02 Apr 09 MALE HEALTH: ATTITUDES TO ILL-HEALTH
In our society, we are constantly faced with images which teach us that we should strive for peak physical fitness. We learn that good physical health is highly desirable, not just from the point of view of our personal well-being, but also because of the overall picture it promotes of us as individuals: strength and good health are prized and admired.
At the same time, women’s health issues have been receiving increasing attention in newspapers and magazines, in books and on television and radio programmes.
Women have been positively encouraged to learn more about, and to take responsibility for, their overall physical well-being. This doesn’t just mean keeping fit through physical exercise and by eating a balanced diet, but encourages self-awareness and attendance at screening programmes, for example. Furthermore, responsibility for health matters within the family has tended to remain the province of women. Men, in general, are not as comfortable talking about health issues, whether minor or serious, as many women. This is not a matter for criticism so much as a reflection of the way in which attitudes towards health in our society have evolved.
And there is some evidence of changing attitudes. Until relatively recently, the specific health needs of men have been somewhat neglected. Now there are numerous general interest health/fitness magazines for men.
Although their health and medical issues are often covered from a general ‘lifestyle’ viewpoint (‘look after your body and become more attractive’), specifically male medical matters such as prostate problems and testicular self-examination do receive an airing alongside the broader issues. These magazines are largely aimed at and read by the younger adult male population, leaving a gap in older age-ranges which is less easily filled.
A serious hurdle for many men to overcome is the traditional social pressure to be ‘strong’ where physical (not to mention emotional) health is concerned. This perceived need to be – and to be seen to be – strong is a major obstacle to an open and constructive approach to health problems. Many of us know of men who lead largely sedentary lives yet take enormous pride in over-exerting themselves in the gym or on the squash court, followed by large quantities of beer in the bar afterwards. These men seem to have a need to proclaim to their peers that regardless of their general fitness, their bodies can withstand the same exertions as when they were 18 years old. External pressures to be seen to be strong can manifest themselves in many different ways, from a denial of illness to an obsession with physical fitness regimes.
The same underlying problem is evident in many men’s reluctance to seek help if they become unwell. A certain pride in never visiting the doctor, or declaring that ‘I’ve never had a day off work sick in 30 years’ is fine – up to a point. It is still very important to recognize when a visit to the doctor is called for, or when a few days off work would lead to a faster recovery from a niggling virus. There is still a tendency for an admission of illness to be equated with unacceptable and ‘unmanly’ weakness. Many men would rather suffer in silence than admit to ill-health and run the risk, however unconsciously, of being perceived as weak. Sometimes, different attitudes can prevail depending upon the nature of the problem. An injury sustained while involved in a very physical activity – a dislocated shoulder on the rugby field, for example – is regarded somehow more positively than a bad bout of ‘flu. The former is still connected with a display of physical strength, the latter with physical weakness.
For similar reasons, even admitting to the symptoms of illness can be difficult. The hope that they will go away by themselves may become a reality, but sometimes these symptoms can be the precursor of a much more serious health problem. You may try to shrug off an annoying cough which refuses to go away, a lump which you can’t explain or increasingly severe discomfort which has no apparent cause. It is tempting to ignore these symptoms in the hope that they will just resolve themselves. Perhaps they can be diagnosed as a straightforward problem which can be readily sorted out – but only if you admit to the problem and consult your GP. If a more serious health issue is at stake, it is even more important to get advice and help as quickly as possible. Of course, you do not want to be heading for the surgery in a state of panic every time you sniff or sneeze, but recognizing when your body is sending messages that something more serious is afoot – and doing something about it -can make a huge difference in the longer term, as Neil discovered.
This is a period in which I do not feel any pride in my actions. I think I acted like far too many men by really making no attempt to come to terms with the changes which were obviously physically affecting me.
I had become conscious of some small but certain changes in my health but put them down to the general hassle of our everyday life running a small business and the after-effects of a personal trauma which my partner and I had suffered a month or two earlier. I further subsumed myself in work and physical activity for some bizarre reason, probably of a displacement nature. I was now swimming nearly a mile several times a week. My health was not improving and I now had some low level discomfort in my abdomen and the odd bout of nausea. This became gradually but persistently worse until I was having difficulty eating.
It was now obvious – to everybody but me – that I needed medical help. I had to be dragged the four hundred yards from home to the doctor’s surgery by my partner who was determined not to leave my side until I had seen a doctor. Even then, I tried to play for time! We may have lived in the same house for eight years, but had I ever got around to registering with a GP? Why did I, a fit and healthy thirty-something man, have any need for the medical profession? So I even tried to put off this appointment by a couple of days. The doctor examined me, made a brief referral note and sketch, and instructed us to go straight to our local Accident and Emergency Unit – me, an A & E case! I think I realized then that I was about to enter the bowels of the health service and that it might be some time before I emerged again.
