Father’s Day isn’t the only celebration this month for men. June is Men’s Health Month, an observance to raise awareness of preventable health problems, encourage early detection and treatment of disease, and improve overall well-being among men and boys. Spread the word that the key to long and healthy lives for men starts with preventive health care, healthy eating, and exercise.
It is time to spread the word about the many preventable health problems men face and empower them to take steps toward a longer, healthier, and happier life. The men’s health statistics and facts speak for themselves.
Men are more likely to put their health at risk by smoking, drinking alcohol, and making other unhealthy life choices.
Men lead the death rate for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and suicide.
The purpose of Men’s Health Month is to change those statistics by focusing on prevention through regular check-ups, nutrition, and exercise.
What Steps Can Men Take?
Men are more likely to be uninsured and half as likely to visit the doctor as women. The reasons why men are less likely to seek both urgent and preventive medical care vary.
“In our 20s, we think we’re indestructible and see going to the doctor as a waste of time and money. In our 30s, we’re too busy with our careers and family to go. By the time we reach our 40s, we don’t go because we’re afraid of what we’ll find out or we don’t want to have a rectal exam.”
If you can’t remember your last physical or if your gut feeling says something is off, it is time to do something about it. Follow these steps to improve your well-being and prolong your life:
Get screening tests based on your age and family history.
Eat healthy to prevent or manage chronic conditions.
Get and stay active.
The good news is it’s never too late to start taking better care of your health.
Follow these steps, encourage other men to do the same, and set a good example for the next generation.
Step 1: Choose a Primary Care Provider
Many people think of the doctor as someone to see when they are sick. Doctors also provide services to keep you from getting sick in the first place. The first step is to choose a primary care provider. See your primary doctor proactively to complete annual physicals and screenings. You should also keep your flu shots and vaccinations up to date.
Be sure to visit the doctor for regular check-ups even if you feel fine. Some diseases don’t have symptoms at first. Seeing a doctor will give you a chance to catch diseases early and learn more about your health.
Don’t be embarrassed to talk about your health. Before you go to the doctor, start by talking to family members to learn which diseases run in your family. Share this information with your doctor. This will help the doctor determine what screenings to do and health risks to watch for.
Step 2: Schedule Your Screening Tests
Medical screenings are tests doctors use to check for diseases and health conditions before there are any signs or symptoms. Screenings help find problems early, when they may be easier to treat. If you are a member of a high-risk group or have a family history of disease, you should talk to your doctor about the benefits of earlier screenings.
Your Preventive Maintenance Schedule
Much like a vehicle maintenance schedule, certain check-ups and screenings need to take place as you age. Some tests will be done yearly, and others will need to be completed at certain age milestones. Your primary care provider will determine the right frequency for you. Download the entire Get it Checked checklist.
Check your blood pressure at least once every two years.
Have an electrocardiogram or EKG starting at age 30.
Screen for colon and prostate problems with a rectal exam every year.
Complete routine lab work checking for high cholesterol, heart health, diabetes, kidney, or thyroid problems.
If you are age 65 to 75 and have ever smoked, talk with your doctor about your risk for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).
If you feel stressed, anxious, or sad, ask your doctor to screen you for depression. Most people with depression feel better when they get treatment.
If you are at risk of heart attack or colorectal cancer, talk to your doctor about taking aspirin every day to lower your risk.
Complete self-exams of your testicles, skin, mouth, and breasts to catch cancer early. Report any changes or lumps to your doctor.
More than half of men’s premature deaths are preventable. You can’t prevent something you don’t know exists. Most people don’t enjoy going to the doctor or being poked and prodded for medical tests, but making this a part of your routine could extend your life.
Men’s Cancer Screenings
Every year, more than 300,000 men in the United States lose their lives to cancer. You should talk to your doctor about your risk for each type of cancer and the recommended screenings based on your health needs. The most common kinds of cancer among men in the US are:
Skin Cancer: The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has concluded there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against routine skin cancer screening for people who do not have a history of skin cancer. You should always report any unusual moles or changes in your skin to your doctor.
Prostate Cancer: For men aged 55 to 69 years, the decision to undergo periodic prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer should be an individual one. The USPSTF recommends against PSA screening for men who do not have symptoms.
Lung Cancer: If you are 55 to 80 years old and are a heavy smoker or a past smoker who quit within the last 15 years, ask your doctor about a low-dose CT scan every year.
Colorectal (Colon) Cancer: If you are 45 to 75 years old, get tested. Starting in your 40s, your doctor may recommend a stool test every year. After 50, a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy should be completed every three to four years.
As with most things, the results of specific exams are important, but not nearly as important as changes over time. This is why establishing a relationship with your doctor is so important.
Step 3: Incorporate the Right Nutrition
Food doesn’t just fuel the body; it can help fight off and prevent disease. Eating healthy means getting enough vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients – and limiting unhealthy foods and drinks. You want to consume the right number of calories, which varies by individual.
Benefits of a Healthy Diet
Poor diet and lack of physical activity are the most common risk factors for cardiovascular disease, because they often lead to being overweight or obese. To prevent all of the top disease killers of men, you need to avoid meals high in fat, sodium, and sugar.
A healthy diet and regular physical activity can help lower your:
Blood pressure
Blood sugar
Cholesterol
Weight
Keeping these numbers down also lowers your risk of serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. If you’ve already received a diagnosis, these chronic conditions can be managed by proper nutrition. Find out if you are a candidate for the National Diabetes Prevention Program.
Formulate a Nutrition Game Plan
At each meal, pay attention to how you feel. You want to eat slow enough to recognize when you feel full. That’s your body’s cue to stop eating. Don’t have seconds unless you’re still hungry. You’ll just be consuming extra calories. It can be hard to make drastic changes to your diet all at once. Formulate a nutrition game plan by implementing these ideas:
Make sure to eat a good breakfast every day.
