(Radio Iowa) – Some men can be notorious for avoiding doctors and many won’t seek annual physicals, even though those exams are typically the number-one way to prevent disease and other health issues. Dr. Adam Swisher, a family medicine physician with Van Diest Medical Center in Webster City, says once young men graduate and go out on their own, they’ll sometimes abandon the pattern of visiting the doctor for annual check-ups.
“Those yearly examinations are of critical importance. It’s asking questions. It’s identifying changes. It’s checking your blood pressure. It’s making sure you have your immunizations. A lot of times young men don’t do that,” Swisher says, “and when do they return? Well, that can be a tricky question.” It’s unfortunate, but he says some men will go years, even decades, before setting foot in a doctor’s office for a full physical.
“Sometimes it’s not ’til they’re 30, 40, 50. And then what happens? Something has gone wrong,” Swisher says. “They seek attention on things that could have been very preventable.” According to a C-D-C survey, women are 33-percent more likely than men to visit a doctor, and women are 100-percent more likely to visit a doctor for annual exams. Swisher says some guys simply see themselves as bulletproof.
“It’s the idea of, ‘I’m healthy, I’m fine, I feel fine, why do I need to go in when I feel just fine?’ It’s the things that you don’t identify early that can lead to problems,” he says. “I encourage you women to make sure that the men in your lives come in for examinations, because a lot of times, that’s who they’re going to listen to.” While it’s important for everyone to get annual exams, he says men in particular should have blood screenings done every year, checking for things like prostate cancer, colon cancer and other ailments.
