Men's Health
Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM
Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
Charles Patrick Davis, MD, PhD
Dr. Charles "Pat" Davis, MD, PhD, is a board certified Emergency Medicine doctor who currently practices as a consultant and staff member for hospitals. He has a PhD in Microbiology (UT at Austin), and the MD (Univ. Texas Medical Branch, Galveston). He is a Clinical Professor (retired) in the Division of Emergency Medicine, UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, and has been the Chief of Emergency Medicine at UT Medical Branch and at UTHSCSA with over 250 publications.
- Introduction to men's health
- Prostate problems
- Testosterone
- Top 10 diseases that kill men
- Heart disease
- Cancers
- Injuries
- Stroke
- COPD
- Diabetes
- Influenza and pneumonia
- Suicide
- Kidney disease
- Alzheimer's disease
- The checklist: How to stay healthy
- Patient Comments: Men's Health - Exercise
- Patient Comments: Men's Health - Fitness
Introduction to men's health
The average life expectancy of a man born in the United State in 2007 is 75 years and 5 months. The life expectancy for a man has increased dramatically in the past 50 years. How long we live is important; however, the quality of life is equally important. The ability to enjoy life to its fullest requires investing time and effort into health maintenance and disease prevention. This investment pays dividends almost immediately and it is never too late to begin. A person who was 65 years old in 2007 could expect to live to age 82, and a 75 year old could expect 10 more years of life.
Our bodies are incredibly complex machines that require fuel components (food, water, and air) to grow, function, and repair itself. Like any machine, the body requires routine maintenance to make it last a long time and to function well throughout a person's life expectancy. Using the body as it was intended and minimizing abuse also increases its ability to perform. When we buy a car, we expect to routinely change the oil, filters, rotate the tires, and avoid driving too aggressively to keep the car running smoothly and last a certain length of time. As in life, accidents happen and cosmetic injuries occur, but it is the "guts" of a car, the engine, transmission, and brakes that will decide if it will be happily driving down the road or sitting in the junkyard.
Our bodies suffer through illnesses and accidents and many are unavoidable. Taking care of your body also includes scheduled maintenance and screening examinations to detect illnesses at an early stage, which increases the potential for cure and a return to health. Learning to listen to the body's warning signs and symptoms is the same as paying attention to the check engine light in your car, neither should not be ignored.
A healthy lifestyle is not just an absence of disease, but an opportunity to enjoy the years of life available to each person. Medical care can help the body maintain its performance as it ages. A longer life expectancy should not be considered a jail sentence to inactivity. But as the body ages, there is an expected and normal physiologic change in some of the hormones in the male body.
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