Eat at least one fruit or vegetable at every meal.
Over time, these suggestions will turn into healthy habits in your daily routine. Take a short quiz and receive a personalized daily food plan from MyPlate.
Step 4: Get Moving
Current physical activity guidelines recommend adults participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week. That equals 30 minutes of moderate activity per day. Physical activity helps you feel better, function better, and sleep better. It also reduces anxiety.
Active people generally live longer and are at less risk for serious health problems. For people with chronic diseases, physical activity can help manage these conditions and complications.
Little ways to increase your activity include playing with your kids or grandkids outside or taking the stairs instead of the elevator. If you are a smoker, take a walk instead of having a cigarette. Small changes can add up to big results over time.
How Will You Celebrate Men’s Health Month?
You can be in complete control by making prevention a priority, eating healthily, and moving more. Let’s make this June the year you take responsibility for your health. Remember, anyone can play a role in the men’s health movement. Women should also learn about men’s health issues and encourage the men and boys they love to take action to improve their health and wellness for long and happy lives.
The holidays are a special time of year to celebrate life, reflect on all the things we are thankful for, spend time with loved ones, and re-focus on what’s important. It is also a time to appreciate and protect the sacred gift of our health. So implement these four healthy holiday habits to stay on track.
If better health is the gift you want to give yourself this holiday season, try these four tips to add more movement to your day, healthy foods to your plate, and have better health this winter.
Healthy Holiday Eating Habits
The key principles of balance and moderation are fundamental to healthy eating, and it is important to practice both during the holidays when temptations are everywhere.
The benefits of eating well include:
Support for your muscles and bones
Boosting your immunity
Helping your digestive system function
Weight management.
Choosing to eat healthily doesn’t mean all your indulgent holiday favorite foods are on the naughty list. Instead, include these tips into your holiday eating plan to stay on track:
Offer to bring a low-fat main dish, a side dish of vegetables or salad, or a modified dessert so you know you’ll have something healthy to eat.
Start with fruits and vegetables to take the edge off your appetite.
Choose small portions of the dishes you really love and can’t get any other time of year
Eat slowly and take small bites. Savor the bites you are indulging in. It takes at least 20 minutes for your brain to realize you’re full.
If you have a sweet treat, cut back on other carbs (like potatoes and bread) during the meal.
If you do have an alcoholic drink, have it with food. Otherwise stay hydrated with plenty of water or choose unsweetened coffee or tea, or other sugar-free beverages.
You can’t always control what is being served at get-togethers, but you can make intelligent decisions about what foods and how much ends up on your plate. If you decide to indulge, make sure to incorporate physical activity into your day to balance out the extra calories.
Stay Active
Staying active can have many benefits during the holiday season, but it can be hard to follow through. It gets darker earlier, the weather isn’t as nice, and our schedules fill up more quickly than usual.
So look for opportunities to work physical activities into your holiday season routine:
Go for a stroll together after a family meal.
Take two laps around the mall or shopping center before you go into a store to shop.
Take the stairs at every opportunity.
Have a dance party to your favorite holiday music.
Incorporate light resistance exercises (Lunges, jumping jacks, squats, planks, counter push-ups) while cooking or watching tv.
Park and walk a neighborhood to look at Christmas lights.
You can also make a new annual tradition and participate in a holiday-themed run or walk for charity.
CDC guidance recommends 150-minutes of exercise per week. Break up your physical activity into smaller 10-minute chunks throughout the day, so it’s easier to schedule. Still, even just a few minutes a day of moderate-intensity physical activity can achieve health benefits, reduce your stress and anxiety, and lead to better sleep.
Make Sleep a Priority
According to the CDC, more than a third of Americans are sleep deprived, and the holidays can disrupt your sleep patterns even more. In addition, the extra activities and social gatherings and eating later, and indulging in foods high in fat, sugar, or caffeine can keep you awake later. So focusing on your sleep hygiene during the holidays is even more critical than usual.
Here are some tips for getting better sleep:
Do your best to stick to regular bed and wake-up times.
Avoid caffeine and other late-night stimulants.
Follow the stay active tips to burn extra energy and improve your sleep quality.
Avoid carbs, sugar, high fat, and spicy foods before bed and replace them with sleep-friendly foods, such as serving popcorn, whole-grain crackers with cheese, your favorite fruits, nuts, hummus with veggies, or fruit with cheese.
Whether you are at home or traveling, keep your bedroom quiet, cool, and dark.
Use sleep masks, earplugs, a white noise machine or fan, or music for better sleep.
Take a nap if you feel sleepy, but try to keep it short (20-30 minutes).
You should aim for seven to eight hours of sleep per night to guard against mindless eating, boost your immune system, and leave you feeling rested.
Winter Wellness
The change of seasons really can bring on “winter blues.” The colder temps, combined with fewer hours of daylight and increased stress around work, family, finances, and more, can increase the risk of depression, anxiety, and lethargy. These cold, dark days coincide with cold and flu season. Germs are more active during the winter and more easily spread between people when they spend most of their time inside, in close contact. Take these precautions to stay well over the holidays:
Soak up as much sunlight as possible. Go outside between noon and 2 pm.
Increase your folic acid intake, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and decrease your sugar intake.
Use a humidifier or saline nasal spray to reduce sinus dryness.
Talk to your doctor if you think you are experiencing symptoms of seasonal depression.
Get your Influenza (flu) or COVID-19 vaccine. Both illnesses can result in serious health complications like pneumonia, bacterial infections, hospitalization, or death— flu activity peaks between December and February.
