Men’s health: Over half of men have hidden a medical condition from their family
Who doesn’t want to be the strong and silent type? It seems a lot of British men are taking this to extremes, however, as more than half admit to keeping a medical condition secret – even from their closest loved ones.
It’s not news that men are far less likely than women to visit a doctor when they feel ill.
But men’s reticence to talk about bad health doesn't stop there, as a new survey shows some 58 per cent of men have gone as far as hiding illness or a medical condition from family or friends.
Men are more likely than women to choose to find answers to their medical questions by Googling, rather than by visiting their GP’s office, and according to the survey of 5,000 men by health community HealthUnlocked, this is especially true of sexual health problems.
One in five men die before their 65th birthday, and despite the difference between women’s and men’s life expectancy shrinking slightly in recent years, women still live three years longer on average, reaching an average age of 82.5 years.
Of course, there’s no clear connection between keeping bad health secret and a shorter lifespan. The reason for men’s shorter lives is yet to be fully understood, although new research suggests that at least part of the cause is that men are at higher risk of heart disease.