Secrets to Men’s Health and Longevity

I have talked with dozens of men who are still in good health and have lived to be 90+, and have also been in clinical contact with many patients with underlying diseases in their 30s and 40s. To be honest, there are no mysterious ancestral secrets or sky-high-priced tonics for men's health and longevity. The core lies in three little things that no one wants to take seriously: Don't be stubborn about your body, don't be kidnapped by desires, and don't treat physical examinations as a trouble.

Not long ago, I met Brother Zhang at a community free clinic who has been driving a long-distance truck for 20 years. When he was 42 years old, he was sent to the hospital for an acute myocardial infarction. He came back with a stent that lasted him half his life. Now he talks about how stupid he was before when he meets everyone. He used to have headaches and brain fever and never go to the hospital. When he had a fever while hauling goods on the road, he stuffed two pills of ibuprofen into his chest. When his chest was tight, he patted his chest twice and said, "You guys are so squeamish." As a result, he suddenly couldn't breathe on the highway. Fortunately, the guy who was traveling with him reacted quickly and sent him to the doctor. It was found that two of the three blood vessels were blocked. There are always people from the older generation around me who say that men just have to take care of things, so running to the hospital for such a minor pain or itch is too pretentious. However, the data in the "China Men's Health White Paper" shows that men's willingness to see a doctor is 37% lower than that of women. Nearly 60% of men go to the doctor only when they really can't bear it. The best intervention window for many malignant diseases and chronic diseases is quietly slipping away at the stage of "still being able to bear it". An Internet technology director I know used to always say, "I'll take a break when I finish this project." After staying up all night for three months, he fainted in the company. Now he takes his bag to get off work every day, always carrying a blood pressure monitor in his bag. He said that he used to feel that his body was an inexhaustible power bank, but now he realizes that it only uses dry batteries that are used less often, and there is no place to recharge your batteries.

Carrying it hard is an obvious damage, but the hidden consumption caused by being led by various desires is actually more harmful to the body. Uncle Wang, who lives downstairs in my house, used to be a salesman in a winery. When he was young, he drank half a kilo at a time and never left his cigarette. After he retired, he drank with his old man every day. He always said, "If you don't smoke or drink, what's the point of living?" Last year, he was diagnosed with mid-stage liver cirrhosis. In fact, the opinions of different schools on this point are quite interesting. Traditional health care talks about "abstinence to maintain health." Many people misunderstand that you should be pure and abstinent. Modern medicine clearly states that alcohol and tobacco are carcinogens, and a diet high in oil, salt, and sugar is the primary cause of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. In fact, the core of the two is the same: it does not mean that you should completely give up all pleasures, but that you should not be controlled by desires. It's okay to have a few drinks and eat skewers with friends occasionally. But if you don't do without tobacco and alcohol every day, or heavy on oil and salt, then you are struggling with your own health. There is also that unnecessary desire to win. If you are in your thirties or forties, you have to compete with a twenty-year-old boy in playing ball or staying up late. If you win, you will lose face, which is really unacceptable.

The first two points are daily maintenance. There is another thing that many people find troublesome, but it can really save lives: don’t avoid physical examinations because you always think there is nothing wrong with you. Last year when I was helping at the physical examination center, I met a 52-year-old uncle. The physical examination card issued by the work unit was supposed to be sold on a second-hand platform for 200 yuan, but his son dragged him there. As a result, a low-dose CT scan showed that there was a ground glass nodule on the lung. Further examination showed that it was early-stage lung cancer. After minimally invasive surgery, it was fine. Now he fishes in the park every day. If he had discovered it half a year later, he might not have the chance to sit here and bask in the sun. Of course, some people say that physical examination is an IQ tax, and it can detect diseases even if there is no disease. Some people even think that "going to a physical examination to find something wrong will scare you to death." In fact, this statement is not completely unreasonable. There are indeed many institutions deceiving people into doing unnecessary high-priced projects. For example, there is no need for healthy people to undergo a full set of PET-CT as soon as they come up. It is a waste of money to take radiation. But as long as you choose the right items that suit you, the cost-effectiveness of physical examinations is really higher than any supplements: for example, if you are over 30 years old, your blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood lipids will be checked every year, if you are over 40 years old, you will get a gastrointestinal endoscopy, if you have a long-term smoking history, you will get a low-dose lung CT every year, and if you have a family medical history, you will get more targeted items. It doesn’t cost much, and it can really nip many serious diseases in the bud.

In fact, after all is said and done, there are no hidden secrets. They are all commonplace words that everyone thinks "you don't have to say this". I have seen an 85-year-old man who can still carry a camera to climb mountains and shoot birds, and I have also seen a 35-year-old young man who carries a quick-acting Jiuxin Pill with him. The difference is really not about genes or supplements, but about taking his body seriously. Don’t always be bound by the disciplines of “men must be strong” and “men must be able to carry it.” After all, if you live a tougher life, you can spend a few more years with your family and enjoy the blessings you have worked hard for. Do you think this is true?