June 15-21 Is National Men’s Health Week
(posted June 10, 2009)
Experts from The Miriam Hospital call for more attention to men’s sexual, overall health.
When it comes to preventive health care, it’s no surprise that women visit their doctors’ offices more frequently than men. In fact, one in three men has no regular physician and more than half do not receive regular screenings or other preventive care.
National Men’s Health Week is June 15-21, a time to raise awareness among men and their families about the importance of preventive health care and to encourage early detection and treatment of disease.
“Despite advances in medical technology and research, men continue to live an average of seven years less than women and are more likely than women to die from heart disease, cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases,” says Martin Miner, MD, a family physician and co-director of the Men’s Health Center at The Miriam Hospital. “Often this is due to a lack of preventive care and a general unawareness or indifference among men about the importance of a healthy lifestyle, regular exercise and medical check-ups.”
Mark Sigman, MD, co-director of the Men’s Health Center and a urologist with both The Miriam Hospital and Rhode Island Hospital, says research has shown there is a substantial link between men’s sexual health and their overall health. “However, sexual dysfunction is often overlooked as a potential red flag for other health problems, especially with younger and middle-aged men,” he adds.
Recent studies focusing on the link between men’s sexual health and cardiovascular disease have found that erectile dysfunction (ED) – a condition that affects up to 30 million men in the United States – can be an early warning sign for heart disease. According to a study by the Mayo Clinic, released in February 2009, men who experience ED between the ages of 40 and 49 are twice as likely to develop heart disease as men without ED.
In an accompanying editorial written by Miner, also published in the February issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, he says the findings “raise the possibility of a ‘window of curability’” in which physicians may be able to slow or even stop the progression of heart disease in young men with ED.
ED becomes more common as men age. According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately five percent of 40-year-old men and between 15 and 25 percent of 65-year-old men experience ED on a long-term basis. Common causes of ED include diseases that affect blood flow, such as atherosclerosis; nerve diseases; injury to the penis; and psychological factors, such as stress, depression, and performance anxiety. Chronic illness and certain medications can also cause ED.
Those are some of the health concerns and conditions that the clinical team at The Miriam Hospital’s Men’s Health Center treats every day. The center – which officially opened its doors last year – is one of the first of its kind in the country to pull together primary care physicians, urologists and mental health professionals in a collaborative effort to treat men’s sexual and overall health.
Using a multidisciplinary approach, treatment teams – which also include nurses and couples therapists – provide everything from physical examinations to diagnostic procedures to medical and surgical treatments. Therapeutic services are geared to both men and their loved ones.
All patients visiting the Men’s Health Center undergo a full physical examination, including a cardiovascular screening. Clinicians also evaluate the metabolic and cardiovascular risks in patients with ED and hypogonadism in hopes of detecting conditions such as cardiovascular disease, obesity and metabolic syndrome (or “pre-diabetes”) before they become life-threatening. Patients also receive a psychological assessment.
The Men’s Health Center also focuses on restoring sexual function for men who have been treated for prostate, colorectal and other cancers; patients with chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease; and those who have suffered a heart attack or undergone coronary artery disease intervention.
In addition to Miner and Sigman, the Men’s Health Center also includes associate director John Wincze, PhD, a psychologist with The Miriam Hospital.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please call 401-793-4636 or visit the Men’s Health Center online.