1 in 5 men dies before 65 – don’t be that guy. These Men’s Health Week tips, from taking your pulse to checking for lumps, could save your life

Many men don’t go for medical check-ups because they ignore symptoms, fear learning what might be wrong or feel vulnerable during examinations by doctors

Cultural norms are also at play, a doctor says. But there are ways men can monitor their own health, such as the six self-check tips a UK charity provides

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Some men ignore symptoms of ill-health because they fear hearing bad news. Cultural norms are also a factor, a doctor says ahead of Men’s Health Week. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:15pm, 12 Jun 2022Updated: 9:32pm, 12 Jun 2022

Why, when some men catch a cold, do they make it out to be something more serious – suggesting pneumonia or bronchitis? And yet when they’re really sick, they ignore the symptoms, minimise their discomfort and avoid the doctor?

Ahead of Men’s Health Week, which starts on June 13, Dr Johnathan Chow Jun-fung, doctor-in-charge of the men’s health service of Hong Kong’s Family Planning Association, explains that men are often perceived as the stronger sex, a view “further burdened by cultural norms of masculinity, braveness, and self-dependence”.

They’re expected to “man up”, or ignore health concerns. Some men say they are afraid of learning what might be wrong, and they feel vulnerable and uncomfortable during examinations. And this often prevents them from seeking necessary care.

Men’s life expectancy is universally shorter than that of women – one in five men dies before 65; 75 per cent of premature deaths from heart disease are in men; 67 per cent of men are overweight; middle-aged men are twice as likely to have diabetes as women; four out of five suicides are men.

Dr. Johnathan Chow, doctor-in-charge of the men’s health service at the Hong Kong Family Planning Association.

In addition, men are more likely to smoke, eat and drink more, including eating too much meat and not enough fruit and vegetables.

They are also more susceptible to illness on account of “the different interplay of biological factors, including differences in hormones, genetics and metabolism, which increase men’s predilection for developing life-threatening chronic diseases such as coronary artery diseases, stroke, and liver diseases at an earlier age”, Chow says.