Key health risks to males in their 30's /40's /50's /60's : Expert tips from Dr Barnish

Men in their 30’s

The key risks of men face during their 30s, which impact their health, are more related to mental health and stress disorders. Although less common, than in the 20s, these conditions are the ones that you will most likely face in your 30s. Testicular cancer is also more likely to occur in younger men than older men and so regular checks for the testicles for lumps and bumps is recommended.

Men in their 40’s

Once men reach their 40s, the body’s metabolism begins to slow down and testosterone levels begin to decline, albeit at a slower rate. This further alters metabolism and one side effect of lower testosterone is reduced ability to maintain muscle mass and can also cause weight gain, particularly around the abdomen.

To really try and minimise this impact, the best diet tips are to clean eat. Know where your food has come from and avoid anything processed or industrially farmed. Go for pasture/grass fed produce, organic or wild caught (fish). These contain real nutrients to maintain good hormone production.

Folic acid is essential for DNA production and to maintain hormone health, and so reach for foods rich is folic acid.

Finally, a non diet approach would be to consider bioidentical hormone replacement. Using naturally derived hormones, that are chemically identical to the testosterone in the body, a doctor can monitor and maintain good testosterone levels with a simple cream or lozenge.

Men in their 50’s

Unfortunately, there are three main problems with men entering middle age. These are diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Unfortunately, due to our modern lifestyles, these diseases are creeping slowly into these earlier decades.

The best tip here is to really cleanly eat (as mentioned in my above paragraph). Know your food, where it has come from and avoid those foods that pretend to be food, but are actually just a food like substance, such as industrially farmed produce or processed foods. This lack of nutrition will be one of the fastest ways to developing one of these three problematic diseases. Exercise 3-4 x a week, on top of good nutrition, will certainly add further protection.

My advice is to engage with your GP or regular health provider. Make sure you participate in any local disease screening programmes, like blood pressure checks or blood sugar analyses. These are simple and fast tests and can catch things early.

If you are unwell or experience a new growth or symptom, then seek GP advice early.

For those lucky enough, many companies now offer home blood testing and this can help to identify cholesterol and vitamin deficiencies easily, without seeing a doctor.

Men in their 60’s

Studies have shown countless times that a change in lifestyle after 60 years old, and even way into the 80s, can have benefits to health. Power exercise +/- endurance exercise is advised. The reason is that the muscular tissue is a power house of energy producing mitochondria and these are essential at keeping a body full of energy and vitality. Nurturing these with some power exercises will certainly help to maintain health for longer.

Again, with testosterone, the same things apply as written above in the 40s category with bioidentical hormone replacement and clean eating.

To maintain bone density, good intakes of calcium from green leafy vegetables, not milk, as well as maintaining optimum vitamin D levels is essential.

We all have different genetic predispositions for losing bone density as we age and genetic testing has become widely available so preventative measures can be put into place, if you are predisposed, way before disease progresses. This will allow you to maintain exercise for longer with no issues.

Final Words.
Of course, this crisis isn’t making it easy for any of us, but for us to be able to come through the other side, faster and hopefully with a much lower mortality rate, these weeks of self-isolation are critical. The points I have discussed will to make sure we emerge from this in a good state of mind with strong and healthy bodies, ready for the challenges of getting back to normal.
Stay Safe.