HEALTHY LIVING = HEALTHY MEN
June is Men’s Health Month and Liberty Medical Scheme (LMS) encourages all its male members, and all South African men to join the growing movement towards healthy living and wellness, ensuring a better quality of life and longevity.
“Committing yourself to healthy living and wellness means not only following a balanced, healthy diet, but also taking the necessary preventative steps to ensure early detection of any possible illness that may negatively impact your life and well-being,” says Executive Principal Officer, Andrew Edwards.
Traditionally, men have been, and to a certain extent still are, more indifferent towards their health than women. They tend to be reluctant to openly discuss their health problems, are not particularly keen to make or keep doctors’ appointments, and often believe that ‘it’ll all get better on its own”.
However, as more and more South African men begin to realise the importance of nurturing their physical, mental and spiritual health and well-being, this is beginning to change.
Well aware that early detection helps you to stay healthy for longer and that healthy living, in turn, ensures, general well-being, LMS designs its options to encourage this kind of proactive lifestyle. That is why we offer a variety of Preventative Care Benefits (PCBs), such as diagnostic tests and screenings. Moreover, a number of these PCBs are paid from members’ Major Medical Benefits rather than their member’s Medical Savings Account or their own pocket.
“We often say that ‘no news is good news’ and ‘ignorance is bliss’, but when it comes to our health not knowing how you really are can cause premature illness and may very well kill you. According to the Cancer Research Institute if bowel cancer, for example, is diagnosed very early, more than nine out of 10 people survive for a lot longer. But unfortunately, fewer than one out of 10 people are diagnosed early enough,” says Edwards.
Many men also believe that certain diseases are ‘reserved’ for women, for example breast cancer. However, while breast cancer is seen as mainly a woman’s disease, men can and do get breast cancer. There are several different types of breast cancer that can affect men namely, Adenocarcinoma, Infiltrating ductal carcinoma, Ductal carcinoma in situ and Paget’s disease of the nipple. A man’s risk of a positive diagnosis of breast cancer increases if he is 60 years old or older and has a family history of the disease or is obese.
Likewise, men tend to shrug off the importance of diet in containing prostate cancer, the most frequently diagnosed cancer in men. But recent studies show that diet can have a huge impact on prostate health and yes, the myth that tomatoes can actually reduce the risk of prostate cancer is actually true, according to the journal, Cancer Prevention Research.
Tomatoes are full of the antioxidant compound Lycopene, one of the most widely studied anti-cancer agents. Lycopene is in all tomato-based products, including tomato sauce. If you eat tomatoes with soy, this can be even more beneficial. Soy is known for its protective properties against many cancers, including prostate cancer. Other foods that reduce the risk of prostate cancer include broccoli and flax.
Also not commonly known and accepted by men, is the fact that men, like women, have fertility cycles. However, the male fertility cycle is not like the female fertility cycle. A man’s fertility is affected by the time of year and even the time of day. This means that a man’s sperm count will be higher in winter and lower in summer. Researchers have different theories about why this occurs. While some say it results from increased hormone levels in the early hours of the morning, others say it is due to variance in temperature. Apparently sperm production increases in cooler temperatures.
