Taking a more proactive approach to your health is vital in ensuring your well-being as you age. You probably don’t need us to tell you that men and women are built differently. So, we recommend a unique approach to men’s preventative health. In this article, we offer a few basic tips for protecting your health as a man, and how eNational Testing can help you along the way with our various men’s health testing panels.

3 Men’s Health Tips to Feel Better and Support Aging

While no article can sum up all of the health issues you need to monitor as you age, there are a few crucial “pillars” you’ll want at the front of your mind. Let’s talk about what they are and what you can do about them.

1. Monitor Your Hormones

As we age, our hormones change. In particular, men’s testosterone levels gradually drop, which can lead to a cascade of other mental and physical health issues, including depression, low sex drive, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, decreased muscle mass, mood swings, and changes in appetite. In fact, many challenges we experience with our wellness often go back to our hormones — or, at the very least, hormones often play a part.

To be clear, lifestyle factors definitely play a role! A lack of exercise, sleep, and healthy food can all exacerbate the issue of fluctuating hormones. For example, a lack of sleep can make depression worse. Poor nutrition and a lack of movement can hurt your energy levels further. Combine these things and you might feel exhausted and really down in the dumps.

Staying on top of your hormone levels is a must. Keeping tabs on how your hormones are behaving over time is a click away via the recommended Men’s Anti-Aging Hormone Panel. With a simple blood draw, you can gain insight into your testosterone levels, sex hormones, and any warning signs of prostate cancer. This panel measures your:

• Free and total testosterone.
• FSH and LH (hormones produced by the brain that help to regulate your sex hormones).
• Free and total prostate-specific antigen (PSA — this can help in the early detection of prostate cancer).

Support your hormone health, and you’ll better support your overall health.

2. Monitor Your Prostate Health

Outside of skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common type for American men. According to the American Cancer Society, in 2023, there will be about 288,300 new cases of prostate cancer and about 34,700 deaths due to it. While there’s no proven way to prevent it, being proactive and prioritizing early detection are key.

Johns Hopkins says that certain lifestyle changes could help — like reducing your fat intake, drinking green tea, and incorporating soy into your diet. Regular screening is also important. Our Men’s Prostate Health Panel is a blood draw that checks your free and total prostate-specific antigen (PSA). This test measures the proteins produced by the prostate gland, and it can be beneficial in detecting prostate cancer early on.

3. Take Care of Your Ticker

Heart disease is no laughing matter. In the United States, it kills one person every 34 seconds. And in 2020, about 697,000 people died from it (roughly one in five deaths). There are several things you can do to improve your overall heart health:

• Avoid smoking and any other tobacco use.
• Aim to get at least 30 minutes of daily physical activity.
• Limit salt, sugar, processed carbohydrates, alcohol, and saturated/trans fat in your diet.
• Maintain a healthy weight.
• Get enough sleep — and high-quality sleep.
• Try to maintain your stress. Meditation, exercise, visualization, and breathwork can all help.

Regular health screenings are also a key component. With our Standard Men’s Health Panel, we’ll screen for issues pertaining to your cardiovascular health, in addition to organ, thyroid, bone, and sexual health. This can provide early insight into not just heart disease but inflammation, joint pains, certain cancers, and erectile dysfunction.

For more robust and all-encompassing insight, the Complete Men’s Health Panel additionally looks at your kidney and liver health, cholesterol levels, lipid levels (that could indicate if you’re at risk of heart disease or diabetes), and bleeding disorders. This panel can also look at specific hereditary health issues.

Both panels require a quick blood draw, with results delivered within two to four business days.

You might be noticing a pattern here! Your lifestyle habits can seriously support (or hurt) your overall health. Preventative health starts right at home, with the food you consume, the amount you move your body, and how much sleep you get. If these things aren’t properly managed, anything you do outside of them will merely be a bandage for a bigger problem.

Beyond that, getting regular health screenings is one of the best things you can do for yourself. And that’s where we come in. With more than 2,000 locations around the country, eNational Testing is making it easier than ever to stay on top of your wellness. You don’t need to visit your primary care doctor first, and you’ll receive the results of your panel within just a few business days. Should your results come back abnormal, you can speak with a healthcare provider to discuss your results and decide on the next steps.

Scheduling a test is easy! Simply go to the panel you’d like, add it to your cart, and you’re ready to check out. Find the testing location closest to you — simple, fast, and convenient. Ready to take the next step? Review our men’s health panels and order your test today.