When It Comes to Health, Men Aren’t Getting What They Deserve

Dear Healthy Men: I’ve read some of your columns and you spend a huge amount of time griping about how when it comes to health, men and boys are worse off than women and girls. Not true. Everyone knows that women’s health has been ignored for decades. And it’s clear that you’re trying to undo the progress that women have made. Whatever issues men are having, you brought them on yourselves, and you deserve whatever you get, so quit your whining.

A: Wow. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t respond to such a hostile, fact-free email. But since we’ve received a few others with similar issues, I feel obligated to give you the bare facts, drawn from reliable sources (government data and peer-reviewed journals).

Despite your accusation, the point of comparing men’s and women’s health isn’t to gripe or to suggest taking anything away from women—it’s simply to say, “What the women’s health movement has done to improve and save women’s lives has been nothing short of amazing. And while there’s still plenty of room to improve women’s health, it’s simply not fair (or just) to ignore the fact that boys and men to live shorter, sicker lives than their female counterparts—especially when the causes of those disparities are largely preventable.” Here are just a few inconvenient truths:

• According to research recently published in JAMA Internal Medicine, in 2022, life expectance in the US was 73.2 years for men and 79.1 for women. That gap (5.9 years) increased significantly from 5.1 years in 2019.
• Men die at younger ages and in greater numbers from nine of the top 10 causes of death. For example, they’re 40% more likely than women to die of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes.
• Males account for the majority of deaths from “diseases of despair.” They’re 3.5 times more likely than women to commit suicide, 2.9 times more likely to die from alcohol-related causes; and 2 to 3 times more likely to die from drug overdoses.
• Males are far less likely than females to have regular contact with a doctor over the course of their lifetime, and half as likely to have a preventive health exam or get routine screenings.
• Thanks to a lifetime of being told to be tough (think “big boys don’t cry”), not to ask for help, and to “man up,” boys and men rarely talk about their physical or mental health concerns, frequently minimize or ignore their symptoms, and all-too-often, delay getting medical attention until it’s an emergency—or too late.
• Men are more likely than women to be unemployed and less likely to have health insurance. As a result, men and boys often don’t receive preventive care for potentially life-threatening conditions, and those conditions don’t get diagnosed early—when they’re far easier to treat and/or cure.
• In the COVID-19 era, men were more likely than women to have severe symptoms or to be hospitalized, and more to die of the disease.

It’s hard to imagine how anyone could look at the situation I’ve just described and see anything other than a major health crisis that requires immediate attention.

So, what can we do to help boys and men live longer, healthier lives? Step 1 is for all of us—women included—to acknowledge that men and boys face unique health issues and that men’s health isn’t just about men: A rising tide, as they say, lifts all boats, and when men are healthier, their partners, children, families, and communities will be too.

Step 2 is to reimagine the healthcare system in a guy-friendly way. As mentioned above, males are much less likely to have regular contact with a healthcare provider. In large part because they don’t feel comfortable, welcome, or understood there. That must change. When medical practices and providers understand how to communicate with men, those men will be far more likely to engage with the healthcare system and to take advantage of preventive and condition-specific disease management services.

Of course, there’s plenty more we can do to improve health for all Americans. In the meantime, the above steps will save lives (and money). Bottom line: No one deserves to die prematurely, and no one’s trying to take anything from anyone else. Boys and men have the same moral right as women and girls to lives that are long and healthy.