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Keeping The Men In Our Lives Healthy

melody dizon

By: Melody Rabor-Dizon

 

To quote Congressman Bill Richardson

(Congressional Record, H3905-H3906, May 24, 1994):

“Recognizing and preventing men’s health problems is not just a man’s issue. Because of its impact on wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters, men’s health is truly a family issue.”

As clearly stated, men’s health is a family issue. I, for one, do not understand that because taking care of oneself is a non-discriminatory issue. Regardless of sex, you still get sick. Women are not immune to sickness but truth be told, it has always been the women taking care of the husband’s body or health. Did you take your vitamins already? Did you exercise today? Did you see your cardiologist, as you promised 6 months ago? Did you make that appointment yet for your yearly physical? So is it the much-dreaded “violation of privacy” when they are asked to drop their pants down? Or is it the invincible shield thinking that it can’t be me? Or is it just the plain old your-mom- will-take- care of it adage? It makes me laugh because I so can hear myself doing all these almost “nagging” things. But they ought to be done. MEN – women are just coming from love and nowhere else. Some of you I hear, if I drop dead, I drop dead attitude. But wait, do not be so quick on that wish because your life is not your own. You have little girls depending on you, little boys watching you, mimicking your every move and for the most of us – DAD, HONEY, KUYA, LOLO, TITO – you mean the world to us.

Allow us to express our love to you by gently reminding you that taking care of your body is a tag team. We help each other. Because life is beautiful and too short and there are still so many yet wonderful memories to be made.

DAD – YOUR HEALTHY EATING GAME PLAN

Eat Your Breakfast — A good breakfast starts your metabolism and sets the tone for your day. Game Plan: Try whole grain cereal with fruit on top, or grab a yogurt or healthy granola bar for the road.

Eat at least 1 Fruit & 1 Vegetable at Every Meal — Fruits & vegetables are the nutritional super-stars. Game Plan: Keep fruits and vegetables on the counter or at the front of the fridge so you’re more likely to see and eat them.

Less is more — Ingredients that is — As author Michael Pollan says, “If your grandma wouldn’t recognize it as food, you probably shouldn’t eat it.” Game Plan: Avoid the middle aisles of the grocery store and you’ll buy healthier foods.

Variety is the Spice of Life — Eating many different types of foods helps ensure you’re getting all the vitamins and minerals you need. Game Plan: Buy one new fruit or vegetable every time you go to the store to mix it up.

Stop the Super-Sizing — Portion sizes at most restaurants are not healthy. In fact, they are three to five times larger than a healthy size. A healthy serving of meat is the same size as a deck of cards. A healthy serving of pasta is about the size of your fist. Game Plan: Take half of your next restaurant meal home in a to-go box. You’ll have a great lunch the next day and save cash!

Cut Back on Red Meat — Too much red meat clogs your arteries. Not good. Game Plan: Go meatless on Mondays. Challenge yourself to create a great meal without meat.

Whole Grains, Whole Grains, Whole Grains — Whole grains will fill you up more than foods like white bread because they have more fiber.

Game Plan: Have a few pieces of whole grain toast for breakfast tomorrow. Don’t forget to move a little! Exercise is essential. You can do the following: Game Plan: News flash, walking isn’t all that bad. Not only that but exercise increases mental acuteness, helps resist disease and injury, offers faster recovery, yields higher energy levels, boosts a functioning immune system and provides better management of chronic health problems

KUYA – HOW YOUR NUTRITION & OBESITY CAN IMPACT ON YOUR SEXUAL HEALTH

I can freely talk about these things because I am a nurse and I am an advocate for your health.

1. Nutrition. If it is bad for your heart, it’s also bad for your penis. A diet that’s bad for your heart is also not good for your ability to have erections. Research has shown that the same eating patterns that can lead to heart attacks due to restricted blood flow in the coronary arteries can also impede blood flow to and within the penis. The blood flow is needed for the penis to become erect. Diets that include very few fruits and vegetables along with lots of fatty, fried and processed foods can contribute to decreased blood circulation throughout the body.

2. High cholesterol or high blood pressure can damage blood vessels. Like the heart, the penis needs a free flow to blood for optimum performance. Eventually, this may lead to ED (Erectile Dysfunction).

3. Healthy Weight. Being overweight can bring many health problems, including type 2 diabetes. This disease can cause nerve damage that may affect the nerves that supply the penis, and subsequently, ED can result.

4. Exercise. A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to erectile dysfunction. Running, swimming, and other forms of aerobic exercise have been shown to help prevent ED.

5. Alcohol consumption. Mild or even moderate alcohol consumption may not be a cause of erectile function, however, chronic heavy drinking can cause liver damage, nerve damage, and other conditions, such as interfering with the normal balance of male sex hormone levels that can lead to ED.

TITO – LET’S TALK ABOUT SMOKING

The short-term effects of smoking include respiratory illnesses including colds, coughs, pneumonia, and bronchitis. Children exposed to secondhand smoke experience higher rates of ear infections, asthma, and lower respiratory infections than children who live with non-smokers. The long-term effects of smoking are extensive. Smoking causes cancers of the lungs, mouth, throat, kidneys, bladder, stomach, pancreas, and cervix. Approximately one-third of all forms of cancer have been linked to smoking and tobacco use in general. Ninety-percent of lung cancers have been linked to smoking. Smoking causes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and doubles the risk of stroke.

Quit smoking. If you’re a smoker, quitting is by far the best thing you can do. If you’re having trouble quitting on your own, talk to your healthcare provider about prescription options, which may include patches, gum or prescription medication. Smoking causes 90% of lung cancers and greatly increases the risk of cancers of the mouth, kidney, bladder, pancreas and esophagus.

LOLO – EARLY DETECTION OF CANCER IS KEY

You can’t detect cancers if you don’t know what to look for. Below are a number of symptoms that could be indicators. Many of them could be caused by other conditions, but you should notify your healthcare provider if you notice anything unusual or abnormal. • Lumps that you can feel through the skin

• Sores that don’t heal, Unusual bleeding

• Changes in the size, color, or texture of a wart or mole

• Blood in the urine, stool, or saliva • A cough, sore throat, hoarseness, or trouble swallowing that won’t go away, fever that lasts more than a few days

• Persistent back ache, Chronic nausea or gas

• Unexpected weight loss, Unexplained pain

• Pressure or tenderness in the chest

PREVENTING CANCER

Even with early detection and knowledge of the risk factors, there’s no way to guarantee that you’ll never get cancer. But there are a number of steps you can take that will go a long way toward minimizing your chances:

• Limit alcohol to two drinks a day maximum.

• Limit your exposure to sunlight. A little bit of exposure will stimulate your body to produce vitamin D, which researchers think may reduce the risk of a number of cancers. But too much can cause skin cancer. Between 10 am and 3 pm—the hottest part of the day—try to stay indoors as much as possible. When you do go out, always wear sunscreen with SPF (sunscreen protection factor) 25 or greater. If you don’t have sunscreen, wear a hat or stay in the shade as much as possible. Having fair skin or having had severe sunburn in childhood greatly increases the risk of developing skin cancer.

• Eat a low-fat, high fiber diet with lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. High-fat, low-fiber diets are at least partly responsible for most colorectal cancers. They also increase the risk of pancreatic and bladder cancers.

• Limit foods that are smoked, salted, pickled, or high in nitrates (such as hot dogs and luncheon meats). These foods are associated with increased risk of stomach cancer. • Limit your exposure to PVCs (poly vinyl chloride), tar and creosote (a dark brown or black flammable tar deposited from wood smoke on chimney walls). These are linked with a number of cancers, including cancer of the liver and skin.

• Spend some time getting to know yourself and your body. See your healthcare provider if you notice any significant changes.

• Get screened as recommended. These tests are designed to detect certain types of cancer (such as colon, bladder, kidney, testicles, prostate) in their earliest stages. Caught early, these cancers can be treated successfully.

• Take aspirin. Some recent research indicates that people who took aspirin 16+ times a month were 40% less likely to get cancer of the esophagus, stomach, rectum, or colon than those who didn’t take aspirin at all.

HONEY – YOUR MENTAL HEALTH AND WELL BEING

Fathers are diverse. They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors, with different backgrounds, ideas, world-views, hopes for their children, and ways of connecting with their children. Benefits of Being an Involved Father

• Fathers’ knowledge about breastfeeding increases the likelihood that a child will be breastfed.

• Mothers experience less depression when they have a supportive partner.

• When children become teens, they have a lower occurrence of psychological distress and engaging in risky behaviors such as smoking, drugs and stealing.

• Children that spend more time playing with their fathers have better cognitive outcomes, as they benefit from both the mother and the father’s play styles.

• Children are more likely to be successful in school and careers.

• Children who grow up with involved fathers are more likely to take an active, positive role in raising their own kids.

SIX CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD FATHER

Good fathering is hard work, but the most important job a man can have. To be a good father, it is important that you have these characteristic

1. Provides love and emotional support to his child

2. Is involved and present in his child’s life

3. Is a teacher, guide and coach

4. Provides stability and financial support

5. Assists in daily childcare chores

6. Provides physical and emotional support to his partner

REFERENCES: WebMD, National Institutes of Health

Especially on father’s day, I want to take this opportunity to honor the men in my life that had shaped me, molded me and somehow made me who I am today.

To Tito Joe – for some odd miscalculation of the universe, our paths had crossed and he had met me at a crossroad in my life where I needed to put my head on someone’s shoulder. He was that shoulder for me and truly appreciated what that meant. He’s an ear who also has a heart. I’m lucky. But Tita V- you are luckier.

My brother Barber – He turned around 360 degrees when he met Christ. I had always longed for a sister-brother relationship growing up but he was focused on other things then. When his family moved here from Cebu some 10 years ago, I had seen the father he has become to his children. It is not easy for a man to stay home and rear the kids while the wife is the one making a living. But here in the land of honey none of that matters. Thankful that one parent can stay home and watch the kids full time. His love, his faithfulness and steadfastness to God’s calling in his life is truly something worth honoring for.

My dad: his dedication, fervor, enthusiasm, commitment in the field of sports and fitness. Early in my life, I was an athlete- volleyball varsity player, archer, learned to play tennis and developed the knack for fun and fitness much to my dad’s upbringing. I saw him before lifting weights, doing yoga poses and encouraged many students to develop the passion for sports. He was my number one fan in school dramas and plays as he would always be present and I would be beaming with pride taking on a role or accepting an award. He is a full supporter of me. Thank you dad for that.

To the love of my life, Dino- to whom I was given the honor to raise my kids with, he is truly an awesome DAD- a cool father. He is hands on. He will drop everything for his kids. He will sacrifice his life for the family. He is the one that helps me hold it together, He is the one that I laugh with, cry over, share a meal with, I pick on, I pour my heart out to, I pray and kneel with to our Heavenly Father thanking HIM for all HIS glory. He is God’s gift to me.

And to all our avid DAD, KUYA, HONEY, LOLO, TITO readers of VIATIMES – Happy Happy Father’s day po sa inyong lahat.

unchained

Melody’s Father: Emmanuel Rabor

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