The FACT of the matter is that men (more so than women) take better care of their cars, their phones and their bicycles than their bodies and their health!! This puts them at risk for dis-ease, illness and premature death!!! According to the WORLD Health Organisation, 60% of South Africans are going to die prematurely (before the age of 70!), and get this: from PREVENTABLE DISEASES!!
OK, now that the bad new is out, there is something that can be done about it, but it is important to understand WHY this happens. Any HEALTH CARE practitioner worth their salt always asks the question “WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?” (even with a common ailment like the flu, it doesn’t just happen or get caught, there is a reason!) And all the research points towards the following:
- LACK of AWARENESS,
- poor HEALTH EDUCATION and
- unhealthy LIFESTYLES.
BUT I am still going to ask why? And after nearly 25 years in the game of Health Care, I am starting to understand WHY… And it looks like this:
We get our health education from obscure places like TV, Facebook and TWITTER, YOU magazine and our friends (I once heard a person at a braai categorically say that BANTING is about eating more protein!) This creates a BELIEF system about HEALTH. This Belief system drives peoples behaviour and it is the behaviour (lifestyle) that is causing people to be sick and die young. So looking at the behaviour itself is not going to get to the cause of this problem. I want to get to the real root case and I think it is in our belief systems and how we get them or where we get them from. That is going to be the meaty part of our talk on 23 June at The Red Bridge Brewery: enspiring change… So click here to be there…
SO whether it is Tuberculosis, heart disease, cancer, cholesterol. We believe that the LIFESTYLE that prevents a disease is the same lifestyle that will cure a disease!
The purpose of this is not to frighten you, but to help you make informed choices about your health, and to provide you with the tools you need to take control of your health.
Here are the 5 LIFESTYLE Risks for MEN (and our perspective on how to prevent them):
- SMOKING – This may come as a surprise , but Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 7 million deaths per year, including more than 500 000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, 19 000 DEATHS PER DAY! that is 38 Jumbo jets going down every day. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than non-smokers.
- ALCOHOL: Alcohol consumption kills 3.3 Million people in the world per year. 18 Jumbo jets going down per day! To put things in perspective the Tsunami in Thailand in 2004 killed 250 000 people and was considered a disaster!! Smoking and alcohol combined kills 40x that each year.
- MEDICINE: Adverse drug reactions and medical errors kills nearly 1 million people IN THE USA alone. Very nearly equalling the combined deaths of heart disease and diabetes. 5 Jumbo jets a day!
- POOR NUTRITION – about 678 000 deaths in the USA alone. 3 jumbo jets a day.
- LACK OF EXERCISE – according to the World Health Organisation, approximately 3.2 Million deaths are attributable to insufficient movement and exercise. 17 Jumbo jets a day.
Here are the 5 Leading Diseases that kill men:
- Heart disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
- Diabetes
- Chronic Lung Disease
Some Tips
- Eat a PLANT BASED (mostly plants) DIET.
- Get the Responsible type of exercise right for you.
- Manage your stress.
- See a conscious and enthusiastic wellness based chiropractor regularly.
This article in no way aims to diagnose or treat and disease or condition, and it is highly recommended that you see your health care provider for wise and conscious strategies for your specific condition.