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Dr. Mehmet Oz
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Men's Health
Original Air Date: September 14, 2007
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Is your man in touch with his health issues? If not, he's not alone, says Dr. Harvey Simon, author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men's Health: Lessons from the Harvard Men's Health Studies. Dr. Oz talks with Dr. Simon about the reasons why many men shy away from the doctor's office and why they should change their mentalities.

Dr. Simon says that 30 percent of American men don't have a regular doctor and that many of those men fall into two mentalities:

  • The John Wayne Mentality: "[This is] the sort of macho idea that men have to be strong and just grit their teeth and not think about their vulnerabilities but go straight ahead," Dr. Simon says. "I think that is a big part of the problem."
  • Ostrich Mentality: "[These men are] afraid to face up to their vulnerabilities and feel that by putting their head in the sand, maybe it will all go away by the time they come up for air," he says.

Dr. Simon says these mentalities, combined with other risky or foolish behavior, could be to blame for the shortened life expectancy of men compared to women. "The average American woman nowadays has a life expectancy of 80.4 years at birth—for men it is only 75.2 years," he says.

Related Resources
  • The Harvard Medical School Guide to Men's Health: Lessons from the Harvard Men's Health Studies by Harvey B. Simon, MD

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