National Men’s Health Week 2014: Being Healthy Is Something To Be Proud Of

This coming week is National Men’s Health Week, and it ends on a day dedicated to the men who need to be reminded of their health the most: our fathers.

Not surprisingly, June is also Men’s Health Month, dedicated to heightening “the awareness of preventable health problems” and to “encourage early detection and treatment of disease among men and boys,” The Men’s Health Network said on its website.

All across the country, health care providers, policymakers, the media, and individuals are getting together to raise awareness of Men’s Health Week. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health, for example, is promoting a Meatless Monday in an effort to raise awareness of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer — some of the leading causes of death in America.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the leading cause of death in men, killing 307,225 in 2009, or one of every four men in the U.S. What’s worse, half of the men who die suddenly from coronary heart disease had no symptoms before the event — and 70 to 89 percent of these sudden cardiac events occur in men.  The most common risk factors for heart disease include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and smoking, but diabetes, obesity, a poor diet, excessive alcohol use, and a lack of physical activity also contribute.