Conversatio Morum

Men are not so good at healthy things. As a group, we tend to live shorter lives than women, and we suffer from a range of illnesses which our lifestyles tend to cause. We also suffer from some male-specific health conditions.

Health could be thought of as the absence of disease. Wellbeing is a wider term, which could be thought of broadly as including good health, but also other things, such as satisfaction with life, an ability to achieve one’s goals and so on.

If you’re a man you can do some positive things to improve your health.

• Improve your diet. If you’re overweight, try to lose some weight. A healthy diet includes plenty of fruit and vegetables, a moderate amount of protein and carbohydrate, and a minimum of fats. An improvement in diet will help in lots of ways, by lowering your risk of heart disease and diabetes, some sorts of cancer, and together with appropriate exercise will help you to lose weight. You’ll also have more energy, and your bowels will work more effectively!
• Get some exercise. 30 minutes of moderate exercise per day has been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease. Together with an appropriate diet, it will help you to lose weight.
• Learn to relax. Stress can cause lots of problems in your body and mind. It also tends to cause problems within your relationships with others, too, especially if your stress management skills aren’t what they could be. Moderate exercise will help you relax. So will things such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, some martial arts, gardening and so on. Find something that works for you, and go for it! Make it part of your everyday life.
• Minimise your risk factors. If you’re overweight – try to lose weight. If you smoke, quit. Perform routine health checks yourself, such as checking your testicles for lumps. If you suffer from depression, or think you might be depressed, look for help. Become aware of the symptoms and signs which can mean trouble, such as signs of prostate problems, heart disease, and diabetes. If you think you might have any health problems, see your doctor as soon as possible. (There’s a good online health check for men here – doesn’t replace seeing your doctor though!)
• Make friends with your doctor and dentist. Have appropriate health checks at appropriate intervals. If you’re a younger man, every year might be appropriate to see your doctor. If you’re older, every six months might be more appropriate. See your dentist every six months. Don’t neglect any health problems because you’re embarrassed or think they’re not serious. An issue such as having problems getting or keeping an erection can be a sign of a wider health problem – see your doctor!
• Learn a bit about how your body works. Knowing how things work makes it easier to understand any problems, and will make you more alert to health problems.
• Learn a bit about how your mind works. Each of us is different. Having some insight into your personality can help in your relationships with other people.

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