Remember, handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of germs, especially during the winter months. Evidence shows handwashing can help prevent 1 in 5 respiratory illnesses like the cold or flu.
Don’t Wait on the New Year
Many of us enter this time of year with the mindset that it’s a free pass to indulge a little too much. We make plans to refocus our health goals on January 1. But the reality is it’s difficult to regain the fitness ground we’ve lost or drop the weight we’ve added. If you commit to following the four healthy holiday habits of using balance and moderation for healthy eating, making time to stay active, committing to sleep, and prioritizing staying well this winter, you’ll set yourself up to maintain your health goals through the holidays and beyond.
Most of us will be diagnosed with chronic lifestyle diseases, such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease, and cardiovascular disease, by the time we reach middle age. This is because we live our lives coping with stress through unhealthy diets, a sedentary lifestyle, and tobacco and alcohol use. But studies show an increased success rate in making lifestyle changes and reversing bad health habits by engaging with a lifestyle health coach.
Making lifestyle changes takes time to implement, requires support, and often lacks the instant gratification we have grown accustomed to in the digital age. However, if someone told you that you could prevent your premature death from a chronic lifestyle disease, would you do something about it? I think most of us would want to. To undo the bad habits we’ve developed over time, we must decide that our current behavior doesn’t support the way we want to live. Consider some of these statistics from the CDC on healthy living, or lack thereof:
More than 60 percent of adults don’t get the recommended 150 minutes a week of moderate-intensity activity
Only one out of 10 adults are eating enough fruits and vegetables
More than 42.4 percent of adults are overweight or obese
It is estimated that we can prevent 20-40% of premature deaths before age 75 with lifestyle changes. So why aren’t more of us motivated to make them? Unfortunately, it isn’t lack of motivation but rather lack of support that keeps most of us from addressing lifestyle changes.
Committing to Lifestyle Changes
The National Prevention Council found that healthy students are better prepared to learn, employees that take care of their mental and physical health are more productive, and the elderly who remain physically and mentally active are more likely to live independently.
Most of us want to take a more active role in our health to experience these benefits. Every January 1st, we make New Year’s resolutions. For a few weeks, gyms are packed, and salad kits fly off grocery shelves. Yet by February, more than 80% of us have abandoned our goals. Common challenges to lifestyle change include:
Lack of time
Lack of accountability
Lack of motivation
Stress, mental, and physical exhaustion
We all know we need to do better. Most of us attempt to make changes and fail. What are we missing? New research suggests a health coach!
What is a Health Coach?
A ‘health coach‘ is a trained professional who partners with you over a specific time (anywhere from 90 days to a year or more) to help you achieve a particular health outcome. They don’t prescribe, diagnose, analyze, or treat health conditions. Instead, they are behavior change teachers, guiding their clients on how to successfully adopt and sustain healthy habits that prevent, ease, and even reverse chronic lifestyle diseases.
A health coach is a non-judgmental accountability partner. Let’s be honest; sometimes, you can’t even get that from your spouse, parents, or siblings. You should be able to establish a trusting relationship with your health coach that allows you to be honest, ask questions, and express doubts. By providing this support, health coaches offer options and suggestions, but taking action is still your responsibility.
“[My health coach] is always calm, kind, and proactive. Her approach makes me feel motivated even though I know I have a lot of action items, and many times, [struggle] to stay on track health-wise.” – Preventive Plan Member Survey Response
A health coach is also a teacher passing along relevant health education. The coach can bridge the gap between the patient and their primary care providers. Many people experience anxiety around attending doctor appointments. Your health coach can help translate what the doctor says into layman’s terms, help you improve communication with your doctor, identify questions to ask at your next visit, and support you on lifestyle or medication changes between visits.
They may have a health science degree, specialty certifications, or be a clinician. Regardless of their educational background, your health coach will be a caring individual invested in helping you achieve the best version of yourself.
Identifying Your “Why” for Behavior Change
Just hiring a health coach will not make you successful. You still have to be committed to making lifestyle changes and executing your goal plan. To do this, you must name your problem and decide that the hard work of changing outweighs the cons of staying the same.
Models of Change
According to the transtheoretical model of change, there are five primary stages you’ll pass through before creating a difference in your life:
Precontemplation: You deny having a problem, but other people may be concerned for your health.
Contemplation: You are thinking about the pros and cons of changing your lifestyle.
Preparation: You have a goal and are taking steps to get ready to make a change.
Action: You are actively working on changing your behavior.
Maintenance: You figure out how to stick to your change over the long term.
And while it doesn’t have a number, we need to mention relapse. Being human means mistakes happen! The key is making sure you get back on track as quickly as possible.
Tools of the Trade
It is important for your health coach to identify which stage of change you are in. They use principles of active listening, motivational interviewing, and goal-setting as powerful tools to help you take charge of your health. When you meet with a health coach, you aren’t getting another lecture about how you need to lose weight from the doctor or an intense instructor berating you for not running fast enough. Instead, you get a supportive professional who wants to help you figure out your “why” for making change.
For example, if you are in the Precontemplation stage, they may need to deploy motivational interviewing to help you determine your “why.” We all balk when authority figures tell us what to do. Instead of saying “You need to lose weight,” rather your health coach may say, “How might your life be different if you lost the weight?” Designed to get to the root of why you want to make the change, these open-ended questions uncover your core motivation for changing yourself and lead to a higher chance of success than doing something because someone told you to.
Making a Healthy Habit Plan
Once you identify your primary health goal, it’s time to enter the preparation stage and talk about health plans and habits. Unfortunately, this is typically the step we skip on our own. Instead, we try to bend our habits as if we were bending metal with our bare hands. Then we are disappointed when it doesn’t move.
