Men’s Health

Besides pressure from modern lifestyle, women play a big role in reducing men’s life span. From a young age, males are under tremendous pleasure to do well to meet the high threshold set by society. This could lead to a severe reduction in the male population.
By Prof (Dr) Rajeev Sood

The idea that men are in decline and may face extinction would have seemed preposterous even a few years ago. Now more and more people are taking it seriously. Men are going extinct and scientists have now put them on the “endangered species” list. SRY gene is at least 130 million years old (Might be as much as 300 million years old) & has reduced its size by one third and lost about 97% genes. It is not over to say that Y chromosome might, in another 100 million years, disappear completely & future male characteristics may only be a special attribute found in women.
At the core is male Y chromosome: Genetically and biologically brittle to start with Males are burdened with natural genetic deficits. While the “spare” X chromosomes allow women’s bodies to compensate when faced with damage in ways that men’s cells cannot. In addition, mutations are three to six times more likely in a Y chromosome than an X chromosome. Cells protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome in women & men don’t have this luxury and don’t get this choice. Some variants of the Y chromosome may make men more prone to heart disease.
Physiologically a new born girl is stronger and equivalent to a 4-6 week new born boy As hormones released are different between males and females, & so are the effects of hormones and hormone responses to environment during development and in the adult. Women outliving men by more than a decade in some countries. Cross-regulation of steroid hormone and nutrient-sensing signalling pathways is a promising process in understanding the biological basis for the gender gap.
Ageing responds to natural selection on traits that arise as a consequence of sexuality and sexes can respond differently to dietary restriction and altered activity of nutrient-sensing pathways, with females showing a greater plasticity for life extension. Even with boost at conception, male foetuses don’t make it out of the uterus as often as females with death differential estimated to be 111-160 males per hundred females and miscarriages are mostly male.
Men had shorter life expectancy and higher mortality rates compared to women. Recent research findings show that women are living several years longer than men: why women are getting extra years over men? Men use health services less frequently than women, Visit Doctor later in the course of condition, has poorer health outcomes. Men Die, on average, 4.9 years earlier than women (Global Average) beside Suicide, and Homicide are four times as often as women. Die accidently about twice as often as women. Men die of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) at three times the rate of women. Engage in more high-risk behaviors & work at more dangerous occupations. Certainly things like family conflict, job stress, and the state of the economy can cause any of us, including men, to become irritable, but there is more going on than meets the eye. Men Felt constrained by Social Taboos & embarrassment to discuss health related issues.
Besides pressure from modern lifestyle, women play a big role in reducing men’s life span. From a young age, males are under tremendous pleasure to do well to meet the high threshold set by society. We have seen in earlier that men are killing themselves through suicide, through homicide and wars. This could lead to a severe reduction in the male population. Finally, males could continue losing significant roles in the society and might become psychologically extinct, if not physically so.
Males are more prone to developmental defects like Reading delays, deafness, autism, ADHD, Blindness, seizure disorders, hyperactivity, clumsiness, stammering, and Tourette’s syndrome, Asperger’s syndrome etc. Men have a 14.9 per cent risk of dying of cancer before the age of 75 – for women the risk is 9.1 per cent (143.1 per 100,000 men die from cancer each year compared to 87.2 per 100,000 women). 410,000 men in developed countries die each year from lung cancer, compared to 188,000 women.
Men are having increasing difficulty fathering children and males are actually in decline. Now it looks like something is wrong with baby boys. Fewer boys are being born today than three decades ago, and more of them have undescended testes and effects in their penis. More young men are getting testicular cancer than as recently as the early 1990s, and they are developing it at younger ages. Some trendy magazines have even suggested that male health is an oxymoron. For long , men’s health was synonym with male sexual health as he moves move from the optimistic invulnerability of their 20s to the growing awareness of advancing age around 40.By the time they are in their sixth decade, these unhealthy behavioural patterns are beginning to take their toll: obesity, diabetes, hypertension and erectile dysfunction (ED) are common. Another decade on, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, as well as cancer, limit the average life-expectancy of men to 5 years on average less than women.
During this ‘life journey’, the first symptom that might persuade them to request a medical check is a urological one, i.e. either urinary frequency, urgency or flow problems, or anxieties about ED. ED may be a marker of silent vascular disease.ED may also indicate the presence of hypogonadism, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Such knowledge may prevent further vascular and endothelial deterioration. Endothelial dysfunction may be manifested initially by ED, which is considered as an early-warning sign for the development of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular and cerebral disease. Erectile dysfunction and heart disease are related & is a risk factor for CHD that is age-dependent.CV health needs to be considered in men with ED & Interventions may help both ED and CHD. “…erectile function is a predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. These results remained after adjustment for possible confounders. Thus ED represents an early symptom of endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis and patients with ED are at particularly high cardiovascular risk. The identification of these patients with ED offers an opportunity for early risk-adjusted treatment with the goal of further reducing cardiovascular events” . An evaluation, if conducted, often reveals not only underlying prostate disease but also diabetes and/or hypertension, as well as dyslipidaemia.
Women interact more with people, on average, than men. Social connections linked to longer life like more verbal and talk more with friends & Men often discouraged from sharing the deeper stuff women tend to do fairly easily. They tend to open up less to physicians as well. Historically men have been the ‘risk takers’ .Associated with their current attitudes to their health, men have tended to do more dangerous jobs while women are still the gatekeepers. Above that, men disregard symptoms and present later – possibly connected to risk-taking behaviour. Men have a higher calorie burn rate which means they “burn through” their stem cells faster. Frequent injuries or surgeries from a high-risk sport or lifestyle use up a man’s reserves even faster. Larger (size) individuals (within a species) tend on average to have shorter lives. Higher Iron content may translate into aging of the cell. Men seem to invest more resources in getting bigger and stronger early on. Women are geared for endurance in life. They are typically shorter and smaller. Men older than 50 or 60 are no longer useful but women still have a role as grandmothers, helping to bring up and protect the young. Differential or more intensified pathways leading from depression in men & Suicide with increased mortality in depressed men compared to women. Men have naturally low levels of protective HDL cholesterol & 70 – 89 % sudden cardiac events occur in men. Men die three times more frequently of coronary artery disease than women. Financial stress may increase the risks of incident CVD and all-cause mortality, especially among men. Risks are likely to be greater in men living in single households.
Men’s are 60 per cent more likely to die from cancer with 14.9% risk of dying of cancer before the age of 75, for women the risk is 9.1 % .410,000 men in developed countries die each year from lung cancer, compared to 188,000 women. Men were their own worst enemies when it came to generating awareness and funding for male-specific cancers.

It is well said that :
“There Are Millions Of Animal Species, But Men Are The Only Animal Capable Of Destroying Himself”.
Men’s Health Society Of India (MHSI) is dedicated exclusively to Men’s Health, established in 2010 with aim of integrating specialists with interest in Men’s health. MHSI has Conducted over 15 conferences with international Collaborations.

Vision of MHSI:
Identify current issues concerning men’s health in India
Collect data and promote research in the field on Men’s Health
Integrate and encourage medical and paramedical professionals interested in Men’s Health
Promote awareness and train personnel to further the cause of Men
Identify and sensitize health care establishments
Strengthen international collaboration
Formulate guidelines on Men’s Health
Establish a sustainable Health Program for Men.
‘Integrated Men’s Health (IMH) National Program’ ad ‘Male GUD Program’ is actively involved in National Health Program/s, registry of diseases amongst men especially male genito-urinary disease with aim to uplift health of men emphasizing Gender, Genome, Geriatrics, GUDs & Geo-medics.
For progress to be made, I believe that global health organizations and national governments should, as part of a comprehensive approach to gender and health, address the health and well–being needs of men and boys in all relevant policies (eg, on obesity, cardiovascular disease and cancer) and through the introduction of specific men’s health policies. Educational programs in schools and male–targeted health information can be used to encourage and support boys and men to take better care of their own health. Health practitioners must inform themselves about the psychosocial aspects of men’s health, as well as male–specific clinical issues, and medical training programs should cover gender and other social determinants of health. Workplaces have a key role, in terms of not only reducing exposure to hazards but also providing a setting for health promotion. It is essential for work with men to focus on those groups with the worst health, such as economically disadvantaged men, gay and bisexual men, men who are homeless, migrants or offenders, and men from specific racial and ethnic groups. It is important to recognize that most men want to enjoy good health and well–being and that their strengths and the “positive” aspects of masculinity.

(The author is President, MHSI and Dean, PGI MER & Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi)