Jan de Vries discusses Men's Health
Luckily, nowadays, age is just a number. Everyone wants to be fit and healthy and no one wants to grow old. My good friend and mentor Alfred Vogel certainly wanted to keep young. He was well into his 90s and continued looking for ways to keep fit and healthy, which he did right up until he died. In fact, not long before he died, he bought himself a new pair of skis. He, like myself, had a Peter Pan attitude to life!
There are of course a few threatening problems that can affect quality of life, and most men about 40 years of age have to watch out for these health issues, yet men are least likely to visit their doctor if they’re worried about their health, but as I have always said “prevention is better than cure”.
So what can men do? Take care of themselves! It is very important that men have regular health check-ups, as many conditions do not reveal themselves and can go undetected for many years.
Conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol affecting both men and women do not cause symptoms until they are advanced and severe. Other common diseases such as diabetes and the effects of alcohol, smoking and excess weight often go undetected until irreversible damage is done.
Certain conditions including prostate disorders, testicular problems and impotence are specific to men. Prostate cancer is a disease that affects men from around the age of 45 years and is the commonest male cancer in the UK. It is a slow-growing illness in most cases and many sufferers are unaware that they even have the disease.
Swelling of the prostate gland, known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), can be aggravating to live with. This often occurs in men over the age of 50. Urgency and frequent urination particularly in the middle of the night, poor or painful urine flow and dribbling are common symptoms. Once you have been diagnosed with BPH you may wish to consider a herbal remedy to ease the flow of urine and reduce the swelling. Plant oils extracted from the fruits of the Saw Palmetto plant have traditionally been used for their beneficial action on the prostate gland and can help reduce the inflammation that leads to prostate enlargement.
A few conditions that affect the testicles are serious, but most are not. Inflammation of the testicles (orchitis) is a fairly prevalent condition yet its treatment tends to be neglected. Never ignore this condition hoping it may correct itself. By simply trying to forget the inflammation and not caring for it properly you may invite infertility later. If you have performed a self-examination and found a lump or swelling, you are advised to go to your doctor for further examination.
That is why it is important to seek help sooner rather than later so that health issues can be detected early, before they are advanced and severe. There is nothing common about common sense.
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