Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi - (Page 43)

oes the man in your life avoid going to the doctor like, well, the plague? It’s not uncommon for men to skip routine visits. But the consequences of ignoring their health could be detrimental. “Statistics show men go to the doctor less and suffer for that,” says David Meyers, M.D., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Center for Primary Care, Prevention, and Clinical Partnerships. “We really don’t want men to die of stubbornness.” Chances are, you know a guy who refuses to see a physician. Half of men between ages 18 and 50 don’t even have a primary care physician, and one-third haven’t had a checkup in more than a year, according to a 2011 survey commissioned by Esquire magazine. And most men wait days to make an appointment when they’re sick, often skipping preventive care, the American Academy of Family Physicians reports. To put it simply, if “Dodge the Doc” were a sport, men would be No. 1. They have a bevy of excuses in their gym bags. We examine four common excuses, and suggest a game plan for getting Dad to the doctor. D IllustratIon by Jason Ford Vim & Vigor • Sum mer 2012 43

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Big Gifts Come in Small Packages
A Voice of Experience
The Breakfast Club
Arthritis Answers
A TV Guide to Radiology
Take Aim
It Might NOT Be Cancer
Colin Firth
Step Up to the Plate
Life After Cancer
Get Dad to the Doc
Virtual Health
Point, Click, Discover
Ready to Serve
A Unique Kind of Doctor
Barbershop Talk
Catch the Spirit

Vim & Vigor - Summer 2012 - North Mississippi