Unhealthy lifestyles and an unwillingness to seek medical help

Differences in men's and women's health experience and behaviour are well recognised.1 Although policy makers have focused for some years on women's health, men's health has been less well defined. There are now signs that the profile of men's health is growing. Increased interest is expressed in, for example, the 1992 annual report by England's chief medical officer2; a national conference held in London in July; and increasing media coverage is reflected in the growth of men's health magazines.

The growing interest has largely concentrated on aspects of men's health relating to diseases of the prostate and testicle. This sex specific approach encourages comparisons with the women's health movement, with campaigns for national screening programmes for prostatic and testicular cancer analogous to the screening programme for breast cancer. Such an approach has its place. Prostate disease is extremely common, but there is little agreement about effective treatment.3 Half of all men have benign prostatic hyperplasia by the time they are 60 years old, and 90% by the time they are …