IN THIS ISSUE

Something tells me I won’t be the only one nodding along furiously to Richard Godwin’s feature in this issue about men and the doctor. Far be it from me to generalise about an entire gender, but I’m glad that it’s a man who’s confirmed for us that, yes, most of them would rather eat their own heads than visit their GP for any reason at all. And it seems the more pressing the need, the stronger their resolve to stay away. My own husband takes strange pride in having been nowhere near a doctor’s surgery since about 1994. We are an odd match in this respect. While he could have a leg hanging off and still feel it’s a bit over the top to seek a medical opinion, I am, I have to admit, quite the card-carrying hypochondriac, with no qualms about checking out every tickly cough. This can be embarrassing at times – I’m sure there’s more than one doctor out there who thinks I’m slightly mad or annoying – but I will take all the ribbing from my husband about being a drama queen and opt for safe over sorry.

Most men, it seems, take more of an ‘ignorance is bliss’ stance. Jokes aside, Richard’s piece shows that many men are literally dying from stubborn pride or some sort of misplaced idea that seeing a doctor is a sign of weakness.

So I hope you find it a useful tool to wave under the nose of anyone you know like that. Let’s hope it sinks in and that YOU magazine can persuade a few more men into getting a preventative checkup, rather than waiting until something serious needs attention.

But you might need bigger miracle workers than us to get them to go to the dentist…

MOST MEN WOULD RATHER EAT THEIR OWN HEADS THAN VISIT THEIR GP ”

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