Whether you have a small, niggling health problem or a suspicion that it might be more serious, a cancer diagnosis is probably the last – although most feared – outcome you expect. It plunges you into a new world of blood tests and scans, physical examinations and technical terminology, fears and worries for the future. You have to get to grips with the prospect of treatment, the implications and the potential effects on your life in a very short time. It can be frightening and throw you entirely off balance at a time when you need all your reserves of strength to cope.
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Tags: Men’s Health
02 Apr 09 THE CANCER GUIDE FOR MEN: MALE HEALTH
Hearing the word ‘cancer’ used by a doctor for the first time is a moment no patient ever forgets. The very nature of cancer makes it particularly difficult to face, let alone to discuss rationally in the early stages when fear and shock may be your only recognizable emotions.
Most of us take good health and fitness for granted and assume that our bodies will function happily with little or no special attention well into advanced years. With constant medical advances and new, effective treatments for a whole range of conditions, we also tend to expect that any health problems we do encounter will be quickly resolved. As a result, we simply don’t anticipate that ill-health will have any major or long-term impact on our lives. It would be foolish to spend our lives in a constant state of fear about our health, but our expectations are now so high that when serious ill-health does strike, we are rarely prepared to cope with it.
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Tags: Men’s Health
02 Apr 09 ARTHRITIS BEATEN TODAY: WHAT MAKES CMO SO DIFFERENT FROM ALL THE OTHER REMEDIES YOU’VE EVER TRIED?
What makes CMO so different? Well, the most important difference is that it works!
We know that sounds arrogant, but it’s true. CMO does stop the arthritic process at its source. It doesn’t treat the symptoms of arthritis, it treats the cause at its point of origin: the immune system. The same holds true not just for arthritis, but for many other ailments with autoimmune components as well.
“The [arthritis] problem starts when, for reasons no one fully understands, a few misguided
T-cells incite other immune-system cells called macrophages to attack the joints.” That’s why arthritis is referred to as an “autoimmune” disease – because your body is -attacked by your own immune cells. It’s like having a bad computer program in your immune system.
It’s those “misguided T-cells” in the immune system which are directing the attacks against the cartilage in the joints of the body and are causing the symptoms of arthritis pain and inflammation. Those “misguided T-cells” are more properly known as memory T-cells, which in this case have been erroneously programmed to attack healthy cartilage as well as unhealthy and damaged cartilage.
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Tags: ARTHRITIS
02 Apr 09 CMO – MODERN MIRACLE AGAINST ARTHRITIS? A WARNING ABOUT COUNTERFEIT CMO!
CMO has been so effective that there are even several counterfeit versions being produced by unscrupulous criminals preying upon unsuspecting arthritis victims and health product dealers.
Their labels may even claim to be the original or authentic product, but they are not CMO. One of the following chapters describes most of these counterfeit products and explains how to verify your product source.
A Federal Court in California has sent a clear message that it recognizes the authenticity of CMO and will not tolerate the infringement of counterfeiters upon the authentic product.
The CMO mark has been used since November 1995 to clearly and specifically identify the proprietary cerasomal-cis-9-cetylmyristoleate product. CMO is a natural immunomodulator used by people suffering from such ailments as arthritis, Crohn’s disease, carpal tunnel syndrome, fibromyalgia, emphysema, migraine headaches, prostate inflammation, and several other ailments with autoimmune involvement.
Still, those phony products keep cropping up. Remember, it’s buyer beware. If you have any doubts about some product, you’re welcome to call the San Diego Clinic for confirmation of its authenticity.
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Tags: ARTHRITIS
02 Apr 09 CMO – MODERN MIRACLE AGAINST ARTHRITIS? FINALLY, A PRODUCT FOR THE PUBLIC
The result was cerasomal-cis-9-cetylmyristoleate, which bears the trademarked commercial name, CMO. Now CMO is quite different from the unmodified cetylmyristoleate which produces nausea, is so hard to digest, and has such a low level of bioavailability. In CMO, the cetylmyristoleate is phase stabilized using certain cerasomal technologies which makes it so much easier to assimilate through the intestine, disposes of the nausea problem, and gives it enormously higher levels of bioavailability. It also results in an end product that is a waxy solid rather than a messy oily liquid, making it much easier and neater to capsule. The end result was the commercially viable product available today: CMO. And that’s the product so many people are calling a miracle because it has been so effective where all else has failed.
There are cases where people had been unable to walk up a flight of stairs for years, but they’re doing it now – and painlessly, thanks to CMO. There are hundreds of cases where conventional treatments had reached a point where they were no longer of any benefit at all – yet CMO relieved all their symptoms. And many were very severe cases. Actually, there have been so many successes with extreme cases that they’re not at all uncommon any more. Doctors keep reporting new ones every week. The specific details of many cases, some quite ordinary and some quite fascinating.
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Tags: ARTHRITIS
