The importance of men’s health

Did you know that June is Men’s Health Month? The purpose of the month is to heighten the awareness of preventable health problems and encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys. From challenging and debating key issues in men’s health to raising the profile of men, their health outcomes and health needs, it’s all about starting a conversation. Read on to find out more about men’s health and how St John Medical is here to help.

Why men’s health?

Fact: A boy born in Australia has a life expectancy of 78.0 years while a girl born at the same time could expect to live to 82.3 years old. Right from the start, boys are expected to suffer more illness, more accidents and die earlier than their female counterparts. Meanwhile, men are less frequent visitors to general practitioners fuelling the perception that they don’t care about their health. So in order to help men live healthier and happier lives, all parties needs to be prepared with awareness being key.

Main causes to be aware of

Some of the main types of disease that affect men’s health include:

• Cardiovascular Health: Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is a general term that includes many different conditions that affect the heart and blood vessels. It’s a major cause of death in Australia, with one in six Australians (4.2 million) affected by the disease. And for Australian men, it accounted for 27% of all deaths in 2016.
• Mental Health: Overall, women are about twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with a mental health issue. But that statistic tells only a small part of the story. In reality, men make up an average of six out of every eight suicides every single day in Australia, with the number of men who die by suicide in Australia every year nearly double the national road toll.
• Prostate Health: The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system located below the bladder and in front of the rectum. Over 30 million men suffer from prostate conditions that impact their quality of life. Closer to home, prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australian men with an estimated 3,452 deaths in 2017.
• Diabetes: Diabetes is a very serious condition that affects your body’s ability to turn what you eat into the energy it needs to function. It’s currently one of the biggest challenges facing the Australian health system, with 280 Australians developing diabetes everyday – that’s one person every five minutes.
• Cancers: Cancer can strike anyone, at any age, of any gender. In fact, over 700,000 men are diagnosed with cancer each year and nearly 300,000 die of it. So far this year, the estimated number of new cancer cases in men was 74,644 and over the course of a lifetime it’s estimated half of all men will get cancer at least once.

Seek help from St John Medical

Improving men’s health outcomes is a two-way process involving men, women, families and health services combined. It’s important that men make use of health services to preventatively manage their health and find out before it’s too late if problems do exist. But equally, health services need to know how to reach out to, communicate with and engage with men to be effective in helping them when they do come for help.

We need to create environments that support the ability of men to access healthcare efficiently and health services to treat them effectively. At St John Medical, all our medical centres offer general practice and our resources ensure that you receive fast and professional care from the moment you walk through our doors. Our team of friendly doctors offer timely, professional care from four convenient locations around Perth. They are:

• Male and female GPs who work to both educate and treat patients
• Provide quality time and actually listen to you
• Handle everything from preventative medicine to treatment of acute and chronic conditions
• Assist you with personalised ongoing treatment plans
• Carefully selected to ensure you have access to a wide range of specialised medical services

Contact us now for further information or to make an appointment. Alternatively, book an appointment online or simply walk-in for urgent care.