With special guest:
- Prof Gary Richardson
There is a health crisis affecting 49% of the Australian population, namely Australian men.
The establishment of Foundation 49: Men’s Health is a direct response aimed at improving the health of Australian men. The figures are mind-blowing with more than four men dying every hour from potentially preventable conditions.
What can men learn from the other 51% of the population namely the women? At all ages men experience higher mortality rates than women for cancers, diabetes and diseases of the circulatory system. 74% of alcohol related deaths occur in men.
Yet significant numbers of these male related health problems could be detected and treated more effectively if men’s awareness of these problems was greater. Gary Richardson tells us about some of the achievements of the Foundation while passing on tips that could literally save men’s lives. The Foundation has produced a Men’s Health Tool Kit, freely available from Foundation 49: Men’s Health, which sets out what men need to know in order to live long and live well. The kit includes suggested annual health checks for men in each decade of their lives. Some checks are important at every age but others are directed at older men while others are for the young bucks who, maybe to their surprise, need to be aware of some health risks.
There is a lot more to think about when you go to the doctor than the prostate examination. The mental and emotional strains can be just as important when we consider that four times as many men commit suicide as women.
Today’s discussion could provide the impetus to do something about the most important thing in your own life, your health. Listen to Gary Richardson telling it like it is.
Prof Gary Richardson
Gary Richardson is the Director of the Cabrini Academic Haematology and Oncology Service and Associate Professor of Medicine at Monash University in Melbourne. He is President of the Private Cancer Physicians of Australia and Deputy Chairman Medical Oncology Group of Australia. Gary has been Chair of Foundation 49: Men’s Health since its inception in 2001.
Song selection by our guest: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen