June is National Men’s Health Month

Raising awareness about men’s health is important every day of the year. Encourage the men in your life to get their annual exams! Research by the CDC states that men in the U.S pass away 5 years earlier than women, with the leading cause being heart disease, cancer, and injuries. The percentage of men ages 18 and over who have fair or poor health is 13.2%. Our goal this month is to bring awareness to the importance of men’s healthcare, mental health, preventable health, and early detection of diseases. 

We encourage you and your loved ones to seek yearly medical check-ups in order to catch diseases in their early stages and receive the treatment needed. 

Tips to live healthier:

• Get regular check-ups. Don’t wait to get sick or burn out! See your doctor regularly for annual exams. 
• Medications. Set alarms to remind you to take your medicines and vitamins. Also, report any adverse reactions to your doctor.
• Vaccines. Keep up with your Flu, COVID-19, and other needed vaccines.
• Healthy eating. Protect your heart by making better food choices. Make sure to get adequate servings of vegetables, fruits, legumes, and proteins.
• Exercise and stay active. Even 30 minutes of walking or exercising will make a big difference.
• Quit drinking & smoking! Cigarettes and alcohol can help take the edge off but can cause cancers, heart disease, strokes, and other concerning, long-lasting health issues.
• Check on your mental health. Often overlooked, your mental health is just as important as your physical health – in fact, the two are extremely interconnected. Talking to someone about your mental state can positively affect your overall health! 

Preventive care & early detection can help save lives. Don’t wait until something is wrong to see your physician. 

Medical exams all men should get annually:

1. Blood sugar test 
2. PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) Test
3. Fecal immunochemical test (FIT)

Tests to get regularly:

1. Echocardiogram
2. Blood Pressure & Cholesterol Check 
3. Liver Enzyme Test
4. TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) test
5. Lung screenings

According to The American Cancer Society, if you are aged 45 to 75, you should be screened for colorectal cancer. 

Tests include: 

• A gFOBT (guaiac fecal occult blood test) or FIT (fecal immunochemical test) every year.
• An sDNA (stool DNA test) test every 1 to 3 years
• A flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years 

*Make sure to consult with your doctor beforehand to understand your risks. 

Raising awareness for men’s health

• Wear BLUE Day on June 17th! Wear blue and help raise awareness for men’s health in your communities. 
• #ShowUsYourBlue. Use this hashtag on social media to share information and facts about men’s health awareness. 
• Download this toolkit. Men’s Health Month offers a great social media toolkit to share on your social media channels. 
• Donate. Men’s Health Network is dedicated to helping men with their health and offering a spectrum of screenings and educational tools. Donating to them will allow them to continue their work in providing these valuable resources to men.  

Join Fulcro in bringing awareness to men’s health and spread this information with the men in your life! For more health topics and valuable information on how you can be healthier, visit our blog at: https://fulcroinsurance.com/blog/.