Seven Things Men Can Do to Lengthen Their Lives

Seven Things Men Can Do to Lengthen Their Lives

1. Know your blood pressure no matter what your age; exercise vigorously every day to increase your naturally low HDL levels; and start getting screened for coronary artery disease in your twenties.

2. Go to the doctor and tell him or her if you're having a health problem of any kind. Our culture may reward stoic behavior from men; disease does not. This is especially true for men who feel sad or depressed for extended periods. It is extremely common for men to internalize and ignore their problems. Seek help.

3. Monitor your behavior and minimize tendencies to act in a boneheaded way. You know better than to drive recklessly, ignore safety protocols at work, or operate machinery while intoxicated.

4. Keep off excess weight to avoid a phalanx of chronic diseases that will impair your quality of life well before they actually kill you. Coronary artery disease, diabetes, and prostate cancer are a few extremely common risks associated with being overweight that typically take a toll on your well-being—including the ability to have an erection—long before life is actually cut short. In some cases, it's the disease itself that causes the sexual problems; in others it's the medications or surgeries used to treat the disease that take the toll.

5. Don't smoke. According to the American Cancer Society, smokers who quit at age 35 can expect to live up to eight and a half years longer than continuing smokers. Risk begins to fall within months and falls to the levels of nonsmokers in three to five years.

6. Don't fear digital rectal exams. PSA screening for prostate cancer is controversial because it might pick up tiny cancers that aren't clinically important, but there's little doubt that digital exams reveal dangerous cancers that have to be treated. Same goes for colonoscopies. They're uncomfortable, yes, but far less so than malignant colon cancer and chemotherapy.

7. Protect your head, and tell your doctor if you get dinged especially hard. A CT scan may be needed. Concussions may seem harmless, but they can cause long-term brain bleeding that lead to memory problems, disrupted sleep, and personality changes that last a lifetime.