Heart disease
The term "heart disease" is often used interchangeably with "cardiovascular disease" — a term that generally refers to conditions that involve narrowed or blocked blood vessels that can lead to a heart attack, chest pain (angina) or stroke. Other heart conditions, such as infections and conditions that affect your heart's muscle, valves or beating rhythm, also are considered forms of heart disease.
Stats:
• Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the United States.
• Between 70 percent and 89 percent of sudden cardiac arrest occurs in men.
• Half of the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease have no previous symptoms.
• Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease.
Symptoms:The five major symptoms of a heart attack are pain or discomfort in the jaw, neck, or back; feeling weak, light-headed or faint; chest pain or discomfort; pain or discomfort in the arms or shoulders; and shortness of breath.
Risk factors: Several medical conditions and lifestyle choices can put men at a higher risk for heart disease, including high cholesterol, diabetes, cigarette smoking, being overweight or obese, poor diet, physical inactivity and alcohol use.
Prevention tips: Don't smoke, avoid exposure to secondhand smoke, eat a healthy diet, exercise regularly and maintain a healthy weight. Drink in moderation. If you have diabetes, keep your blood sugar under control. Manage your stress.
If you have high cholesterol or high blood pressure, follow your doctor's treatment recommendations.
Prostate cancer
Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. A walnut-size structure, the prostate surrounds the male urethra like a doughnut. Its purpose is to secrete fluid to carry sperm during ejaculation.
Stats:
The American Cancer Society estimated that about 192,280 new cases of prostate cancer would be diagnosed in 2009 and that 27,360 men would die of prostate cancer in 2009.
Symptoms: There are often no symptoms in early stages. See a doctor if you have changes in urination, blood in urine or semen, or frequent pain in your lower back and legs.
Risk factors: Age is the strongest risk factor for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is very rare before the age of 40, but the chance of having prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50. Almost two out of three cases of prostate cancer are found in men over the age of 65.
It's not known why, but prostate cancer occurs more often in black men. They also are more likely to be diagnosed at an advanced stage, and are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as white men.
Research into the causes, prevention and treatment of prostate cancer is being done in many medical centers around the world.
Prevention tips: Men should start getting an annual digital rectal exam and PSA blood test generally by age 50, or earlier with certain risk factors.
Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes, affects the way your body uses blood sugar (glucose). Possible complications of type 2 diabetes include heart disease, blindness, nerve damage and kidney damage.
Stats:
• Of the nearly 24 million Americans diagnosed with diabetes, 12 million are men.
• Nearly a third of men with diabetes don't know they have it.
• Amputation rates from diabetes-related problems are 1.4 to 2.7 times higher in men than women with diabetes.
Symptoms: Diabetes can be silent, but you may feel tired and fatigued. Other signs include frequent urination (especially at night), extreme thirst, unexplained weight loss, blurry vision, sores that heal slowly, and recurring skin, gum or bladder infections.
Men with diabetes also face special concerns, including impotence (not being able to have or keep an erection). Men with diabetes can help prevent impotence by controlling their blood sugar, avoiding large amounts of alcohol and not smoking.
Prevention tips: If you are overweight or someone in your family has diabetes, get tested for pre-diabetes. You also can help turn things around by losing extra weight, exercising regularly and eating a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat foods.
Researchers in Texas have been studying a new drug called Vardenafil to treat erectile dysfunction in men with diabetes. Bayer, maker of the drug, has said this is a promising result for a previously hard-to-treat group of men.
High blood pressure
High blood pressure damages arteries, which can lead to stroke from a blocked artery or hemorrhage. Strokes also are called "brain attacks" – they kill brain cells.
Symptoms: High blood pressure is known as the "silent killer" because it often has no symptoms. One in three Americans who have the condition don't know it – people can have it for years without knowing. Get your blood pressure checked annually; normal blood pressure is 120/80 or below.
Risk factors: Typically, blood pressure increases with age. Risk of high blood pressure starts to climb when men hit 45, although it can occur in younger men.
Black men tend to develop high blood pressure at a younger age and have more severe hypertension.
Obesity or a family history of high blood pressure also increases risk.
Prevention tips: There is plenty you can do to prevent, delay and treat high blood pressure.
Know your cholesterol and blood pressure numbers. If numbers go above normal, get them down through diet, exercise and, if needed, medication.
If you smoke, get serious about quitting.
HIV/AIDS
AIDS is a chronic, life-threatening condition caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. By damaging your immune system, HIV interferes with your body's ability to fight off viruses, bacteria and fungi that cause disease. HIV makes you more susceptible to certain types of cancers and to infections your body would normally resist, such as pneumonia and meningitis. The virus and the infection itself are known as HIV. Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, AIDS, is the name given to the later stages of an HIV infection.
Stats:
• Roughly 1 million people in the United States now live with HIV or AIDS.
• At least 40,000 people are infected each year.
• Overall, black men are still hardest hit by HIV/AIDS in terms of the overall infection rate. Statewide, one in 43 African-American men are living with HIV/AIDS, compared with one in 117 Hispanic men and one in 209 non-Hispanic white men.
Symptoms: Although some people experience a mild flu-like illness around the time of infection, many people with HIV go without symptoms for up to 10 years. Because of this, the only way to know if you are HIV positive is to be tested.
Some symptoms associated with advanced HIV infection include: purple lesions on the skin, rapid weight loss, pneumonia, night sweats and fever, and white spots on the mouth, tongue or throat.
Prevention tips: Whether you're heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual, if you engage in high-risk behavior such as unprotected sex or sharing needles during intravenous drug use, get tested for HIV. Even if you don't have symptoms, you can still transmit the virus to others.
The best hope for stemming the spread of HIV lies in prevention, treatment and education.
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association
No comments:
Post a Comment