June is Men’s Health Month – make your guy more aware

NAPPY STUDIO

Health advocates are raising awareness for men to pay attention to their physical and mental well-being, starting with regular doctor visits.

Men should take control of their health, too.

Health advocates are encouraging them to establish a relationship with a primary care physician to maintain fitness and lower the risk of illness. June is Men’s Health Month.

“People who regularly see a primary care doctor… on average live between 2.8 and 3.5 years longer,” said Dr. Jake Weaver of Novant Health. “It doesn’t sound like a whole lot but that is in the sense of no lifestyle change. The only notable difference between person A and person B is that one sees their primary care physician and one doesn’t. On average those people make healthier decisions.”

On average most men after they turn 18 don’t see a primary care physician until their 40s. But Weaver says seeing a primary care physician earlier in life can start the process of getting screened for more serious diseases earlier, which in turn helps prevent them. 

“A lot of the chronic diseases that I manage,” Weaver said, “whether that’s type 2 diabetes, whether that’s obesity, whether that’s hypertension – whether that’s other forms of heart disease, high cholesterol – all of those are more and more modifiable the earlier on that we’re catching it. … We have calculators now that can estimate your 10- and 30-year risk scores at age 30 now versus before. We’re waiting ‘til we turn 45 to start looking for these things.”

Don’t fear the white coat

Often, people will avoid doctors due to white coat hypertension, or a subconscious fear of physicians and/or what they may say. 

Weaver said to break this it starts at a young age having a good relationship with your pediatrician.

“For a lot of people that is very much, oh, this is the place I have to go once a year to get my blood drawn,” Weaver said, “or I go and somebody pokes me or something, nothing ever really meaningful happens from that visit or changes, and as a guy myself, as someone who has the exact same thought process, taking the doctor hat off, I totally get that. It takes a lot to take that first step and say there's a problem, I need to go talk to somebody about it.”

Going to a doctor doesn’t make you weak or meek. It is a simple preventative measure to better your health long-term.

“The goal is breaking the stigma essentially of saying, ‘hey, there's a weakness associated with going to a doctor,’” Weaver said. “My goal for all my patients is one, we should be doing things that prolong your life, things that help you achieve the goals you want to have in your life, things that make you stronger, not coming to me is making you weaker for any metric.”

Health is more than physical

While most people think of health from the physical standpoint, it also applies to one’s mental state. Eighty percent of U.S. suicides are men, who live with a stigma they have to be tough and can’t express their grievances.

Weaver said it is of utmost importance for men to be able to open up about their mental state. 

“Keeping everything bottled up and by not seeing anyone, there is no pressure release valve,” he said. “We feel isolated and [the mental state] has gotten worse. We have seen the numbers get worse and worse as the years have gone on. … It comes down to being lonely. That is why, going back to establishing those longstanding relationships, it is important.”

Opening up about your feelings isn’t something to shy away from. It helps the brain by just being able to share.

“We have so much evidence and data talking about just by talking about these things does absolutely nothing to increase the risk of suicide,” Weaver said. “It does the exact opposite.”

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