Mens Health Guide to Medical Checkup
Date Added: August 31, 2008 11:17:30 PM
Men are having a harder time today than ever before. They're the ones who suffer most from the unprecedented stresses and strains of modern living. They're the ones most at risk from industrial hazards, from pollution, and from the strain of making life-and-death decisions on the road. They're the ones who all too often drive themselves too hard to provide financial security for their families. They're the ones most at risk from heart disease, lung cancer, and ulcers. And they are the ones who die youngest. At present, the average woman lives six to seven years longer than the average man.
No one knows for sure why men should be the losers when it comes to health. But one thing is certain. Men can live longer and healthier lives—and their wives can help them do it. A man's home life is known to be vital in helping him withstand the pressures and diseases of our modern world. Married men live longer and generally stay healthier than bachelors. So, how can a wife make the most of this advantage in ensuring that she and her husband have a happy, healthy, and long life— together?
Good men’s health maintenance should include a regular medical checkup. Routine checks can pinpoint possible problems early and so give a man a personal plan for safeguarding his health. Probably men will agree that this is a fine idea, but will keep putting it off. Men, hate to take time off from work, they feel it is unmanly to be sick, and much more so to be routinely checked. Men are always apologetic and embarrassed when facing a doctor under these circumstances.
Men might feel differently if he knew that even the most serious ills to which a man is prone can be effectively deal with if they are detected early enough. Poor health usually does not happen overnight. It is more often the result of processes that have been developing for years. A thorough checkup can reveal conditions that might lead to illness long before a man notices any symptoms himself—and while he still has time to clear it up. By detecting health problems before they become serious, periodic checkups can save years of emotional, physical, and financial strain. And then, of course, there is always the possibility that a health check may pronounce your health condition.
Sometimes the best way for a checkup is to go right ahead and make an appointment with your doctor. Choose a date far enough in advance not to clash with any of your plans. Nevertheless, your wife should be having a regular checkup, too. Checkups for one, let alone two, may seem expensive, but the cost dwindles if you look at it in terms of preventing a possible stay in hospital, or of adding precious years to your life.
If you are reluctant to take up your doctor's time with a routine health check, you may prefer to make an appointment one of the special screening centers that exist in many major cities for this very purpose. Apart from physiological measurements, physical examinations, and laboratory tests, some such health centers make use of computers to collect detailed information about every aspect of a man's life that may have a bearing on men’s health—facts about your entire medical history. Most men thoroughly enjoy telling the computer all about themselves, and find it a whole lot easier to give honest answers by pushing a button than by replying to a doctor or filling out a printed questionnaire.
