Health, Men's Health
It may sound like a cliché but, according to researchers at Exeter University, it really is “undisputed in the medical community” that men are less likely than women to go to the doctor. And that they also lack the general knowledge about their health needed to flag up that something is amiss. This means it often falls to the women in their lives to become the caretakers of their health.
So, what should we be looking out for?
With heart disease, the leading cause of premature death in men (15.4% of deaths according to the Office of National Statistics), a healthy diet can be a lifesaver – yet only 25% of men aged 19 to 64 years old and 34% of over-65s eat their 5-a-day, says A. Vogel’s consultant nutritional therapist Ali Cullen. ‘We’re all guilty of eating too much fat, sugar and salt, but men also tend to eat more red meat than women and are also less likely to eat oily fish regularly. Make sure his diet is heart-healthy by getting him to:
Herbal help can come in the form of the prickly hedgerow plant, hawthorn which has been used traditionally to help support blood pressure and circulation.
Try Jan de Vries Hawthorn-Garlic Complex £9.99 for 90 capsules from independent health stores which combine organically cultivated garlic, with the pulp of the deep red fruit of the hawthorn, one of the most familiar of hedgerow berries, and the beautiful passiflora plant. They contain vitamin B1 which contributes to the normal function of the heart, and are also a rich source of vitamin E, an antioxidant, which can help protect the body from oxidative stress.
Regular exercise can half a man’s risk of dying of heart disease. It doesn’t have to be hearty sessions on the squash court: just a 20-minute walk most days will be enough to make a huge difference. Exercise also helps to reduce stress symptoms, as it produces feel-good hormones that will help him feel better mentally and emotionally as well as physically. By exercising regularly, he will also be helping to lower his blood pressure in several ways – by losing weight, increasing blood flow to his heart, improving his oxygen uptake and reducing his stress levels.
Especially if he’s getting up for the loo a lot at night, he could have a problem with his prostate gland. Over the age of 50 half of all men have an enlarged prostate, a condition known as Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (BPH). I t’s not a disease, but it can have quite an impact on his quality of life and should be checked out by his GP because, left untreated, it could increase his risk of serious complications such as acute retention of urine, and kidney and bladder conditions leading to hospitalisation.
Symptoms of an enlarged prostate include a feeble or haltering stream of urine, difficulty getting started, needing to urinate frequently and urgently (including at night), and a feeling that the bladder hasn’t emptied completely. Loss of libido and recurrent urinary tract infections can also be signs.
Conventional treatments include medication to block off testosterone (causing impotence and erectile dysfunction) or an operation to cut away part of the enlarged gland – a bit like coring an apple – but this has been associated with causing impotence as well as incontinence.
Alternatively, the herbal remedy Saw Palmetto has been shown to relieve urinary discomfort and reduce inflammation in prostate tissue for mild and moderately enlarged benign prostatic enlargements, says Dr Dick Middleton, pharmacist and chair of the British Herbal Medicine Association. ‘It has been shown to be as effective as conventional medication for BPH, but without the side effects such as erectile dysfunction.’ Try Prostasan £16.00 for 30 capsules from Boots.
Roll him onto his side! Sleep is now known to be one of the wonder drugs to help lower our risk of Stroke and Alzheimer’s (another leading cause of premature death, according to the ONS); and it’s especially when we sleep on our side that we’re able to flush out the build-up of so-called brain waste chemicals, such as beta-amyloid proteins, that are linked to Alzheimer’s and other neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s. This is because during sleep there is a 60% increase in the spaces between the brain cells and therefore more room for the clearance of the potentially toxic substances from those spaces.
A good night’s sleep is also essential for a healthy immune system and general good health. Sleeping one hour less per night for a week caused chaos in around 500 genes, in research done on healthy volunteers. Genes associated with immune function, stress response and inflammation rose and fell, and were switched on and off. Levels of genes associated with risk of diabetes and cancer rose.
If your man has trouble sleeping, herbal help can be found from the herbs valerian and hops which has been used traditionally for relieving sleep disturbances, particularly resulting from mild anxiety. Try Dormeasan £10.50 50ml from A.Vogel.
