In defense of men’s health

Working in men’s health, I’ve learned a lot about what motivates men to deal with their health, and what keeps them from it. Men’s health deserves more attention, from men themselves and from all of us. Yet it still isn’t always taken seriously. I still get chuckles from strangers, and second glances from other health professionals, when I tell them I focus on men’s health.

There’s more health information available than ever: magazines, blogs, podcasts and books about exercise, eating right and preventing heart disease, cancer and diabetes. Much of it isn’t evidence-based, and plenty of it is marketing.

Why men wait

Even so, many men don’t value their health until a problem becomes impossible to ignore. And the stakes are real. In 2023, life expectancy at birth was 75.8 years for men in the U.S., compared with 81.1 years for women.¹ About half of U.S. men (50.8%) have high blood pressure, nearly 4 in 10 have obesity, and only about 28% get the recommended amount of aerobic and strength exercise. Heart disease, cancer and accidents are the leading causes of death in men.² Many heart conditions and cancers cause no symptoms early on, when they’re easiest to treat.

Ask men why they skip the doctor and you’ll hear familiar answers: not enough time, fear of what the doctor might find, uncomfortable exams, no regular doctor, no insurance (about 11% of men under 65 are uninsured),² or “there’s probably nothing wrong.” Those answers are part of the picture. But what sits behind them?

The culture of “suck it up”

Part of the answer is how we raise men. Traditional expectations teach men to minimize health problems and put off taking care of themselves. A man’s attitude toward his health isn’t only his own apathy. It’s an attitude our whole culture helps create.

Think of Sam Elliott’s character Beau Bennett in the Netflix series The Ranch: a stoic, terse, hardworking cattle rancher. After a back injury, he admits he hasn’t seen a doctor in 12 years. The doctor insists on a full checkup, labs and an X-ray, and Beau learns he has a sprained back, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. He resists, then grudgingly accepts a steak-free diet of salads and chicken. From Beau Bennett to John Wayne, Hollywood has reinforced what both men and women expect a “real man” to do: tough it out.

Men are expected to suffer quietly. We’re taught to push down physical and emotional pain, the same pain that, left unchecked, plays a role in heart disease and other problems later in life. It starts young. In his book Real Boys, Dr. William Pollack describes how the toughening process drives boys’ true emotions underground: many boys who look tough, cheerful and confident are in fact sad, lonely and confused.

That toughness has its uses. It helps men achieve great things and keep going when others would quit. It becomes dangerous when ignoring warning signs becomes a habit, and silent disease keeps progressing. Our bodies send us messages: see a doctor, rest more, spend more time with family, eat less fried food, drink less alcohol, move more, get the annual checkup.

When men do ask for help

A man who wants to take a few strokes off his golf game, or fix his backhand, will happily pay a pro for advice. Yet he’s much slower to get expert help with his health, until it becomes a real problem that costs far more time and money, or is too late to fix.

In my experience, men are most motivated to see a doctor for emergencies, sexual health problems and chronic pain. A man may wait days to get chest pain checked, yet drive across town on a Friday afternoon for erectile dysfunction medication before the weekend. Both deserve attention, but erectile dysfunction is often a sign of something deeper. It’s closely tied to diabetes, heart disease and other lifestyle-related conditions that also lower testosterone and damage blood vessels. More than half of men with diabetes have erectile dysfunction.³ A pill can be a short-term fix; the long-term solution is addressing what’s underneath.

Redefining a healthy man

The solution is to support men in preventing these problems in the first place. Our culture has built an outward mask of masculinity that is fragile, with no real core. True masculinity is marked by endurance, strength, longevity and health.

Men have built bridges, skyscrapers and railroads, landed on the moon and mapped the human genome, with the work ethic to push through any obstacle. We can bring that same drive to our health.

Yes, men should stay tough and work hard. But being truly strong takes more than big muscles and a sharp mind. It takes healthy cells, organs and systems: heart, hormones and immune system. We can’t wait for our bodies to break down. We can prevent chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease by changing our culture and redefining what it means to be a healthy man. A man can only fully serve his family, his community and the people he loves when he is truly healthy.

Where would you start? Learn how sleep affects testosterone, or take the free energy & vitality quiz.

This article is general education, not medical advice, and does not create a doctor–patient relationship. Talk with your own doctor before changing your diet, supplements or medications.

Sources

1. CDC National Center for Health Statistics: Mortality in the United States, 2023 (Data Brief No. 521)
2. CDC National Center for Health Statistics: FastStats, Men’s Health
3. Kouidrat et al. (Diabetic Medicine, 2017): High prevalence of erectile dysfunction in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of 145 studies (88,577 men)

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