It’s a sad fact of life that, statistically, women outlive men by an average of six or seven years. Women also benefit from the beginning; all the problems that can affect babies in the womb are more common in males than females, and at birth a boy’s development is about four to six weeks behind a girl’s.
More boys than girls suffer from hyperactivity, reading and behavioural problems, clumsiness, stammering and autism. Once they make it to adulthood, boys are more likely to suffer from circulatory disorders (including the biggest killer, heart disease), diabetes, alcoholism, ulcers and lung cancer. Male infertility rates are also on the increase.
Why is this?
One of the problems is testosterone. Whilst helping on many areas, it does have some drawbacks, including raising cholesterol levels and blood pressure, it lowers the immune function and increases aggressive behaviour, which endangers health. Luckily there is an upside to this gloom as there are ways to reduce the risk of these problems.
Heart Disease.
One in four British men will have a heart attack before they retire, and one in three will eventually die from a heart attack or stroke, this is a good area to start working on. If you can exercise you can halve the risk of dying of heart disease. Fairly obviously diet is very important. Avoid saturated fats and refined sugars (which the body stores as fat).
Vitamin E can keep your artery walls flexible.
Coenzyme Q10 can improve energy production in the heart.
Magnesium can feed the heart muscles. Calm the nervous system and relax muscles.
Crataegus (Hawthorn) a herb that gently rebalances blood pressure. It can be taken alongside conventional medication, so long as the doctor is informed. It needs to be taken for at least six months and can be taken long term. It is particularly good for angina, but helps most heart problems.
Garlic lowers blood pressure by dilating blood vessel walls. It thins the blood by inhibiting platelet stickiness; this reduces the risk of blood clots and aids in preventing heart attacks. It also lowers serum cholesterol levels and aids in digestion. Garlic is useful for many diseases and illnesses, including cancer. It is a potent immune system booster and a natural antibiotic. It should be consumed daily!
Stress affects most people to some extent, but men often lack the safety valve that women have—the ability to have a good natter and moan to their friends, or bawl their eyes out and feel better afterwards. Stress often interferes with sleep, which is vital for allowing the body time to heal and restore tissues to prime functioning order, but also for processing the events of the day—good therefore for mental/emotional health.
Vitamin B to strengthen the nervous system against stress, physical and emotional.
Passiflora Complex is a calming remedy that can be taken long or short term alongside other medication. It helps to relieve stress relaxes the muscles and makes sleeping easier.
Urogenital Disease. The prostate gland contributes to sexual health by producing fluid for semen, in which sperm is transported. It is the size of a walnut and wraps itself around the urinary tract as it leaves the bladder. As men age the prostate gland enlarges, slowly squashing the urinary tract and reducing the space for urine to pass through.
Signs of an enlarged prostate are:
· A feeble urinary stream—can’t reach halfway up the wall any more.
· Difficulty starting to pee.
· Stopping and starting rather than a steady stream.
· Having to pee frequently and urgently.
· Having to get up frequently in the night to pee.
· Feeling that you can’t empty your bladder completely.
· Loss of libido.
· Recurrent urinary tract infections.
As urine can’t empty efficiently from the bladder due to the constriction caused by the prostate gland, stagnant urine stays in the bladder and easily becomes infected, adding to the general misery. All men are vulnerable to this condition, as the prostate starts to enlarge after the age of 30. 50% of men over 50 will have some symptoms, and this reaches nearly 100% after 80 years.
Passing blood in your urine is always a bad sign. There are several different things that might be indicated by this but all of them need to be checked by a health care provider.
· Zinc is a good general healer and particularly good for the prostate.
· Saw Palmetto is a herb that men should be very grateful for as far as the prostate is concerned. It gently reduces inflammation in it, causing it to shrink and release it’s strangle hold on the urinary tract. Unlike conventional drugs used for this problem Saw Palmetto does not affect your libido or erectile function; in fact because the whole area feels so much better it can have a very positive effect.
Use Saw Palmetto if you have symptoms of BPH, but also use it to maintain good prostate health either before you get the symptoms or once you think you are better! Remember that when you are over 30, the pesky thing is going to enlarge slightly every year, so you need to keep on top of it.
As urine will be flowing more freely from the bladder, you will be less likely to get urinary tract infections. There are those that claim that Saw Palmetto has a positive effect on male baldness, although these claims haven’t yet been proven.
Once prostate symptoms have improved, it has been found that the sex life tends to be so much better.
I can personally vouch for this.