Current Issues Men’s Health – Time to Change Our Approach Siegfried Meryn General Secretary, International Society of Men’s Health, and Chairman, Department of Medical Education, Medical University of Vienna
Abstract
Significant gender disparities exist in life expectancy (the average life expectancy of men is 5.0–7.2 years less than that of women) and major disease morbidity. There is an urgent need to understand the major issues related to men’s health that contribute to these significant disparities. Men have a higher death rate from 14 of the 15 leading causes of death (all except Alzheimer’s disease). They have a nearly three-fold higher rate of death from bladder cancer and twice as high a rate of death from kidney cancer than women. For all cancers except non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer and the sex-specific cancers, men also have a higher rate of incidence and death when considering all ages. The International Society of Men’s Health (ISMH) believes that raising awareness of prostate health – prostate disease as well as testosterone and hypogonadism – will empower and motivate men to consult their physician. It will also be a promoter and catalyst for detecting many other existing or underlying conditions and comorbidities. The most important goals are to empower men to manage their own health and to talk about worries regarding their health.
Keywords Men’s health, testosterone, hypogonadism, male cancer, prostate, prostate health, prostate cancer, gender disparity
Disclosure: The author has no conflicts of interest to declare. Acknowledgement: Supplied on behalf of the International Society of Men’s Health. Received: 20 July 2010 Accepted: 13 August 2010 Citation: European Urological Review, 2010;5(1):10–1 Correspondence: Siegfried Meryn, General Secretary, International Society of Men’s Health, Chairman, Department of Medical Education, Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23/BT87, 1090 Vienna, Austria. E-mail:
s.meryn@
ismh.org
Less than 100 years ago, when the life and probably health expectancies of both men and women were about equal, gender-specific health was not an issue. The realisation that the health of men is an area that requires specific attention has only recently been recognised. Significant gender disparities exist in life expectancy and major disease morbidity. There is an urgent need to understand the major issues related to men’s health that contribute to these disparities.
Ten years ago, there was very little mention of male health issues other than perhaps of prostate or testicular cancer. Facts supporting men’s disadvantaged health condition are that men have a higher death rate from 14 of the 15 leading causes of death (all except Alzheimer’s disease) and that the average life expectancy of men is 5.0–7.2 years less than that of women. In recent times it has finally been recognised that this drive for equality must also recognise the health issues that seem to have a more detrimental effect on men and that all health policies must be viewed through a lens that recognises both men and women.
Before discussing how to improve men’s health, one has to define what men’s health is. The Men’s Health Forum England’s provides the definition: “A male health issue is one arising from physiological, psychological, social or environmental factors that have a specific impact on boys or men and/or where particular interventions are required for boys or men in order to achieve
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improvements in health and wellbeing at either the individual or the population level.”
What Are the Main Problems with Men’s Health?
The main problems with men’s health are the lower life expectancy and higher mortality rate, the higher incidences of cardiovascular disease and cancer, the weight and obesity epidemic, mental health problems, sexual and reproductive health risk-taking behaviours, the underuse of health services and the lack of specific health information. As a topic, men’s health generates minimal research and is marginalised in scholarly agendas, at least relative to the amount of energy put into women’s health research. Data provided by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Gender and Health showed that funding for women’s health made up 52% of total funding compared with research on men’s health, which made up only 21% between the creation of the CHIR in June 2000 and March 2005.
Why is Cancer Killing More Men than Women? A rising focus on men’s health issues, more sophisticated registry data and new techniques for investigating the biology of cancers are fuelling interest in unravelling what lies behind gender differences in cancer incidence and mortality. Getting answers could boost prevention and early detection and could even lead to better targeted therapies.
© TOUCH BRIEFINGS 2010
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