June 9th-15th is Men's Health Week: LiveWell's Steve talks from personal experience about the importance of being able to identify - and seek help - with any health worries 

Men have often been seen as the problem in healthcare, told it as well – only acting when something bad happens to us, not preventing it in the first place or not telling anyone and wanting to fix it ourselves. Being told that has often made it harder for men to become part of and involved in the solutions for doing things better.

From screening, self-checking and discovering illness sooner, to eating more healthily and being active, the evidence is that men are being smarter.

In summer of 2017, enjoying my best health and fitness since I was 18, I lost weight quickly and went to a GP for a drop in energy. I was told I had a heart condition. Left Ventricular Impairment or Dilated Cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) - BHF

That escalated quickly! I’d never had anything wrong with me up until then and it took me by surprise.

I’d had a summer flu bug and the germs liked the taste of my heart muscle. “Unlucky!” The doctor said. “It could’ve happened to anyone.” “Nothing you could’ve done to prevent it, just one of those things.” I’d need daily medication for the rest of my life and there’d be changes to everything health and lifestyle related, that had been normal for me since my 20s.

Fortunately, a lot of that didn’t turn out to be true it wasn’t that ‘end of the world as I knew it’ moment, that I thought at the time. It was actually a lucky one. It reminded me that anything can happen to your health at any time. I hadn’t been ready to be told that and I had a ‘never been ill, mostly been healthy, nothing bad’s going to happen to me’ attitude. It’s easy to take good health for granted.

I was straight into appointments for echocardiograms, blood tests and monitoring at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital cardiology department. Before long I knew everything about how all my vital organs were working.

Fortunate. I became more aware of my heart function. I had to be. I had access to all the current information about signs and symptoms of health conditions and blood pressure targets. I was better informed and connected than I’d ever been with my GP, nurses and health care professionals, without having to organise any of it myself. All I had to do was turn up at the right time for appointments and take my medicine.

Not many of us Dorset men have had to attend regular appointments for health, haven’t needed to see a GP in years and feel fine. You might be coasting along like I was, in a ‘Never been ill before, nothing’s ever happened to me, probably be fine don’t need to know’ frame of mind. Nothing we can’t sort out ourselves?! But lots of bad surprises or setbacks are preventable, through all the easy things we can do to find out first, about what’s happening with our health

I was discharged from Cardiology with a clean bill of health after 8 months of treatment (people get things wrong sometimes.) The flu bug wasn’t preventable – ‘Just one of those things’ – but because of it, and from regular GP tests and checks since, I’ve found out about other conditions early, got to things before they got to me and it’s a much better place to be. Plus, my heart’s not broken.

The take home is: If you are concerned about any changes to your body, even if you are feeling OK, get advice from your GP practice. It could save your life.

Your health will thank you if... 

Do some simple self-checks 

Check your heart age: https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/heart-age-calculator

Check your risk of protate cancer: Check your risk in 30 seconds | Prostate Cancer UK

Check your waist size: Why your waist size matters - BHF

Recognise symptoms 

Know the signs of testicular cancer: How to check for testicular cancer | Macmillan Cancer Support

Know the signs and symptoms of cancer generally: Know the Signs Cancer Wessex Cancer Alliance

Attend or do a screening when you are invited 

Bowel cancer screening 

Lung Health Check | Dorset County Hospital

 NHS Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme - Dorset and Wiltshire - NHS

Get an NHS health Check
If you are aged between 40 and 74 you may be eligible for an NHS Health Check. If you receive an invite from your GP, please accept it. These health checks take just 30 mins and will access your risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and stroke. If you haven't had an invite from your doctor, book on to one of our community health checks which are held at venues across Dorset every week.

Check your eligibility and book 

Consider making lifestyle changes

LiveWell can help you with free coaching, advice and reources is you want to: manage weight, move more, stop smoking and reduce drinking. Get support today by clicking the register button below.