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Men’s Health Demands Attention Year-Round

Volume 56 - Issue 6 - June 2016

June is the month of National Men’s Health Week, beginning on Monday the 13th and running through Friday the 19th, which also is Father’s Day.

Encouraging US men to be healthy and safe is of paramount importance, given the following numbers offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1:

12.2 — the percent of men aged 18 years or older in fair or poor health

14.7 — the percent of men younger than 65 without health insurance

18.9 — the percent of men aged 18 or older who currently smoke cigarettes

32.6 — the percent of men aged 20 years or older with hypertension

34.5 — the percent of men aged 20 years or older with obesity

Statistics from other sources show that men are less likely than women to have a primary care physician,2 are less likely than women to seek preventive health care from a primary care office,2 die nearly 5 years younger than women,3 and are more likely to experience depression than their female counterparts, resulting in a much higher rate of suicide.3

In recognition of National Men’s Health Week, we’ve put a number of recent studies in the spotlight at Consultant360. Here are just a few:

  • Long-term testosterone therapy is not linked to aggressive prostate cancer. Testosterone replacement was associated with an early increase in favorable-risk prostate cancer but a lower risk of aggressive disease after 1 year of use.
  • Frequent ejaculation is linked to decreased prostate cancer risk. Men who ejaculated 21 or more times per month had a 19% lower risk of developing prostate cancer than those who ejaculated 4 to 7 times per month.
  • Daily sugary drinks raise men’s heart failure risk by 23%. In addition to increasing the diabetes risk, regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with heightened risk of heart failure in men.
  • Prostate-specific antigen testing is done less frequently in primary care. Primary care providers are performing fewer PSA screenings in response to the 2012 US Preventive Services Task Force recommendation against PSA screening, although rates have remained the same among urologists.

For these and more men’s health articles here in June and year-round, visit Men’s Health 360 by clicking on the “Specialty” tab at Consultant360.com.

And as always, thanks for reading.

Michael Gerchufsky, ELS, CMPP

Managing Editor, Consultant

References:

  1. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Men’s health. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mens-health.htm. Updated April 27, 2016. Accessed May 31, 2016.
  2. Heidelbaugh JJ, Tortorello M. The adult well male examination. Am Fam Physician. 2012 ;85(10):964-71.
  3. US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Life expectancy. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/life-expectancy.htm. Updated April 27, 2016. Accessed May 31, 2016.