Men are commonly believed to be the stronger sex. When it comes to feats of pure strength, they’re thought to dominate over women—some can run faster, jump higher, or lift heavier things.
However, when it comes to health and chronic illnesses, it seems that men are weaker than the opposite sex.
According to a study conducted between 2000 to 2014, men were more likely to develop chronic diseases than women. Furthermore, the diseases that had the most frequent occurrences in men are diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, chronic heart failure, myocardial infarction (MI), and lung cancer.
The good news is that you have a choice whether or not to be part of these statistics. The first step is to take care of your health and be aware of the common health problems that are common in men. To help out in that regard, here are four of the most common health problems that manifest more in men rather than women.
Diabetes
Diabetes, particularly the type-2 classification, affects up to 95% of men. In this type, the body is still able to produce insulin, but due to the low amount, the body cannot detect it and use it properly. Hence, insulin resistance develops.
This disease often causes muscle loss, low energy, and even sexual problems due to the decreasing amount of testosterone. Moreover, as the sugar in the body continues to build up without insulin to control it, sugar levels can increase and damage the nerves and small blood vessels in the heart, thus putting a person at risk of atherosclerosis—or the enlarging of the arteries.
Atherosclerosis
A study shows that atherosclerosis is the leading cause of death in the United States. More importantly, it is discovered that more men die from it than women, especially those who are in their 40-60s.
Some of the risk factors for atherosclerosis are diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity in men. More importantly, you should know that this can develop without noticeable signs and symptoms, so it’s important for you to boost your cardiovascular system, get regular exercise, manage stress, and visit your doctor regularly for check-ups.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD is more common in men mainly because of the high prevalence of smoking among them.
As regularly reminded by manufacturers, smoking brings a lot of respiratory and health issues, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. However, for long-time smokers, they eventually develop COPD, which makes breathing difficult.
People affected by chronic diseases commonly suffer from coughing and shortness of breath, but they are also at risk of developing lung cancer, especially if they do not quit smoking over years of the habit.
While there are inhalers and other medication to relieve you of the symptoms of COPD, there is no cure for this, unfortunately, and your best option is to drop things in your lifestyle to prevent developing this disease.
Alcoholic Liver Disease
Similar to smoking, men are more likely to be heavy drinkers compared to women. Heavy alcohol consumption and binge drinking put them at risk of developing various health problems, such as infertility, impotence, throat cancer, colon cancer, alcohol poisoning, and alcoholic liver disease (ALD).
In a 2009 study, it was found that nearly 20,000 Americans died due to cancer as a result of drinking.
The good news is that there’s a way for you to avoid suffering from this like many others, and this is through cutting back on your drinking. It may be hard to do this without a strong support system, but you can ask your family or friends to help you successfully get it out of your system. Moreover, you can consult your doctor or enroll in a rehab program for best results.
Conclusion
You may feel fine today, but don’t use this as an excuse to abuse your body and continue with your unhealthy habits. Without proper care and a healthy lifestyle, your health will deteriorate and you may suffer serious consequences for neglecting your body. Before symptoms even show up, it’s best to eat well, stay active, and schedule regular checkups with your doctor.
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