"Father’s Day is a great opportunity to remind the men in your life that you want them around for a long time to come.
That’s why the Men’s Health Week campaign was started. This year, beginning on June 13 and culminating on Father’s Day, June 19, the campaign hopes to “heighten awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys,” according to the national Men’s Health Network organization.
I‘ve written in the past about how difficult it is for both male and female caregivers to get their guys to the doctor. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year, and 22 percent more likely to have neglected their cholesterol tests.
The American Heart Association lists 10 common excuses men give for not seeing a doctor, which run the gamut from “There’s probably nothing wrong” to “My significant other has been nagging me to get a checkup,” so therefore I won’t go.
I don’t want to nag, but the risks of avoiding preventive care can be real and serious. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the 10 leading killers of American men are:
Heart disease
Cancer
Unintentional injuries
Stroke
Chronic lower respiratory diseases (such as COPD)
Diabetes
Suicide
Influenza and pneumonia
Alzheimer’s disease
Chronic liver disease
If you’re a guy, your fat distribution will typically be around your abdomen (apple-shaped obesity), so you’ll tend to have a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and stroke.
Unlike the majority of women, who tend to seek medical care when they’re symptomatic, you guys often believe that if you “feel fine,” there’s no reason to go to the doctor. But anyone can feel normal with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or abnormal blood sugar levels. Even if you don’t feel so great, do you tend to wait for your symptoms to go away on their own — sort of like when you drive around aimlessly because you don’t want to ask for directions?
For Father’s Day, those of us who love you offer gentle reminders about six ways you can refocus on your health, courtesy of the CDC:
1. Get Enough Sleep
Aim for seven to nine hours per night.
2. Stop Smoking
If you quit now, you’ll lower your risk for cancer, COPD, and other smoking-related illnesses.
3. Exercise More
Try to fit in 2 ½ hours of aerobic activity, plus muscle-strengthening exercises, each week.
4. Eat Healthy
Your diet should include a variety of fruits and vegetables daily.
5. Reduce Stress
You’ll feel much more relaxed if you avoid drugs and alcohol, connect socially, and find support.
6. Get Regular Checkups
You need to know your blood pressure and cholesterol numbers, because if they’re elevated, your risk for heart disease and stroke goes up. And high blood pressure may even increase your risk for erectile dysfunction. You also need screening for colorectal and prostate cancer: Positive outcomes are more likely with early detection.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) Stay Healthy at Any Age page, you don’t need a one-size-fits-all yearly physical. Rather, develop a partnership with your healthcare provider, and based on your profile and lifestyle, decide which screenings, diagnostic tests, and immunizations are right for you. The timing and frequency should be based on your risk factors for developing a condition or disease, including family or personal history, age, ethnicity, and environmental exposure.
In honor of Father’s Day, Dad, go to the AHRQ website and learn about the recommended ages for testing, tips on talking to the doctor, and much more. We’ll love you all the more for it".
Fuente: www.everydayhealth.com
