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Men's Health
for the men in your life
Healthful hints
I
t's no old wives' tale: Women really do tend
to serve as the health care gatekeepers for the
men in their lives.
A recent University of Chicago study, for example,
found that older married men were 20 percent more
likely to have gotten a colonoscopy to screen for colon
cancer in the past five years, compared with men who
were single. The percentage went up to 40 percent if
the men were happily married and their wives had
high levels of education. The researchers concluded
that women's health decisions influence their partners,
especially if a man views his spouse as supportive.
In other words, nagging—in a nice way—can be a
healthy thing to do.
What can you do to help the men you care about
take good care of themselves? Try some of these
conversation starters the next time there's a lull in
your daily chitchat.
"When is the last time
you had a checkup?"
Once men hit age 18 and
stop having yearly checkups
at the pediatrician, many
don't see a doctor again
until their 50s. That's when
prostate problems may
start to become an issue, or
when they are more likely
to have a health crisis, such
as a heart attack. This is a
big missed opportunity for preventive care.
Even if a man feels fine, he should see his health care
practitioner regularly. Checkups can catch problems
he's having even before symptoms show up, such as
diabetes or pre-diabetes (when blood sugar is high but
not high enough to be diabetes).
By Sandra Gordon
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