Specialty Nutrition for Men's Health (Saving Men's Health)

“Brother, brother, brother/there’s far too many of you dying.”

The brothers, fathers, sons and boyfriends of the world face a challenge in getting and staying healthy. Males’ common fear of knowing about health problems plays into the lack of early diagnosis and treatment, in addition to indirectly limiting preventive intervention based on the connections found between diseases; but, the bulk of prevention is tied to health behaviors, namely dietary.

More males than females are born, but from birth, the male gender has a tougher time staying healthy and alive. Death rates are higher for males, from newborns to adults, and men still lag in life expectancy, although the gap has narrowed recently, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). To better understand the factors involved in men’s health, including life expectancy, mortality and diseases, it’s important to look at what the statistics reveal about what ails men and how they react to health challenges.

Men fall victim to the top causes of death more often than do women. According to the CDC, men’s top 10 causes of death, by percentage of men affected are heart disease, cancer, accidents, stroke, lung disease, diabetes, influenza, suicide, kidney disease and Alzheimer’s disease. While the top four have seen small percentage declines in death rates, these maladies befall a big percentage of men, despite the great potential for prevention.

Statistics reflect the trends in men’s health behavior. The CDC reports 23 percent of men smoke; 70 percent of men 20 years of age or older are overweight; and 26 percent of men 20 years of age or older have hypertension. These three factors greatly affect most of the leading causes of death among adult men. Smoking is indicated as a major causative factor in two-thirds of cancers and also contributes to non-cancerous lung disease. Overweight status is a primary risk factor in diabetes and heart disease, not to mention its effect on depression, immune health and end-stage renal failure. Hypertension is a risk factor in not only heart disease, but also diabetes and stroke.

If men don’t fear the reaper, they should fear the quality of whatever life they have left, as many of the diseases in the top ten affect male performance, from the field to the office to the bedroom. This should be a wake-up call to change male health behavior.

At the heart of male health behavior is lack of awareness. Many men are unaware of underlying diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Stereotypical machismo assumptions aside, CDC officials report women are 100-percent more likely to visit a doctor for an annual examination or preventive service than are men. There is much speculation and theory as to why men don’t connect often enough with their doctors, but surveys on this behavior should be eye-opening for men and the women who care about them.

A 2005 national survey of U.S. men ages 35 and older revealed eight of every 10 men with high blood pressure were not aware of its connection to erectile dysfunction (ED), one of the biggest health concerns among adult men.¹ Additionally, the results showed many of these men were unaware of the connection between ED and other medical conditions that commonly affect men, such as high cholesterol and diabetes.

An earlier survey from Men’s Health Network, the American Foundation for Urologic Disease (AFUD) and Bayer Corp. found only 15 percent of American men have heard of prostatitis, a painful, non-cancerous inflammatory condition that will affect more than half of the male population at some point in their lives.² “Men suffering with prostatitis often don’t know what hit them, and may be reluctant to talk about it because of the fear factor,” said Tom Bruckman, AFUD.

Another aspect of lack of proper knowledge on health topics is evidenced by the MHN prostatitis survey results showing 83 percent of those respondents who considered themselves knowledgeable about this condition believe prostatitis is a warning symptom or leading indicator of prostate cancer. In fact, prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate gland, usually from bacterial infection, but not connected to cancer. As a bacterial infection, the main course of treatment is antibiotics, but natural products may help.