MD, medical officer for cancer prevention at the CDC. “The problem is, we don’t have effective tests for identifying which cancers are more dangerous.”
Screening for prostate cancer calls for a digital rectal exam (the infamous gloved finger) and a blood test for prostate specific antigen (PSA).
But in fact, “Screening has never definitively been shown to reduce the chances of dying from prostate cancer,” according to Joseph. That’s for the reason that screening discovers many cancers that would never lead to death, even if unnoticed. Testing then causes aggressive treatment of comparatively harmless cancers, which leads to issues such as impotence and incontinence.
Do you need to get screened for prostate cancer? A number of experts say yes, but “the best solution is to see your doctor regularly and talk about your overall risk,” says Joseph. “All men should understand the risks and benefits of each approach, whichever you choose.”
Depression and Suicide: Men face a Threat
Depression is not just a bad frame of mind, a jagged patch, or melancholies. It is an emotional disorder that touches on your entire body and general well-being.
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