Your health coach will want to talk through your core habits. The more you do something, the more robust and efficient the connections in your brain are. You probably have solid practices and neural connections that you take for granted each day. We all have preferences on what time we wake up in the morning, eat our meals, and when we shower or brush our teeth.
Once your health coach understands your unique core habits, they can deploy a practice called habit stacking. Instead of creating new patterns from scratch, something our adult brains will struggle with, you pair a new habit with a current one. Here are a few examples:
After I turn my alarm off in the morning, I will drink 8 ounces of cold water.
While my morning coffee is brewing, I’ll pack a healthy lunch/snacks, so I don’t eat out.
After eating my lunch, I’ll go on a 15-20 minute walk around the parking lot.
When my family eats dinner, I’ll turn off the tv and ask everyone about their day.
When I watch my favorite show, I’ll get on the stationary bike/treadmill.
After I brush my teeth, I will meditate or journal for 10 minutes before going to bed.
It isn’t glamorous, but habit stacking works because you are linking a new habit to existing behaviors that already have a strong connection in your brain. This makes the new behavior more likely to stick. And, once you’ve mastered one habit, you can continue to stack on new practices, leading to a healthier routine.
Why You Need a Health Coach
Yes, you can decide to make a lifestyle change or create a health plan without a health coach. Let’s talk about why you need one.
The American Society of Training and Development (ASTD) did a study on accountability. There are two stats that are really important. The first part is that if you commit to someone your intention or goal, you have a 65% of completing that goal. That is decent odds. But, if you commit to someone AND add in a specific accountability appointment with that person, you increase your chance of success to 95 percent.
Did you read that last statistic? A person who sets a goal and keeps a regular session with their health coach on their progress, challenges, and wins will most likely reach their goal. By definition, the term ‘coach’ is a person who invests their time instructing or educating someone to improve their performance.
Health coaches have a variety of healthcare experience and education that they want to pass along to you. They guide you through the stages of change and will serve as your cheerleader, accountability partner, teacher, confidante, and healthcare resource all in one. Their number one goal is to help you improve your health and enhance your overall wellbeing.
Expectations for a Health Coach Call
Committing to meet with a health coach is a big step, so congratulations if you’ve already put something on the calendar. However, if you aren’t sure where to start on your health journey, that’s ok too! First, let’s set some expectations for your call with a health coach.
Pre-Call Plan
Your initial call will last anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. If you have time constraints, make sure that is communicated upfront. It is important to spend a few minutes planning for your call. Ensure you’ve documented any questions or health topics and essential information relating to the specific type of coaching call you scheduled. This information could include a meal plan, food diary, exercise log, list of current habits, or recent lab values or health diagnoses.
Connect with Your Health Coach
You can utilize video or have a regular phone call. The choice is up to you; however, our health coaches love when they can see and connect with you, so don’t be afraid to turn on your video camera!
“The virtual experience was more personalized, feels like an informal and candid conversation.” – Preventive Plan Member Survey Response
The first question your coach will likely ask is, “Why did you schedule this call? or “Do you have specific topics or questions you’d like to address?” This is where that pre-call planning will be helpful! We all can freeze or have our brains go blank when put on the spot. Once you establish your main goal, you’ll collaborate with your health coach to formulate a health plan to help you reach it.
For example, our health coach, Christina, believes mental health is the foundation of a healthy lifestyle. If you’ve depleted your mental and emotional resources, keeping up with meal planning or going to the gym could be daunting. She might recommend a plan to reduce your stress and focus on self-care before suggesting a diet or exercise plan.
Routine Health Coach Follow-Ups
Now you are off and running, maybe literally. Your health coach is going to want to hear about your progress. Follow-up call cadence will depend on your specific health plan and how much accountability you require. Follow-up calls last 15 minutes to an hour and can happen once a week or as little as once a month.
In a follow-up call, your health coach will want to hear about your health plan progress. Sharing wins with you is the reason they do this job! However, don’t be afraid to share your challenges too. Your coach can help identify ways to get over these hurdles. They are an unbiased sounding board for you to utilize.
The Preventive Plan Care Team
The Preventive Plan’s health coaches are available Monday through Friday from 8 am to 6 pm Eastern Standard Time. Each coach has their personal availability that may differ slightly from this schedule.
This year we created a follow-up survey that is emailed to everyone who completes a health coaching session. The results validate what we already knew; our Preventive Plan mobile app users love our health coaches! They’ve rated their experience with our Care Team with a 4.9 out of 5 average rating. Our members also see the value in our approach to be more than just an app. More than 45 percent of respondents said their coach “significantly exceeded their expectations” during their coaching call.
“I learned so much in a very short period. I have almost all the [health] information I never knew before. I’m grateful for this as I think it will change my lifestyle.” – Preventive Plan Member Survey Response
In summary, while you can’t control your genetics, you can control how often you exercise, the amount of sleep, your tobacco and alcohol use, and your diet. While implementing lifestyle changes isn’t easy, no matter which area of your life you want to improve, utilizing a health coach increases your chance of success at implementing new healthy habits. So you can drop the bad habits and reach your health goals – for good.
Did you know more than 34 million Americans live with diabetes, which is the seventh leading cause of death? The costs, both medical and economical, for those with this disease are astronomical. Learning more about prediabetes and type 2 diabetes and then taking steps to prevent it can help save your life and wallet.
The number of adults diagnosed with diabetes has more than doubled as the baby boomer generation ages, and the United States population becomes more overweight. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney dialysis, and non-traumatic foot amputation in the United States. In addition, diabetes isn’t just a physical condition. It can wreak mental havoc due to its chronic nature, daily maintenance routine, and social stigma.
