Male Wellness

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE FOR MEN’S

HEALTH AND WELLNESS

As a new interest of health and wellness practitioners, functional medicine is a broad-ranging term with the overall goal of improving or restoring functional sexual, physical, and cognitive abilities to patients.

Aging is a natural process that results in physiological changes, some of which are unwanted. Disability or disease can also compromise function. Anything that diminishes the individual’s ability to move and interact with the world is an area of concern for functional medicine.

Getting older is not just a matter of having difficulty moving, dealing with pain or having problems in the bedroom. Functional medicine for men’s health can also help men avoid serious health problems such as heart disease and prostate cancer, giving them a better shot at living healthy lives and a better long-term prognosis.

With certain therapies, men who have experienced decreased abilities to perform as they would like to can still recover some or all of their lost function. Our Chicago office has licensed and respected functional medicine specialists who can assess, diagnose and offer a plan of treatment for problems like low testosterone and erectile dysfunction.

Why Men’s Health Is So Important

While society has increased its focus on women’s health issues in recent years, it may seem that interest in treating men’s health problems is lagging behind. However, that’s a dangerous approach to take.

In fact, some evidence suggests that men’s preventative healthcare is even more necessary – for example, men are more likely to practice unhealthy behaviors like drinking and smoking than women. Factors like a poor diet with heavy intake of processed foods, little or no exercise, poor sleep habits, and drug or alcohol abuse can accelerate the onset of health issues like heart disease, cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer’s Disease. Impaired functional ability in men can be a vicious cycle. Poor health may lead to painful movement or loss of motivation, which can then make practicing healthy lifestyle habits even more difficult than they would otherwise be. Digging out of this “rut” is a primary focus of functional medicine doctors.

TESTOSTERONE AND HEALTH

ISSUES FOR MEN

Testosterone levels decrease with age. This can impact your health in many ways, because testosterone is the primary sex hormone for men. When testosterone is lowered, men experience muscle loss, lowered sex drive, depression, weaker bones, higher likelihood of prostate cancer, heart disease, erectile dysfunction, and other health problems.

Testosterone Replacement Therapy

Doctors practicing internal medicine, which covers the endocrine (hormone) system, specialize in treating hormone issues such as problems caused by low testosterone levels. In cases where natural remedies have failed to deliver results, a functional medicine doctor may recommend testosterone replacement therapy. This involves the intravenous injection or oral ingestion of synthesized testosterone. Under proper care, testosterone replacement therapy is relatively safe. Simple blood tests can monitor the body’s reaction to the therapy and measure testosterone levels to gauge success.

The process is rather lengthy, usually taking between three to six months to see significant boosts in testosterone levels and the corresponding health benefits like increased sex drive, more energy, elevated mood, and increased muscle mass.

What Makes Men’s Healthcare Different?

It’s not just that men are more likely to engage in self-destructive behaviors like drinking and smoking, as we mentioned above. Men are also more likely to work in dangerous jobs like construction, which often results in injury and can have a cascading effect of negative health consequences. Perhaps most importantly, men are much less likely than women to seek healthcare for problems or to stick to a regular checkup schedule. As researchers have noted, many of the health challenges faced by men can be prevented with screening tests and regular consultation with a doctor.

Perhaps most importantly, men are much less likely than women to seek healthcare for problems or to stick to a regular checkup schedule. As researchers have noted, many of the health challenges faced by men can be prevented with screening tests and regular consultation with a doctor.