A recent Washington Post article, “A Silent Crisis in Men’s Health Gets Worse,” highlighted the fact that men are at a greater risk of dying from most causes than women. Men’s life expectancy is almost 6 years shorter—73.2 years vs 79.1.
While there are a multitude of physiological and behavioral reasons that drive these differences, there’s one obvious contributing factor, Hims reports. Most men do not attend to their health as well as women. CDC data from 2018 shows that the physician visit rate is 40% higher for women than for men.
Unlike women, who are accustomed to pregnancy visits in their childbearing years and a lifetime of regular breast cancer screenings and gynecologic visits, many men do everything they can to avoid seeing the doctor.
Many men don’t want to “appear weak” or “complain” about physical or emotional problems. Some may be afraid of uncovering a medical vulnerability that upsets their sense of control or puts a chink in their proverbial armor.
