Did you know June is National Men’s Health Month? The purpose of Men’s Health Month is to get us talking and encouraging men to focus on preventable health problems such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. Men are also susceptible to sex-specific medical conditions such as prostate and testicular cancer. 

In the United States, men live an average of six years less than women. Biological and genetic issues explain some of this health disparity. But men die at younger ages than women regardless of age, so this is not just an “old age” problem. More men die of cancer, diabetes, suicide, motor vehicle accidents and COVID-19 than women.

Men’s Health Month started in 1994 when Kansas Senator Bob Dole introduced a bill that was passed by Congress to bring awareness to early detection and treatment of health conditions in men. Since 1994, many health problems in men have only become worse. Obesity, diabetes and arthritis are more common in men now than then. Though men live longer now than they did 1994, they also live sicker than they did then. 

Mental health is also a concern in men. Men are not immune to depression, anxiety and stress disorders. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an increase in these conditions in both men and women and has placed strain on interpersonal and work relationships. All members of the family suffer.

Eating right, exercising and controlling stress can all yield positive health benefits in men. Unfortunately, many men tend to disregard their own health, maybe because of the “dread factor” and maybe because men perceive health problems as a sign of weakness, not the macho image we want to project. Early detection and some special attention to conditions that affect men can all have positive results. That is what Men’s Health Month is all about. 

Rick Kellerman, M.D., chair of the Department of Family & Community Medicine at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, oversees family medicine education for medical students and the family medicine residency programs sponsored by KU School of Medicine-Wichita.