Despite these bleak statistics, there is hope in the form of prevention. Diabetes education is the key to reducing these numbers by preventing those at risk from developing it and helping people diagnosed with diabetes live a longer, healthier life. On this page, you’ll find a complete overview of what diabetes is, the different types of diabetes, risk factors, and tips to manage and prevent diabetes.
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) disease that affects how your body turns food into energy. As we eat, food is broken down into sugar (glucose) and releases into the bloodstream. When blood sugar rises, your pancreas releases a hormone called insulin to help regulate it. Insulin acts as a key to unlock cells to use glucose for energy, and when you have diabetes or prediabetes, your body either doesn’t make enough or is unable to use insulin. As a result, too much glucose stays in your bloodstream, resulting in high blood sugar. Over time, high blood sugar damages your body and can cause heart disease, vision loss, kidney disease, and other serious health problems.
The Different Types of Diabetes
The term diabetes may sound familiar, but it is a complicated disease. Common myths include that overeating sugar causes it, and it can only affect people who are morbidly obese. There are also multiple types of diabetes. There is no shame in having diabetes, and it can strike anyone regardless of age, gender, race, or socioeconomic status.
Type 1 Diabetes – An Autoimmune Disorder
Type 1 diabetes, previously called insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes, is usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults, but it can develop at any age. Approximately five to 10 percent of people with diabetes have type 1, making it less common than type 2 diabetes. When you have type 1 diabetes, the body produces an autoimmune reaction where the body destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin.
Gestational Diabetes – Diabetes During Pregnancy
Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who don’t already have diabetes. Between two and 10 percent of pregnancies will result in gestational diabetes. As a pregnant woman gains weight and her hormones change, the body cannot make or use enough insulin, resulting in insulin resistance.
Most pregnancies will face insulin resistance toward the end, but a diagnosis of gestational diabetes typically happens during the 24th to 28th week of pregnancy during blood or glucose challenge tests. Gestational diabetes normally goes away after your baby is born, but having it increases both your and your baby’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the future. If you are already overweight, you can reduce your risk of gestational diabetes by participating in regular physical activity and losing weight before you get pregnant.
Type 2 Diabetes – The Silent Disease
Type 2 diabetes, also called adult-onset diabetes, is the most common diabetes condition, accounting for approximately 90 to 95 percent of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. With type 2 diabetes, your body cannot produce enough insulin to regulate and use glucose in your blood, resulting in high blood sugar levels. While there is no cure for type 2 diabetes, it can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes such as losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active.
eating healthy, exercising, and maintaining a healthy weight are ways to prevent and manage diabetes
Signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes often develop slowly, causing many people to live with it unchecked for years, with high blood sugar damaging their bodies over time. Common symptoms include:
Increased thirst
Frequent urination
Increased hunger
Unintended weight loss
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Slow-healing sores
Frequent infections
Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
Areas of darkened skin, usually in the armpits and neck
While it is a serious medical condition, with proper management and lifestyle changes, you can feel better, stay healthier, and have an improved quality of life than if you leave diabetes unchecked.
Prediabetes -Time to Rewind Your Risk
Don’t let the “pre” in prediabetes fool you into thinking it is something you can put off addressing. Over a third of U.S. adults, approximately 88 million, have prediabetes, and more than 84 percent of them don’t know they have it. This critical phase is the only time you can reverse and prevent diabetes. This condition is the precursor to diabetes because your blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal but are not high enough to be called diabetes. You can have prediabetes for years but have no apparent symptoms, which is why it often goes undiagnosed.
If you know you have prediabetes or have a high risk of developing diabetes, you have two choices – ignore it and end up with diabetes or take action now to reduce your risk. But what happens if you don’t know you have it? It’s important to talk to your doctor about testing if you have any of the nine risk factors of diabetes.
Age: As we age, we are more at risk for developing diabetes. Specifically, being over the age of 45 puts you at higher risk.
Weight: Being overweight can put you at risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. The more fat we have in our bodies, the more resistant our cells are to insulin.
Family History: You are at an increased risk if anyone in your immediate family (mother, father, sister, or brother) has a diabetes diagnosis.
Race: Diabetes occurs more often in individuals who are African-American, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino-American, and Pacific Islander backgrounds.
Physical Inactivity: Exercising less than three days a week can put you at risk. You can easily change this risk factor by increasing your activity levels.
Sex: Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, those diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy, and those who delivered a baby weighing nine pounds or more are at an increased risk.
High Blood Pressure: If you’ve ever had a blood pressure reading of 140/90 or higher or have a diagnosis of high blood pressure, you are at increased risk.
Low HDL Cholesterol: You’re at an increased risk if your “good” cholesterol is less than 35 mg/dL.
Abnormal Triglyceride Levels: Triglycerides are a type of fat in the bloodstream. Unhealthy levels of triglycerides above 250 mg/dL increase your risk.
If you have multiple risk factors or currently have prediabetes, you can do things to rewind your risk factors.
Tools to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes
While you can’t control your genes, you can change your lifestyle. You can do three things to prevent or delay the onset of diabetes – eat right, exercise regularly, and maintain a healthy weight. You don’t have to make significant changes in your routine to rewind your risk of diabetes. Adding in small steps can add up to big results over time. Even losing 10 percent of your total body weight can improve blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and blood sugars and lower your risk of type 2 diabetes by 58 percent.
Lifestyle changes can seem challenging at first, but you can be successful by utilizing tools available to you and leaning into support from your family, friends, and health care team.
Increase Your Daily Exercise
Physical activity is just one part of your journey to preventing or delaying the impact of type 2 diabetes.
