Introduction
The role of testosterone
Infertility
Erectile dysfunction
High male mortality
A case-by-case approach
References
The term "male health" is used in the sense of "potency and reproductive viability"; sometimes, the expression "male power" is used instead. But male power is only part of the overall well-being. A man's health includes both "men's health" and general physical activity, a stable emotional background, normal pressure, and pulse.
Often, men face an important hurdle in their self-evident health issues in general, recollecting themselves when the problem has gone too far. Among doctors, there is the concept of a "lethal quartet": obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and stress. With age, this combination threatens so many members of the male sex.
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The role of testosterone
German scientist Michael Zitzmann, an endocrinologist at the University of Münster, has studied the effects of testosterone deficiency on men's health. During his research, he found that problems with potency are often associated with diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Also, low testosterone, according to him, is the cause of depression in men.
The crucial role of testosterone in men's health is confirmed by a long-term study conducted by the Heart Institute in Salt Lake City. Older men diagnosed with coronary heart disease and testosterone deficiency were given hormone replacement therapy, increasing the level of the male hormone. As a result, their group experienced fewer strokes and heart attacks than the control group, which did not receive testosterone therapy.
Infertility
Infertile men have associated health problems or risk factors that can impair their quality of life and shorten their lives. Assessing a man's fertility provides a unique opportunity to assess their overall health and prevent disease, which was uncovered during a study of 5,000 infertile couples from the Italian Society of Andrology and Sexual Medicine.
It indicates not only a decrease in fertility but also other malfunctions in the male body. According to a recent large-scale study by endocrinologists in Italy, low sperm count is associated with adverse metabolic changes, risk of cardiovascular disease, and decreased bone mass.
Urologists, endocrinologists, therapists, and psychotherapists deal with the problems of infertile marriage. The causes of male infertility include chronic inflammatory diseases of the male reproductive system, sexually transmitted diseases, and metabolic syndrome.
Erectile dysfunction
Over half of men (52%) aged 40-70 suffer from erectile dysfunction - the inability to have an erection or maintain it at a level sufficient for normal sexual intercourse. Only 10% go to doctors. This delicate problem leads to an unhealthy lifestyle and problems with the nervous, genitourinary, or endocrine system.
One of the most common male diseases is prostatitis. After 50 years, up to 50% of men have hidden or overt manifestations of prostatitis. Less common are adenoma and prostate cancer. And even though the symptoms of all prostate diseases cause severe inconvenience to a person, men do not immediately go to the doctor.
Male infertility and erectile dysfunction may result from excessive alcohol consumption. It should be remembered that under the influence of alcohol, degenerative changes occur in the very finely arranged epithelium of the testicles, which produces spermatozoa.
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High male mortality
According to the HSE Institute of Demography for 2017, the mortality rate among the male population is higher both in general and for all major causes: from respiratory diseases - 5.96 times higher than for women, from external factors (accidents, poisoning, injuries) - 5.1 times, from infectious and parasitic diseases - 5 times, from diseases of the circulatory system - 4.6 times, from digestive organs - 3.5 times, and from malignant neoplasms - 2.4 times.
In the structure of oncological diseases in men in several countries, prostate cancer takes 2nd or 3rd place; in the USA and Sweden, it takes 1st place. Only melanoma is ahead of it in terms of the rate of increase in incidence.
In February 2019, a Federation Council Committee on Social Policy meeting was held on "Actual issues of maintaining the health of the male population." It addressed issues of early diagnosis and treatment of urological diseases, protection of the reproductive health of the male population, gender characteristics of cardiovascular diseases, as well as ways to increase life expectancy.
A case-by-case approach
Men's health is characterized primarily by the individual and depends on the specific situation. The need for regular examination by specialists is determined by the presence of chronic diseases or bad habits in the patient.
However, even men without any underlying health problems are still at the risk of developing a particular disease. For those individuals, the doctor will assess the frequency of examinations to identify the disease at the earliest stages of development.
Ongoing scientific fundamental and applied research should be focused primarily on providing preventive and personalized assistance to prevent an early diagnosis of diseases.
It is also noted that the development of new medical technologies and the creation of new pharmaceuticals can improve the ability to treat diseases but, unfortunately, do not affect the demographic situation on a global scale.
All this should work to shift health care priorities from the treatment of diseases to the maintenance of men's health. For a modern man, the desire to increase life expectancy should be due not to the fact that he will live longer in old age but to the fact that old age will come much later.
References:
- Williams, David R. (May 2003). "The Health of Men: Structured Inequalities and Opportunities". American Journal of Public Health.
- "Testosterone — What It Does And Doesn't Do". Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publishing. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- Wilsnack, Richard W.; Wilsnack, Sharon C.; Kristjanson, Arlinda F.; Vogeltanz-Holm, Nancy D.; Gmel, Gerhard (September 2009). "Gender and alcohol consumption: Patterns from the multinational GENACIS project"
- Macken, University of Western Sydney-Michael. "Men's Health Information and Resource Centre". westernsydney.edu.au. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
- "Erectile dysfunction (impotence)". Evidence-Based Medicine Guidelines. Nov 30, 2018.
- Rove, Kyle. "Infertility in Men". DynaMed. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
Further Reading
‘Break the Silence’ campaign urges British fathers to discuss men's health issues with their sons