The Answers Will Surprise You
The average lifespan for a person who is born and raised in
the United States today is 75 – 80 years. The average
lifespan for someone in the UK is also 75 – 80. A Canadian
is expected to live 80 – 85 years, as is an Italian or a
Spaniard.
And in each of those developed countries, a man's life is
at least five years shorter than a woman's.
With all the strides made in the last 30 years toward the
prevention and treatment of heart disease, cancer, stroke,
high blood pressure and other life threatening illness,
women still outlive men by a clear margin. Why is that?
What do you think are the top three differences between
men's health and women's that make such a statistic
possible?
If you said the stress of earning a living day in and day
out, you are a little behind the times. Women have been
flooding the job force since the 1960s, and with every
passing decade, they have been entering more and more
traditionally "Male Only" fields such as firefighting and
police work. At the same time they have been climbing the
ranks within the corporate world – earning bigger
paychecks, working longer hours and accumulating the same
stress and anxiety, as well. Yet women still outlive men.
If you said, health conditions that only affect men such as
prostate cancer and low testosterone were the cause, you
would be closer. Lowered testosterone levels can lead to
osteoporosis and other health related complications, but
few are truly life threatening. Prostate cancer, on the
other hand, is one of the top killers among men in the
United States. Only lung cancer accounts for more deaths.
According to the American Cancer Society, about 220,900
were diagnosed in 2003, and about 28,900 died from it.
But the real reason men do not live as long has less to do
with any one disease – and more to do with how men respond
to their own disease and illness. Men are much less likely
than women to seek treatment for illness. They drink more
and smoke more than women, and visit the doctor less. This
gives diseases such as lung cancer and prostate cancer –
the number one and number two killers among adult males – a
better chance of becoming terminal.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
As the old saying goes, "if you knew then what you know
now. . . ." Now that you know the biggest health problem
men face is themselves, it is time to take charge of your
own health. If you are a man reading this article, make an
appointment with your physician today to get a complete
check up. If you are woman who cares about the men in your
life, print this article out and hand each of them a copy.
The rest is up to the men.
----------------------------------------------------
Jim Martinez is a National Sales Director for AmeriPlan
USA, offering discount health, dental, vision, chiropractic
benefits plans starting at just $19.95 per month. Visit
http://www.familydentalhealthplans.com and START RECEIVING
BENEFITS today!
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