Just 30 minutes a day will get you over the recommended 150-minute-per-week mark. Regular activity throughout the day that gets your heart pumping can take off weight, make you feel better, and lower your blood sugar. Getting fit is a commitment you make to yourself, your family, and your health.
You can start small by using some creative thinking to incorporate small bursts of activity throughout the day.
Park further away when working or shopping.
Take the stairs at work or when running errands.
Go for a walk during your break or at lunchtime.
Try a new hobby such as biking, yoga, hiking, kayaking, swimming, or something else.
If you leave exercise to chance, you probably won’t do it. You have to make adding in exercise a way of life. You don’t have to spend an hour at the gym each day. Simple tweaks can quickly add up to serious activity that makes a significant impact over time.
Maintain a Healthy Weight
What does a healthy weight look like for you? Your answer will depend on your age, activity level, and overall health. The goal of a healthy weight is to feel your best and reduce any health risks. To get started, you could use BMI and waist circumference as references to gauge where you are now and help you pinpoint a goal number.
If there were an easy way to lose weight and keep it off, everyone would be doing it. Setting your goal is step one. Next, you need to make small changes to your lifestyle over time to increase your chances of success. They call it a health journey for a reason. It is going to take time and effort on your part to be successful. You’ll need to learn new eating and physical activity habits, but losing 10 to 20 pounds can make a big difference in your overall health and self-esteem.
Watch What You Eat
Healthy eating habits can help you achieve and maintain a healthy weight, support your nutrient needs, and reduce your risk for chronic diseases. Try to release the inner cringe you feel when you hear the word “diet.” Eating fewer calories doesn’t necessarily mean eating less food. It is all about balancing the calories you consume with the calories your body uses.
When deciding what to eat or drink, choose options that are filling and full of nutrients. These foods include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, seafood, eggs, beans and peas, unsalted nuts and seeds, fat-free and low-fat dairy products, and lean meats and poultry. Also, make sure your choices contain little or no saturated fat, sodium, or added sugars.
Typically you have more control over your food choices and meal preparation when eating at home. Healthy eating starts at the grocery store and ends on your plate. Commit to weekly meal preparation and cooking healthy meals at home at first. Use an app or food diary to track what you eat and the calories you are consuming.
Ease into a healthy eating lifestyle by adding in a salad at the beginning of each dinner. Leafy greens provide nutrients and fill you up faster. Quickly eliminate extra calories by switching from soda to water or unsweet tea or coffee. If you need help creating or sticking to a meal plan, consider meeting with a dietitian about the best strategies for your lifestyle and food palate.
Increase Your Physical Activity Level
Physical activity is one way to control blood sugar levels and help your body process insulin. An active lifestyle is the key to maintaining a healthy weight. Physical activity can be brisk walks, housework, yard work, dancing, swimming, or bicycling. Anything that gets your heart beating faster or makes your muscles work counts. The CDC recommends getting 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity per week, with two days dedicated to muscle-strengthening activities.
Don’t let the triple-digit number make you sweat. You can break this up into smaller amounts of about 25 minutes a day or one hour three days a week. In addition, you can try a yoga class or add small hand weights to your walk to incorporate muscle work.
To make sure you stick with it, start with activities, locations, and times you enjoy. For example, don’t commit to a 5:00 AM run if you aren’t a morning person! Instead, schedule a lunch or evening walk every day. Start slowly and work your way up to more physically challenging activities.
National Diabetes Prevention Program
Making these lifestyle changes isn’t easy, and you don’t have to do it alone. One tool available to use is a CDC-recognized lifestyle change program that is proven to aid in healthy changes through habit formation necessary to prevent diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Program is delivered by CDC-recognized providers around the United States, including USPM. All lifestyle change programs are one year in duration. As new habits are established, participants see benefits, such as more energy, more stable blood sugar levels, and less stress as they enjoy a healthier lifestyle.
How Can I Manage My Type 2 Diabetes?
Diabetes is a high-maintenance, chronic illness that requires daily management to keep it in check. People with diabetes need to make healthy food choices, maintain a healthy weight, move more every day, and take their medicine even when they feel good. If you keep your condition under control, you can still live a full and healthy life.
Diabetes Care Checklist
Taking care of yourself is so important once you have a diabetes diagnosis. You will have more energy, be less tired and thirsty, make fewer trips to the bathroom, and have fewer complications.
Blood sugar checks: Check up to several times a day as directed by your doctor. Keep a record of your numbers and share them with your health care team.
Foot check: Use a mirror if you can’t see the bottom of your feet or ask a family member for help. Immediately let your doctor know if you have any cuts, redness, swelling, sores, blisters, corns, calluses, or other changes to the skin or nails.
Diabetes medicines: Take the amount prescribed by your doctor, even when you feel good.
Physical activity: Get at least 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as brisk walking or riding a bike, each week.
Healthy eating: Eat healthy foods that give you the nutrition you need and help your blood sugar stay in your target range.
Doctor visits and lab tests: At each visit, your doctor will review your blood pressure, weight, self-care plan, and medicines. The doctor will also monitor your blood sugar and A1C levels. You may also need to get flu, pneumonia, or hepatitis b shots, complete kidney and cholesterol tests, and schedule regular eye exams.
Dental visits: Get your teeth and gums cleaned at least once a year (more often if your doctor recommends), and let your dentist know you have diabetes.
If losing weight and healthy eating isn’t enough to manage your blood sugar levels, your doctor may prescribe a medication regimen to reduce your glucose levels. Take your medications as directed, and never change a dose or stop taking them without consulting your doctor.
There are common medications people diagnosed with diabetes use to keep their condition controlled:
Metformin is an oral diabetes medicine that helps control blood sugar levels.
A Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist helps release insulin when you need it and lower the amount of glucose made by your liver.
Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors prevent glucose from being reabsorbed in your kidney.
Insulin is used to regulate blood glucose and comes in various forms that are injected or inhaled.
You may also require blood pressure medication, cholesterol medication, or aspirin therapy, depending on your health and symptoms. Keep a list of all of the medicine you’re taking, including vitamins and herbal supplements, so you can review it with your doctor. Make sure to discuss the best timing for each dose and what you should do if you miss one. It can be difficult to keep up with, but you can build an effective medication routine with some organization and planning.
Mental Health and Diabetes
Mental health affects every part of our daily lives. It can impact how we handle stress, navigate our relationships, make decisions, and feel. Once you have diabetes, it is something you must manage every day of your life. That is hard and can lead to feeling as if diabetes is controlling you and your life instead of the other way around. During a given 18-month timespan, 33 to 50 percent of people with diabetes experience diabetes distress, or feelings of stress, guilt, or denial that arise from living with diabetes and the burden of self-management.
If you are struggling with your mental health, sticking to your diabetes care plan can be even more challenging. People with diabetes are two to three times more likely to have depression than people without diabetes. Unfortunately, only 25 to 50 percent of people with diabetes and depression get diagnosed and treated. Anxiety, or feelings of worry, fear, or being on edge, can also mimic the symptoms of low blood sugar. So if you’re feeling anxious, try checking your blood sugar and treat it if it’s too low.
It is vital to establish a health care team that includes an endocrinologist, primary care, mental health counselor, a diabetes educator, and a diabetes support group to help you navigate the day-to-day maintenance and highs and lows you may experience. You are never alone; help is always a phone call or Google search away.
June is Men’s Health Month, a time to bring awareness to disease prevention and longer, healthier lives for men. You may be wondering why women should care about men’s health awareness at all. The fact is men live shorter and sicker lives than women. Our fathers, brothers, husbands, and sons are all impacted by this cycle of not taking care of themselves. Women can save lives by looking for signs of common health problems, encouraging men to get a primary care provider, and establishing healthy habits in the home through proper nutrition and exercise.
While women have their own health challenges, it is equally important for them to participate in Men’s Health Month if they want their husbands to be around for the long haul. Current life expectancy calculates on average men live five years less than women. According to Census.gov, 58 percent of women age 75 or older had experienced the death of their spouse, compared to just 28 percent of men. Most of the men in this age bracket were still married. On top of this, elderly widows are more likely to live in poverty even if they weren’t poor before their husbands’ deaths. These stats paint a bleak picture of what is supposed to be your “golden years.”
What causes this shorter lifespan for men? According to Men’s Health Network, men often:
are more likely to engage in unhealthy behavior such as smoking and drinking alcohol
don’t seek medical attention when they need it
are less likely to have health insurance
are more likely to work in dangerous occupations
are less likely to adopt preventive health habits
As kids, boys are often taught not to complain. How often do you hear the phrases, “walk it off,” “toughen up,” or “big boys don’t cry?” We joke that adult men don’t like to ask for directions and would rather get lost than ask for help. When they don’t seek medical care and aren’t open and honest about aches, pains, and embarrassing symptoms with their doctor, tragic outcomes can occur. To change those statistics, women must become more involved in men’s health for their husbands and sons.
3 Ways Women Can Improve Men’s Health
In general, women often pay better attention to their health. From their teens through childbearing years, women typically have at least a gynecologist they see once a year, and women are often more candid with doctors, too. You can be role models and cheerleaders for the men in your life to help change current men’s health outcomes.
This Men’s Health Month, take these three steps to make a difference in the lives of the men you love:
Learn more about the health risks men face and early signs and symptoms of common health problems.
Encourage men to choose a primary care provider and get regular screenings to reduce premature death.
Work together to set a good example of healthy living for their children with proper nutrition and exercise.
Women have a strong influence in creating healthier habits throughout the family through meals and exercise activities. Here is an action plan for encouraging men to take control of their health.
Step 1: Learn About Men’s Health Problems
In a race you don’t want to be leading, men die at higher rates for nine out of the top 10 causes of death. It’s worth noting that most of these causes, including heart disease, diabetes, lung cancer, and even depression, can be prevented and extend not just to men, but to the whole family. Learning more about these diseases, how to prevent them, and signs and symptoms to look for, and then passing that information onto the men you love, is the first step in bringing awareness to men’s health.
Heart Disease
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men in the United States, causing about one in four male deaths. Half of the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease had no previous symptoms. Having hypertension (high blood pressure) is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Men can reduce their risk of heart disease by knowing their blood pressure and being checked in-office by their doctor every year. Reducing the risk of heart disease starts with a healthy diet and exercise. You should also quit smoking and reduce your alcohol intake.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects how your body turns food into energy. It accounted for three percent of total deaths in 2020, a 15 percent increase over 2019. Type 2 diabetes typically develops in people over the age of 45. This condition wreaks havoc on the body, increasing your risk of blindness, amputations, kidney failure, heart attack, and stroke. Before developing type 2 diabetes, most people experience a period when their blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. This pivotal time is called prediabetes. If you take action with healthy eating and exercise during this small window, you can reverse this diagnosis and prevent type 2 diabetes.
Cancer
The three most common cancers among men in the United States are prostate, lung, and colorectal.
Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer in men and often occurs without any symptoms. If he is straining to pass urine, leaking urine, has bloody urine, and experiences bone pain, he should see a doctor immediately. Fortunately, if caught early, prostate cancer is often treated successfully. Men should have a rectal exam every year and speak to their doctor about screenings once they hit the age of 40.
