The third week of June is Men’s Health Week, which is intended to increase the awareness of preventable health problems and to encourage early detection and treatment of disease.
A big focus this year is:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes
- Colorectal cancer
- Sleep apnoea
- High blood pressure
Through my work, I can’t tell you enough about the need to just look after yourself! Pure and simple; eat well, sleep well and exercise regularly.
Easier said than done – as us guys are, let’s face it, terrible at seeing the doctor!
However, it’s really important to get regular check-ups, either with your GP, or with a work-based health professional – and here’s why…
In March 2016 I was running a routine workplace health screening, for one of my clients Hendrickson -UK during this session, where I saw about 25 people, I met with a chap called David Masters.
David was 35 years old at the time, and, to all tense and purposes, was in good health, except David had been experiencing on-off headaches.
During the check-up we chatted through these headaches and I checked David’s blood pressure as well as his cholesterol level – which came back on the high side, so we advised that David should go to see his GP within the next few weeks.
After his visit to the GP and a few tests, he was sent to hospital for an MRI scan.
The MRI scan discovered a large haemangioblastamo (benign cyst) about the size of a golf ball on David’s brain. A further CT scan determined that David also had tumors on both of his kidneys – three of which were renal cell carcinomas (cancerous).
David admitted that he was the type of man that wouldn’t usually go and see a doctor for a headache, and he‘s not the only one! So his workplace health screening literally saved his life.
Luckily David’s condition was caught in good time, and through the support of our NHS colleagues, David is on the mend, and is back at work again!
