A checklist for men...

If men report to clinics in time, the disease burden and the seriousness of the diseases they are prone to can be reduced, suggests Dr Raman Tanwar

As startling as this may sound, but truth be told... men in India live three to five years less than women. As per some studies, men visit a doctor only on two occasions, when they face a debilitating or terminal illness that has become an emergency due to neglect, or when they have sexual problems. There are no healthcare national programmes for men unlike the maternal and child health programmes for women, children and adolescent girls. It cannot be overemphasised that screening for basic diseases and early signs of lifestyle diseases is highly recommended for men.

To reduce the load of screening, the best strategy is to follow a checklist based on age. For men between the age of 18 and 30 years, the focus is on disease present since birth (congenital diseases), education on sexual health and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and contraception, prevention of substance abuse by identification and education and teaching these young men how to prevent testicular cancers by teaching them regular testicular self-examination. Stress is also a major issue in this age group and a mini-mental examination is usually a part of screening. Depression, anxiety and other mental disorders need to be identified early. Men of this age can be taught about healthy sexual practices and be offered a pre-marital check-up to clear myths about their reproductive potential.

For men in the 30 to 50 years age bracket, the focus changes to screening for sexual dysfunction, lifestyle problems and sensitisation towards occupational hazards. Men are much more prone to bad effects of lifestyle diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, dyslipidemia and metabolic syndrome. Men in this age group face issues with their sexual health and problems related to other lifestyle issues so screening for sexual function is mandatory.

For men above 50, there is a need to focus on urological health due to issues related to the prostate, cancers and low testosterone.

For older men, a more comprehensive screening becomes mandatory with focus on the top cancers like lung cancer, oral cavity cancer, prostate cancer and colorectal cancers.

Thankfully these cancers can be screened with simple tests and evaluation by a men’s health expert.

If men report to clinics in time, the disease burden and the seriousness of the diseases they are prone to can be reduced.

(The author is director & chief urologist, Urocentre)