Radio 4 often continues to play on my radio long after I’m up, and sometimes I hear parts of programmes I wouldn’t otherwise listen to. This morning the first article on Woman’s Hour was the issue of men’s health. Men are much less likely to go and visit a doctor than women, and have a lower life expectancy than women, and this is true throughout the various age groups.
The discussion was interesting. Some of the reasons are that men are much more likely to deny they are ill in the first place (a guest on the programme refused to visit a doctor due to his undiagnosed diabetes symptoms, until he was “24 hours from coma” by his account), to genuine discomfort at discussing their health with their GP.
The theory was put across that because women enter the system so much sooner, with compulsory policies for cervical smear tests, breast cancer screening and pregnancy, the barriers and discomfort levels are much lower for women than men to visit their GP.
My father was diagnosed and successfully treated for Prostate Cancer, which he discussed with the doctor when he noticed that - bluntly - he wasn’t peeing as strongly as he had been. Whilst he felt uncomfortable discussing it, the diagnosis was made, and he was successfully treated and has subsequently made a full recovery. He’s made sure he’s talked to his brothers about this (his father, my grandfather, was also diagnosed with the condition. Whilst it’s not necessarily hereditary, it’s a possibility they (and myself) could be more susceptible), as well as friends. His goal has been to make sure they’re aware of the risks, and how easy it is to detect. The same, of course, goes for testicular cancer - which generally affects younger men, but can be very serious if not diagnosed early.
Whether compulsion is the answer, I don’t know, but certainly more regular and easier checkups would make the fear of visiting the doctor, as well as dismissing the “I don’t want to trouble him” or “it’s not serious” arguments disappear. All said however, visiting a doctor shouldn’t be seen as a action of last resort: I’m certain doctors would much rather see people who were just worried about a minor symptom early on, than much later on when the prognosis is much more severe.
Entries (RSS)