Four biggest men’s health issues in 2018

Although today’s world provides plenty of technology and data to help men live healthier lives, it also serves up more unhealthy temptations than in the past.

Unhealthy lifestyles contribute to a greater risk of developing hypertension, diabetes and issues with hormone balance.

When you break it down, many of the underlying causes and effects of most major health problems are related, and when you address one or more, the rest are easier to control. Take a look at the top four problems men face and how you can win the aging game.

Obesity and high body fat percentage

Over the last two decades, the number of men in America with weight and body fat problems have increased steadily, with 73 percent of men over the age of 20 being classified as overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

High body fat has been linked with myriad health problems, including joint problems, increased risk of cancer and decreased cardiovascular fitness.

Obesity and a large waist circumference also negatively affect men’s hormone balance, including drastically lowering men’s testosterone levels, which can have ripple effects on virility and energy levels.

Reigning in excess calories and increasing your daily exercise is only part of the solution. Low testosterone causes men to lose muscle and gain fat, leading to fatigue and mental fogginess making it harder to get to the gym.

If you’re unsure of what a healthy body fat percentage is for your body type, you can check your BMI online or schedule an appointment with a hormone specialist.

Hypertension or high blood pressure 

Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one of the most common conditions in men and slowly damages the entire cardiovascular system over time.

In fact, 77.9 million people in the United States, or one in three adults, struggles with hypertension, based on data from the American Heart Association. In the long-term, hypertension increases the risk of a slew of heart problems.

“The constant pressure of blood moving through a weakened artery can cause a section of its wall to enlarge and form a bulge (aneurysm),” according to the Mayo Clinic.

Additional serious heart conditions related to hypertension are stroke, dementia and heart failure. With such clear ramifications, what can men do to bring down their blood pressure and cut the risk of associated heart problems?

Starting with natural ways to decrease hypertension like cutting down on alcohol, exercising, eating less sodium and eating less fat and more vegetables, can all have a big positive impact.

Problems with intimacy and fertility

Intimate relationships, romance and sexuality are big parts of every person’s life and happiness.

Lack of sexual desire and infertility are serious health problems for men in the United States, with recent estimates that erectile dysfunction impacts 150 million men worldwide.

Sexual dysfunction relates to a number of health problems and can stem from causes as diverse as emotional trauma to low testosterone, and these problems are also connected to obesity, including low sperm count and quality, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Solutions to these interrelated sexual issues can come in the form of consultations with your family doctor to determine causes, talks with your partner to increase trust and a treatment plan based on these pieces of resulting information.

Low testosterone levels

Many men in the U.S. lack energy and have sexual intimacy problems. Although the causes for these symptoms are notoriously difficult to diagnose, more doctors are finding that these and many other conditions connect to low testosterone levels in men’s bodies.

To some extent, slightly decreasing testosterone is natural and occurs (to the tune of about a 1 percent decrease per year) in most men after the age of 30.

However, low testosterone levels can also stem from and be connected to many of the health problems above, including the ever-risky obesity, high-fat or sugar diet or lack of daily physical exercise.

In fact, the bigger your waist size, the more likely you are to have low testosterone levels.

A study of men “ages 30 and above found that waist circumference was an even stronger predictor of low testosterone levels than BMI,” said Harvard Men’s Health.

Besides losing weight, eating more nutritiously and exercising, many men are looking to replacement hormone therapies to correct the issue and lead better lives.

Addressing connected health problems 

Obesity, high blood pressure, If you want to get your health back, the first step is to get your hormone levels in balance. Many times, getting your testosterone levels back on track can help other health issues improve.

At viTal4men, our focus is treating men that have been diagnosed with low testosterone. We are a Primary Care clinic so we can treat most general medical needs in office, including physicals and flu vaccinations.