Did you know June is Men's Health Month? Don't feel bad -- especially if you're a guy -- if you didn't.

Guys: This is the spot in the blog post where I remind you how smart it is for you to get an annual checkup, maybe even a physical, but at the very least, a prostate cancer PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. But that would be hypocritical.

Why? As much as I have written over the past six years about whole health issues, disease, bad drugs, prevention and, for the past year in this space, a great deal about cancer, I'm just as guilty as the next guy about scheduling an annual physical, for reasons I can't pretend to explain. For some inexplicable reason, I am driven to the point of anal-retentiveness about some things (car maintenance, football game start times and appointment TV on the DVR), yet I suffer temporary, aggravating bouts of amnesia when it comes to scheduling an appointment for my annual checkup.

It's not my doctor, a great guy who will spend all the time needed to figure out what's wrong with me. And, it's not for lack of caring about my own health either. In fact, the 20 pounds and 2 inches around my waist that I've lost over the past seven months (thanks to better eating habits and exercise) remind me every day how much work and effort it takes to feel better and be healthy. But it's all worth it.

Thankfully, I'm married to a beautiful wife who wants me to live longer than my parents did (cancer and disease took them both in their mid 50s), so she schedules our annual physicals on the same day, back-to-back. For those of you who aren't as fortunate as I am, however, consider this a personal reminder from a friend who wants you to keep reading this space for a long time.

Go get a checkup. Just do it. Today.

I can personally guarantee your next visit to the doctor won't be nearly as harrowing or funny as The Appointment, the award-winning video produced by HealthMedia.

Ever wondered why American women live longer than their male counterparts? Although the gap in lifespan between the sexes is narrowing, the most recent CDC report still gives women more than a five-year lead over men.

What gives? Old school beliefs about masculinity that push men away from timely, preventative health care -- even guys who could more than afford the time and expense -- may be the problem, according to data collected on the health of 1,000 Baby Boomer males participating in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

Regardless of their marital status, family backgrounds, socioeconomic status and health history, middle-aged men who held onto traditional beliefs about their masculinity were 50 percent less likely to follow through on preventative health care maintenance -- a prostate exam, flu shot and physical -- annually.

Interestingly, there was a single but important exception to these findings. Men who worked in low-status, blue-collar jobs (truck drivers, farm workers, machine operators and construction workers) took better care of their health, in spite of their traditional views. As men who viewed life through the "John Wayne" filter climbed the corporate ladder, however, the likelihood they would take preventative healthcare measures dropped significantly.

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Rodale.com September 4, 2009

EurekAlert August 10, 2009

Medline Plus August 11, 2009