Lung cancer remains the number one cause of cancer deaths in men. You can have lung cancer before symptoms develop. When they do appear, they include shortness of breath, cough, a change in sputum, chest pain, noisy breathing, hoarseness, and coughing up blood. The best way to prevent lung cancer is to not smoke and to avoid secondhand smoke.
Colorectal cancer (cancer of the colon or rectum) is the third most common cancer in men. Most colorectal cancers start as polyps on the inner lining. Over time, certain types of polyps can turn into cancer and can easily spread throughout the body once cancer has access to blood vessels. If you experience symptoms, such as a change in bowel habits, rectal bleeding, belly pain, weakness, and weight loss, see a doctor immediately.
You can reduce your risk for most cancers by maintaining a healthy weight through diet and exercise, quitting smoking, and reducing your alcohol intake.
Step 2: Become Partners in Health
Women should encourage men to take even the smallest symptoms seriously and discuss them with their doctors, even if that takes an extra nudge to get them in the doctor’s office. Ultimately, men should become more comfortable talking about and taking action on their health. Here are some ways you can influence men to take better care of their health by doing tasks together.
Do Self-Exams Together
Self-exams are the first line of defense when it comes to taking care of your health. Women are encouraged to do monthly breast exams to detect breast cancer early. Men have breast tissue too and are susceptible to breast cancer. They should also be doing monthly testicle exams looking for lumps, enlargement, or pain that could be symptoms of testicular cancer. Be on the lookout for new or persistent symptoms that can be indicators of a chronic condition that should be evaluated by a doctor:
Persistent backaches
Nagging cough
Recurrent chest pains or headaches
Unexplained weight loss
Extreme fatigue
Depression
Obvious changes in warts or moles
Unusual lumps
Changes in the color of urine or stool
Changes in bowel or bladder habits
Blood in urine
Bleeding that won’t stop
Impotence or erectile dysfunction
Turn self-exams into something fun to do together. Doing self-exams together can increase intimacy and help you both better understand your bodies. Watch for abnormal moles or changes in your skin in places you can’t check yourself. Women get most of their skin cancers in places where they can see them, such as their hands and face and below the hemline, but men get most of theirs on their back. By encouraging men to take changes in their bodies seriously, you’ll be helping them take control of their healthcare.
Choosing a Primary Care Provider
Not all health problems have symptoms that will be noticeable to a man’s partner. Even men who are the picture of health can be battling cancer, diabetes, or other silent killers. The best way to detect these kinds of illnesses is by getting regular checkups with a primary care provider.
Cleveland Clinic found 72 percent of men would rather do household chores than go to the doctor. Motivations include embarrassment, lack of convenience, not wanting to hear a bad diagnosis, and not wanting to quit bad habits. Research suggests people with a strong relationship with their PCP have better care outcomes and enjoy a healthier life.
How do you overcome these challenges and get them into the doctor’s office? See if you can pinpoint the main reasons he is avoiding the doctor. If time off from work is a problem, find health providers who have weekend and evening appointments or have offices close to his work. Ask if he would prefer to see a male or female health provider. You can also schedule same-day appointments for both of you and plan a date or fun activity afterward. Take the preparation part off his plate by learning about and compiling notes on his family history, symptoms you’ve noticed, and questions he should ask while at his appointment.
Step 3: Implement Healthy Routines
It is so important for men and women to eat a nutritious, well-balanced diet because, everything you consume influences your health. We eat portions that are too large, and our meals include too much fat, sugar, and salt. Good nutrition, physical activity, and healthy body weight are essential parts of a person’s overall health and well-being. Women tend to take on the tasks of grocery shopping, meal prep, and cooking. By taking control of diet and exercise, you can decrease the risk of everyone in your family developing serious health conditions.
Include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
Include a variety of protein foods such as seafood, lean meats and poultry, eggs, legumes (beans and peas), soy products, nuts, and seeds.
Reduce the number of saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt (sodium), and added sugars consumed.
Enjoy balanced food and beverage choices to reflect your personal preferences while staying within your daily calorie needs.
You can still eat well even when dining out. Encourage smart swaps, such as salads instead of fries or water instead of soda, when you go out to eat. Making sure your husband is packing a lunch from home with leftovers, salads, and healthy snacks will also prevent him from making bad choices while at work.
Get the Family Moving
Any activity that gets your heart beating faster can improve your health. It is recommended to get 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. This goal can be broken into smaller amounts such as 30 minutes a day, five days a week. The best exercise is one everyone looks forward to doing. Remember to incorporate various types of activities that can be fun for the whole family:
Recruit male friends and relatives with good health habits to participate and help with ideas.
Decide on an exercise routine that involves and is enjoyable to everyone.
Exercise doesn’t have to be a workout – join a sports league, go on a hike, bicycle trail, or other outdoor activity.
Housework, yard work, and playing with kids and grandkids count.
Try something new with online workout videos, no gym membership required.
Physical activity has immediate health benefits, such as better sleep and reduced stress and anxiety, on top of reducing the risk of all of the health conditions we’ve already discussed.
Women Can Impact Men’s Health
Many of the issues we’ve discussed are sometimes difficult for men to discuss. By learning more about common men’s health issues, becoming a partner in their health, and implementing a healthy diet and exercise routine, women can have a huge impact on the lives of their fathers, uncles, brothers, husbands, and sons.
“The role of women in keeping the men in their life healthy is invaluable. While it may pain you to nag your husband, do it anyway. If you recognize any unusual symptoms in your loved one, do whatever it takes to get him the help he needs. It may save his life.“ – Theresa Morrow, Women Against Prostate Cancer
Ultimately, the goal of Men’s Health Month is to improve men’s health outcomes and that process starts at home.
