This is a well-known statistic that men's lives are not as good as women. Life expectancy For an American man Almost 7681 to a woman. But it's not just the elderly dying: these numbers are affected by early deaths in life.

Derek GriffithProfessor of Health Equity and Population Health at the University of Pennsylvania hopes to see more focus on men’s health.

He knew very well that women's health had been eliminated for many years. Until recent decades, most clinical studies have been conducted in men.

"Women's health has been studied," he said. "We don't understand women's health because we haven't invested yet. I also say that the only thing we know about men's health is biology and genetics."

On the other hand, Griffith said we know very little about how the economy, stress and other factors affect men’s health. Given the shorter life span of men, he said, we should invest to learn more about this.

“It’s not a zero-sum game,” he said. “We can promote equality, equity, opportunity for women, while really focusing on men’s health and well-being.”

Griffith has been studying male health for decades, focusing specifically on black and Latino men. He was shocked that over the past few decades, life spans between men and women in the United States have grown. He said more research is needed. Of the 15 major causes of death, ranging from cancer and heart disease to accidents and suicides, he said men will perform worse in 13 of 15. They are not the only ones affected.

He said: "If men struggle for their health, well-being, etc., it will not only burden those men, but also women in their lives, and they must seize financial and emotional slackness. .

Motivation and judgment

He said to give an example, it is well known that men have fewer eating habits than women, which can lead to chronic diseases. He said some observers have a judgment on this, saying that if men don’t do the right thing, they must take some responsibility for the consequences. But Griffith said this view misses the reality of most men.

"We tend to take on the attitude of people waking from a public health and medical perspective, and their goal is to stay healthy," Griffith said. "But that's not usually why we wake up," his research shows. People focus on their work and their families. Food is a means of ending, especially for less wealthy men.

He said the man told him: "The goal is to return to work and contribute to my family and if that meal is to fill me up enough, I'm going to eat it," whatever it is. He added that food can also offset the feeling of stress.

Griffith said that for everyone’s sake, many factors that affect men’s physical and mental health should be placed more seriously nationwide, and the ability to improve health outcomes should be focused on.

Complications and convenience

There are some men’s health centers in the United States, although some focus only on sexual health. Part of the NYU Langone Health System, the Preston Robert Tisch Men's Health Center in New York City provides comprehensive care. Dr. Steven Lamm Guidance Center. Their goal is to make it convenient for men, and they don't usually want to spend a lot of time on doctors, he said. The center has experts in multiple fields and allows patients to do most of the things.

"You have to remove the barriers to men's care," Lamm said. "That's it."

He said that traditionally, men did not see a doctor as often as women did. Social pressure means that many men have no power to pay attention to their health. But Lamm said that is changing. Nowadays, many men, especially young men, now use apps and smartwatches to track steps and sleep patterns and crave to stay healthy.

"If you see a man in his 20s and not seeing him in his 50s, it's an opportunity to prevent preventive care and early diagnosis or prevent certain diagnoses," he said.

Today, he sees more young people than ever, which gives him hope for their future. He said health is not their priority for many people under economic pressure.

"They don't have time to take care of themselves," he said. "They don't solve their weight. They're just trying to pay the bill."

Lamm told his patients that if they can take care of their health in youth and middle age - please keep a close eye on their blood pressure, pay attention to their weight, and drink less alcohol - they have a good chance of living medical advancement.

He said medical research and advancement are progressing much faster than when he started his career. Lamm said he told his patients: "If you can stick with it when you are young, don't mess around, we have the opportunity to get you younger as we get older, crucial and alive because we will be able to Prevent Alzheimer's, treat Parkinson's, and do better with diabetes and renal failure, strokes and heart attacks."

Ram said the improvements could happen in the next five years.

Compare with "Superman"

But for many men, it is uncomfortable to consider their health, especially if there is a problem.

Jack Rainer of Treon, North Carolina is now 70 years old. He said that when he was a kid, he devoured Superman comic books. “We learned how Iron Man does everything, and that’s in many ways the way I learned psychologically about the meaning of maleness,” he said.

Semi-retired psychologist Rainer treats older men struggling to solve serious health problems. So it was shocking to find out that he is now one of them a few years ago. He discovered that he had an aggressive prostate cancer. Part of the treatment involved removing testosterone from his body, and the effect caught him off guard.

"The feeling of eliminating masculinity has left me without the effort I call it," he said.

He felt vulnerable in ways he had never had, without training and driverlessness. Rainer said a friend helped him through treatment.

Today, he has no cancer. But he said he had to accept that he was not as energetic as he was at the age of 40. This is difficult.

"I'm very considering how 70 years old, quite healthy, and how I want to live into the next iteration of the journey," he said.

He said being in a stage of life feels like stepping into the unknown.

This story was written with the support of the American Society for Seniors, the Generation Network of Journalists and the John A. Hartford Foundation’s Journalism Society.