A visit to the doctor on a regular basis is a must to catching disease early.
SAN ANTONIO — June is Men’s Health Month, and the time to shine a spotlight on how the right choices men make now could prevent long-term chronic conditions and save their lives.
Men more likely to develop serious health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, and diabetes. And they often push self-care to the back burner, and that includes going to the doctor when they should. Chris Eastburn from Teladoc Health told us, “We all know that men also like to toughen it out, so that really can kind of create more harm in the long term.”
There are three ways Teladoc Health says men take control of their health. The first, knowing your risk. Eastburn said, “When it comes to things like heart disease, that’s the number one killer among men, and we know that two of the leading causes or contributors tend to be high blood pressure and high cholesterol. So if we’re getting those screenings regularly, we can really help to catch any sort of issues before they become more common.”
Also, make positive lifestyle changes by adding steps or meditation to lower stress. Eastburn added, “Making swaps too when it comes to your food intake. So reducing your sugary beverage intake, replacing that with water, tea, or seltzers. Even healthy snacks like fruit and nuts over sugary snack can be great swaps as well.”
Third, getting ahead with an annual check-up which can even be done virtually. Eastburn added, “Telemedicine really makes it a lot easier to meet with a physician or a medical specialist on their own terms at times that really suit their schedule.”
A Cleveland Clinic survey of more than 1,100 U.S. males 18 or older found only one out of every two men say they get an annual check-up. For those that do go to the doctor one out of every five men say they have not been completely honest with their doctor. And it also found that about seven out of every 10 men would rather do household chores than go to the doctor.