Doing him a manpower of good...

Health awareness may be at the top of the agenda right now but on average, men are still dying four or five years earlier than women. One of the main reasons is that men are still reluctant to go to their doctor – they’d rather wait and see what happens. Dr Gavin Keane, a Dublin-based GP, says: “Men tend to go to the doctor a lot less than women, but the persistent statistic is that they

Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in males, but with early diagnosis, it’s the most treatable.

Aerobic exercise like running stops food from sticking around in your body too long, according to the Centre for Human Nutrition in the States.

And the less time lunch spends loitering in your colon, the less chance it has to turn into something ugly.

Just 20 minutes of aerobic exercise a day will reduce your risk of bowel cancer by as much as 28 per cent. also die between four and five years younger than women.

“The vast majority of those surveyed avoided going to the doctor for as long as possible – and some of those men who do make it to the GP don’t actually tell the doctor everything they need to know.”

This week is International Men’s Health Week, which will be looking at how to restore the balance of our mental and physical health post-lockdown.

And what better day to remind the men in your life to take note than Father’s Day?

Here are 10 key strategies to help men dodge some of the biggest health bullets…

Lung disease, including chronic bronchitis, pneumonia and emphysema, is the fifth biggest killer worldwide.

In tests, Sheffield University researchers found that taking 120mg of vitamin C daily halves the harmful effects of most common pollutants on your lungs.

Fill up on kiwi fruit, which contains twice the amount of vitamin C per gram than oranges.

Your liver is responsible for cleaning toxins – including alcohol – out of your blood. If you tax the liver regularly, it will become fatty and inflamed.

Anyone drinking five or more units of alcohol a day for 10 years is almost guaranteed to develop cirrhosis. Quit the booze and your liver can repair itself completely in just 12 months.

A Harvard study showed that men taking 400mcg of folic acid a day were almost a third less likely to suffer a stroke than those taking under 50mcg.

They credited its ability to dissolve homocysteine – a compound linked to heart disease and Alzheimer’s. And the best source? Spinach.

Mice may hold the key when it comes to beating aggressive breast cancer.

A recent study showed that scientists can effectively ‘switch off’ the gene responsible for triple-negative breast cancer, which is notoriously hard to treat.

Research at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans also showed that silencing the gene could help stop tumours spreading around the body.

The lack of access to botox and fillers during lockdown has affected users’ mental health. More than 1.5 million Brits who regularly undergo the cosmetic procedures said not having them had a negative impact on their life.

Sociologist Dr Sara Wheeler, from Wrexham Glyndwr University, said: “The anxiety experienced by individuals and its impact on their sense of self is understandable under the circumstances.”