Men’s preventive health knowledge training

The core of men's health care has never been to follow the trend of taking various kidney-tonifying and anti-aging health products, but to firmly grasp the three cores of "daily high-frequency injury avoidance + age-appropriate targeted screening + individually adapted lifestyle adjustments" to avoid more than 90% of preventable men's health problems.

I have said this to patients in the outpatient clinic more than a hundred times, but I still always encounter pitfalls: a 32-year-old Internet operator who came here last week suffered from backache for half a month. He bought three boxes of Liuwei Dihuang Pills online and ate them. He came to the hospital until he had a nosebleed. After checking, it was not kidney deficiency at all, but lumbar muscle strain + chronic prostate congestion caused by sitting for 12 hours a day. He stopped taking medicine and changed to an ergonomic chair, and he swam twice a week, and he was fine in half a month.

When it comes to kidney nourishment, this is almost the most controversial part of the men's health topic, and I don't take either side: there is no corresponding concept of "kidney deficiency" in the Western medicine system. The commonly mentioned backache, fatigue, and decreased sexual desire mostly correspond to muscle strain, lack of sleep, seasonal fluctuations in testosterone levels, or chronic fatigue syndrome. Symptomatic lifestyle adjustments can improve it.； In the traditional Chinese medicine system, kidney deficiency can be divided into multiple syndrome types, such as kidney yin deficiency, kidney yang deficiency, and kidney essence deficiency. It cannot be cured by Liuwei Dihuang Pills or aphrodisiacs. If you really want to correct it, you have to consult a regular traditional Chinese medicine doctor for a pulse check. Don’t buy medicines on your own. If you supplement the medicine, it will cause problems.

Of course, people of different ages have completely different priorities. A 20-year-old boy and a 60-year-old man cannot use the same health care plan. Young people in their 20s who have just entered the society always feel that their health is very good. Barbecues and cold beers are common, and staying up until three or four in the morning to play games. I just met a 22-year-old college student last month. His instep was swollen like a steamed bun and he couldn't walk. When he checked, his uric acid level soared to over 700. He stayed up for half a month watching football with beer and seafood. Also, don’t be shy about having reproductive health checkups at this age. Many patients with varicocele only discover the problem during military service or premarital examinations. Early intervention, wearing tight-fitting underwear and adjusting sedentary habits, will not affect fertility at all. Delaying treatment until sperm motility declines will be troublesome. In addition, be sure to remember sexual safety and don’t find it troublesome to wear a condom. There are so many new cases of syphilis and AIDS among young people. I have seen too many cases where people feel happy for a while but regret it for the rest of their lives.

At the age of 30, many people obviously feel that their bodies are not as strong as before. What we need to pay attention to at this stage is not the acute problems caused by torment, but the early warning signs of chronic wear and tear. Don’t always feel that chest pain and tightness are just tired and you just have to carry it away. I have a 38-year-old friend who works in the same industry. He had chest pain for three consecutive days for fear of delaying his work. He finally collapsed at the door of the clinic after suffering a myocardial infarction and had to put in two stents to save him. As for hair loss, which is a headache for everyone, evidence-based medicine now clearly shows that topical minoxidil and oral finasteride are effective. Of course, some people think that Western medicine has side effects and are willing to try rubbing ginger on the head and conditioning with traditional Chinese medicine. It is not impossible, but you have to set a time line for yourself. If it doesn’t work within three months, change the plan quickly. Don’t wait until the hair follicles have shrunk and no matter how you treat them, they will be useless. There is another point that many people overlook: you must have your teeth cleaned once a year if you are over 30 years old. Periodontitis will not only cause bad breath, bleeding gums, and premature tooth loss, but is also directly related to the risk of cardiovascular disease. It is really not a trivial matter.

After the age of 50, the core of health care comes down to two words: screening. Let’s also talk about the differences between different academic views. For example, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening. The American Urological Association recommends that men over 50 years old and at moderate risk should be screened once a year. Domestic guidelines recommend that if there is no family history of prostate cancer and no symptoms of abnormal urination, you can start screening again at the age of 55. There is no need to over-screen to avoid unnecessary anxiety. But it is really recommended that people over 45 years old have a colonoscopy at least once. Nowadays, a painless colonoscopy can be done in one sleep. It is not painful. If polyps are detected and removed directly, more than 90% of the risk of colorectal cancer can be avoided. The fathers of several colleagues around me were diagnosed with early cancer through routine colonoscopy, and nothing happened after the removal. If the examination is delayed until symptoms appear, most of them will be in the late stage.

There are also some small daily details that you may think are fussy when you mention them, but they are really useful: for example, don’t cross your legs all the time. If you cross your legs for 10 minutes, you will feel comfortable. If you cross your legs for three to five years, lumbar scoliosis, prostate compression, and varicocele may come to your door.； Don’t put your laptop on your lap to play games in the summer. The temperature under the keyboard can reach over 40 degrees. The optimal temperature for sperm is only 35 degrees. It’s not unfair for a young man who is trying to get pregnant to do this and have low vitality. ； Also, don’t hold your urine all the time, especially for drivers who drive long distances. It’s okay to hold it in for two or three times. If you hold it in for a long time, bladder function will be damaged and prostate inflammation will come to your door. It’s really unnecessary.

I usually give advice to friends who come for health consultation. I never prescribe a bunch of tests at the beginning. I always ask them to record their daily life for three days: what time did they go to bed, how much wine they drank, how many cigarettes they smoked, how many hours they sat, and whether they exercised. Basically 80% of the problems are solved. You can find the root cause. For example, you always have a headache in the afternoon. It is most likely caused by drinking too much coffee in the morning or sitting in a wrong posture that compresses the cervical vertebrae. You always wake up at two or three in the morning. Most of them are caused by the recent stress and the sympathetic nerves are too excited. Just adjust it and it will be fine. There is no need to take medicine at all.

To be honest, men's health care has never been a mysterious thing. There is no need to buy imported health care products that cost thousands of dollars, and there is no need to take private lessons that cost tens of thousands of dollars. Just don't take it hard, go check it out early if you feel uncomfortable, and do less body building at ordinary times, which is better than anything else. After all, there are seniors above and young below, and your own body is the confidence of the whole family.