In an interview with the Health Channel, Dr. Jose Soza, a Family Medicine Physician with Baptist Health Primary Care, outlines the 10 most common health conditions men suffer from. 

“Heart disease and diabetes are some of the things that I see most often in the office,” Dr. Soza explains. He goes on to say, “I mean cancer and chronic respiratory diseases as well.” Unintentional injuries, for the most part, occur in younger patients who are more at risk for sports injuries, violence, and accidents. Alzheimer’s disease is a common cause of death for patients in their early 70s and 80s. Influenza and pneumonia are common conditions seen in men. “We normally try to recommend pneumonia vaccination to patients in their 60s,” Dr. Soza advises. 

Kidney disease, heart disease, and diabetes are all common health conditions men suffer from, but luckily, they are all diseases that are prevented in similar ways. Suicide is one of the most common causes of death in men, especially older men. “We will always screen patients, especially on the first visit, for depression to prevent suicide,” Dr. Soza says. 

Dr. Soza states that having a primary care physician is crucial for understanding what health risks you may have and how to mitigate them. Dr. Soza explains, “Some of the things that we normally start looking into is the patient’s weight. Is this an overweight or an obese patient? Is this patient in the prehypertension or hypertension stage already? At least in the first visit, when the patient comes to me, I normally do all those things, and then at least a basic fasting lipid profile, and a basic metabolic panel where we’re looking into cholesterol and glucose levels.” 

Dr. Soza stresses that patients earlier in life, from 18 to 40 years old, need to understand the importance of exercise for regulating weight and blood pressure. “If there are, for instance, abnormal glucose levels or cholesterol profile levels, we want to make sure the patient enhances or engages in dietary changes and exercise to reduce glucose levels,” Dr. Soza adds. These changes help prevent diabetes and heart disease later on in life.

Watch the full segment of Dr. Jose Soza describing the 10 most common health conditions in men here: https://youtu.be/cV1zxv5V8so