May-2015-ICE-Today-PDf

Must KnowsHealthMMen often get a badreputation for beingselfish. In fact, alarge-scale researchproject carried out by theUniversity of Queenslandlast year found that menare less empathetictoward their partners incomparison to women.Yet another studypublished in the BritishMedical Journal provedthat considering men’sfrequency of risk-seekingbehaviour, emergencydepartment admissionsand mortality, menbehave like idiots muchmore than women.There’s even somethingcalled a ‘male idiottheory!’ Don’t worry. Aprominent male rightsactivist has declared thesestudies have “little to dowith real science andmore to do withperpetuating thegynocentric social agendato cast all men as inferiorand to project women assuperior.” You choosewhich side you’d like tobelieve. Meanwhile, intheir drive to perform,excel and live life to thefullest, it’s quite easy formen to neglect self-care.Here are some quick tipsthat would help!Stay true to your heartThe two leading causes ofmen’s death arecardiovascular diseasesand strokes are. Forreasons yet unknown, men’s arteriesdevelop atherosclerosis earlier thanwomen. Also, men’s average age for deathfrom cardiovascular disease is lower thanwomen’s. Men actually have to workharder than women to reduce the risk ofcardiovascular disease. So what shouldyou do? Get your cholesterol checkedregularly, starting as early as age twentyfive. Take all the common sense measuresthat we know about: get active, eat healthy,stop smoking!Don’t go mentalMen don’t cry. They don’t get depressedlike women do, right? Wrong! When menget depressed, they are more likely to getangry or aggressive rather than sad andtearful. They are also less likely to admit itor seek help. They often self-medicatewith drugs and alcohol. While womenattempt suicide more often, according tostatistics men are much more successful atcommitting it. If you are not feelingalright, please take the time to payattention to your emotions and findsupport. Have a positive copingmechanism for potential setbacks. Thereis really nothing manly about hiding yourtrue feelings.Eat healthyYes, there are a lot of us who live to eat,however stuffing down fried potatoes andgreasy beef on a regular basis doesn’t sittoo well with our system. Avoidcarbonated and energy drinks, and opt forsmoothies or better yet, good old plainwater. You don’t have to follow the latestfad diet and make a fuss about it. But youcan eat consciously using your commonsense and primary school learning about abalanced diet! Particularly, men need moreprotein than women, especially if they arephysically active. To get some idea on howmuch protein you need, it’s roughlyequivalent to your weight in grams. Forexample, if you weigh eighty twokilograms, you need about eighty twograms of protein daily. Having a proteinrich dinner will help repair your musclemass as you sleep at night.Perpetuate your legacy: procreate!You are one amazing man who hasworked hard to come where you are today.Now perpetuate your legacy by taking careof your fertility. While men’s fertilitydoesn’t drop as fast as that of women pastthe age of thirty five, the amount andintegrity of their sperm is compromised,warns the Male Reproductive Medicineunit at McGill University. Age can be afactor in male infertility, as well as geneticissues such as Down’s Syndrome, autism,schizophrenia, haemophilia or Duchenemuscular dystrophy. Lifestyle andenvironmental toxins are a major causefor concern. Various chemical productswidely available in hair products, plastics,pesticides, paint and mechanical greasehave been proven to adversely affect malefertility. Excessive exposure to heat inyour work environment, regularly wearingskinny jeans or even a laptop placed neara man’s crotch can affect testicularfunction. Most of all get over taboos andaddress issues that may affect your fertilitywithout embarrassment.Do a digital detoxIt used to be just the TV, but now there’san epidemic of full-on gadget addictionamong men the world over! To be honest,it affects women just as much. We allseem to be so connected to our gadgetsthat we live in a state of ‘continuouspartial attention’. Our compulsion withpictures, messages and social media makesus scan the horizon for something moreinteresting or urgent at all times, ratherthan focusing on what’s in front of us andtaking it all in. While it gives us this highof being ‘on’ all the time, it also raises ourstress levels and puts strain on personalrelationships. We haven’t adapted as fastas consumer technology has evolved, soinstagramming does not exercise the samebrain parts as sketching does. Textingdoes not give us the same satisfaction aswriting or having a face to faceconversation. In the near future, thosewho will learn to ignore the urgency ofblinking notifications and focus on thetrue present priority will be the ones tosucceed. It’s time we learn to disconnectand do a digital detox on a regular basis.Perhaps it wouldn’t be the end of theworld to really go offline at times? Give ita shot.23