Men, You Need to See The Doctor, Too

Only 60 percent of men get a check-up every year, and almost 10 percent haven’t set foot inside a physician’s office in a span of 10 years.

The numbers tell the story. Only 60 percent of men get a check-up every year, and almost 10 percent haven’t set foot inside a physician’s office in a span of 10 years. Perhaps these numbers explain why women live an average of almost seven years longer than men. “Women are experienced health-care consumers, and they know how to deal with doctors,” says Kenneth Goldberg, M.D., of the Male Health Institute at Baylor Health Centre, in Irving Texas, and author of How Men Can Live as Long as Women. “Men simply don’t.”

According to researches and surveys, there is an array of reasons why most men have to be dragged to the doctor: They are more uncomfortable than women in discussing their health problems; they prefer to tough it out when they’re sick; and worst of all, they wait until they are really sick before seeking help, so the news they get is often not good.

The great irony is that some of the most common medical problems men face as they age—like heart disease – can be cured or at least controlled by adopting better health habits.

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