As men get older, the wear and tear on their bodies takes its toll. Men's Heath Week is this week to bring those concerns to the forefront. However, there are ways that men can keep in top shape all year long.
Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a general term that includes many different conditions affecting the heart and blood vessels. According to the American Heart Association, over 39 million American men (1 in 3) suffer from one or more of these conditions, and every year just under half a million of them die of cardiovascular disease (1 in 4) — that’s more than cancer and diabetes combined.
Approximately 392,000 men die from cardiovascular disease each year. CVD is also a major cause of disability and decreases the quality of life for millions of people. Heart disease is the most common cause of death for men in the U.S.
A healthy diet and lifestyle are the most common contributors to good cardiovascular health. Other conditions you may experience as you age include diabetes and high blood pressure. Modest changes to your diet can help to reduce your risk of developing these diseases.
Sexual desires and activity aren’t static. They change throughout life for lots of reasons, such as having children, coming to terms with sexual orientation, or physical or mental illness. Growing older can also have an effect on sex, but it’s important to realize that this is normal.
Talking about sexual health contributes its own dynamics for a person and within a relationship. Men tend to not be comfortable discussing their sexual health. They may joke around with it when they are around their male friends, but are they really asking the right questions or expressing their experiences to make their friends provide support or guidance? Very rarely. Add to that the personal relationship with a partner. In a perfect world partners would speak openly about their want, desires, likes, and dislikes. But that doesn’t always happen either.
Starting a new relationship later in life can be daunting but exciting as well. The rise in divorce rates means that more people are single and dating. Some people who have lost a long-term partner may feel guilty about getting involved with someone else and starting a sexual relationship, which can affect the ability to have sex. Talking about these feelings with the new partner, a therapist, or both, can help to address this.
Just as the body changes with age, so does the mind. You may find that you’re misplacing things or you’re just not as on top of things as you used to be. You may experience memory loss and other intellectual abilities serious enough to interfere with daily life caused by dementia. As you age, you may also start to feel stressed or depressed due to the loss of a loved one, health problems or financial difficulties. Stress may cause you to lose energy, fail to eat enough or isolate yourself. Proper diet management and physical exercise can be the key to a positive outlook and staying emotionally balanced.
Men should know what their prostate is and what it does. Over 30 million men suffer from prostate conditions that impact their quality of life. Each year over 230,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and about 30,000 will die from it.
Adults need at least 2.5 hours of moderate-intensity aerobic activity (such as brisk walking) every week, and muscle strengthening activities that work all major muscle groups (legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders, and arms) on two or more days a week. You don't have to do it all at once. Spread your activity out during the week, and break it into smaller chunks of time during the day.
Insufficient sleep is associated with a number of chronic diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and depression. Also, insufficient sleep is responsible for motor vehicle and machinery-related accidents, causing substantial injury and disability each year. Sleep guidelines from the National Sleep Foundation have noted that sleep needs change as we age. In general, adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep.
For aging men and seniors, healthy eating and exercise can increase mental acuteness, help resist disease and injury, offer faster recovery, yield higher energy levels and provide better management of chronic health problems.
Each year, over 700,000 men are diagnosed with cancer and nearly 300,000 die from the disease. During the course of a lifetime half of all men will get cancer at least once, and one in three women will get the disease. Cancer can strike anyone, at any age, but the majority of cases happen to people 55 and over.
The saddest part about all of this is that most of these cancers and deaths are preventable. At least one-third of cancer deaths are caused by smoking, and another one-third may be caused by poor diet and/or lack of exercise. The two keys to beating cancer are early detection and reducing risk.
The most common types of cancer found in men are breast, lung, gastric (stomach), prostate and testicular. Prostate is the leading cancer in men. Early detection is a big part in prevention. Check your body for any abnormalities. A couple steps men can take is don't smoke, limit alcohol, limit exposure of sunlight. Eat a low-fat, high-fiber diet and limit foods that are smokes, salted, pickled or high in nitrates. Also get screened. These tests are to detect various types of cancer in its early stages.
