Men’s health week is a charity campaign that runs 12-18 June with the aim of increasing awareness and knowledge of the pressing health issues that men are facing today. 1 in 5 men die before the age of 65 and die on average 6 years before women worldwide.
There are more alarming stats relating to men’s health, 3 out of 4 suicides are men, men are 3 times as likely to be alcohol dependant, men are prone to develop heart disease 10-15 years before women and twice as likely to have one of the 10 most common cancers that affect both sexes. Yet despite all these problems faced men seem to be unwilling to do anything about it, between the ages of 20-40 women are twice as likely to visit their GP than men of the same age. Many men see going to visit a doctor and accepting you may have something wrong with as ‘weak’ and if they don’t talk about it then it’s not there or it will just go away. The problem is we all know this isn’t true and it needs to be addressed.
Prostate Health
Only men have a prostate gland. The prostate is usually the size and shape of a walnut and grows bigger as you get older. It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra – the tube men urinate (pee) and ejaculate through. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men with 1 in 8 men getting prostate cancer at some time in their life. So, what is it you need to look out for? Below are the more common warning signs;
- Needing to urinate more often than usual
- Straining to finish urinating
- A weak flow
- Felling like you aren’t fully empty after a wee
Don’t be too alarmed if you are suffering from any of these symptoms, it could be just your prostate enlarging but all you need to do is visit your doctor, there is no point risking it. The treatments for prostate cancer can have an effect on your pelvic floor health which can lead to problems like incontinence. However, you don’t have to live with it, using a pelvic toner such as the
Kegel 8 V for Men will help you to exercise your pelvic floor effectively and correctly to help with some of the side effects of treatments. If you need something more short term to deal with the problem
X-Tops for Men are a discrete incontinence sheaf that can stop any dribbles you may have to avoid any embarrassment.
Erectile Dysfunction
Something no man ever wants to speak about, it is up there with the most emasculating of things to happen to a man. You might be surprised how common it is though, 40% of men over 40 suffer from it in some way with the percentage increasing the older you get. Suffering from impotence can huge knock on effects to a man’s life, sex is a healthy element of all relationships and having problems in the bedroom can transfer to the rest of your relationship which can lead to other health problems such as mental health issues. Although it happens as you get older it doesn’t mean you have to accept it as part of life, there are many options to address it. A great solution that is all natural and drug free is using a
vacuum pump. They work by drawing blood into the penis giving you a stronger than usual erection. Unlike medications used to treat erectile dysfunction, the vacuum therapy device system gives you greater control over your erection. Since the effects are immediate you don’t need to plan hours ahead, and you won’t be left with an erection for hours afterwards either, which allows you to keep your love life as spontaneous and natural as possible. As well as helping to protect you from little leaks the
Kegel8 V for Men can also help with erectile dysfunction giving you better erections.
Weight Management
Obesity is a growing problem and is one of the greatest health challenges facing this generation. It is also the main focus of this year’s Men’s Health Week. Men are more likely to be overweight that women with just 32% of men being a health weight and 27% of all men being classed as obese. Being overweight increase your chances contracting so many health issues that can have major implications.
Overweight people are twice as likely to suffer from high blood pressure or the silent killer as it is often called. You can easily track your blood pressure from home with your own
blood pressure monitor to ensure you remain at a healthy level. You can find out more by reading our blog about hypertension
here. Obese men are also around 4 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes that those of a healthy weight. As well as the physical conditions being overweight can have an effect on your mental health, if you look at yourself in the mirror and hate what you see then you will lose your confidence and begin to beat yourself up. We know that this is a big problem for women but it is often ignored when it comes to men.
Like everything else we have spoken about your weight can easily be sorted. Start by doing an extra 10 minutes exercise a day and build yourself up, you could buy a
pedal exerciser to get your exercise in whilst you are sat at your desk. As well as exercising, your diet needs to also be addressed, by monitoring and weighing your food with a
Beurer DS61 Nutritional Analysis Scale, this will allow you to track exactly how many calories you are consuming each day. The combination of better food and more exercise will see the weight drop off you, monitor your progress with a set of
diagnostic scales to see exactly how much weight and fat you have lost. Give our blog on 12 simple lifestyle changes to help you lose weight a read
here.
We know the problems are there but now it’s time to act, we need to create a society that supports men with the issues they are facing instead of expecting them to ‘man up’.
