POOR LIFESTYLE CHOICES, A LEADING FACTOR CREATING SERIOUS HEALTH ISSUES FOR MEN

Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 26, 2021 (SKNIS): Dr. Jonathan Carty, General Practitioner in the A&E Department at the JNF General Hospital, said that unhealthy lifestyle choices in men have been a primary cause of the growing burden of metabolic and lifestyle diseases.

“A lot of it has to do with eating habits, our toxic habits, taking in diets with high cholesterol, high saturated fats and a lot of alcohol. Smoking and becoming obese will cause us to not only develop erectile dysfunction but also heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes and all of these are major health factors that can potentially be life-threatening,” said Dr. Carty on the November 23 edition of Working for You. “Even certain types of prescribed medication can have a profound effect on our health because one may become addicted to these prescribed medications.”

Dr. Carty explained that a course of antibiotics would last about one, sometimes two weeks, in an individual’s system. He noted that because of the effect it may place on the body at the time, one might then visit a different doctor to acquire the same medication, adding that the long-term use is what causes damage.

“It will further damage their system because the work was already done but yet they want to continue just because of the secondary effect of the medication. So, it has a lot to do with self-control and taking stock on how we live our daily lives,” he said. “One will need to take stock and take control of your daily activities, not just physically, but look at what we eat and look at our toxic habits as well.”
Alcohol and drug use were also highlighted as poor lifestyle choices for men.

“What you find happening with respect to drug use or substance usage is that males start earlier than females and the statistics would have shown that the females, however, relapse easier than the males,” said Newrish Nital, Forensic Psychologist. “Socialization has a lot to do with it because if you are socializing with a group and the masculinity expectations – if Peter and Paul are smoking and Sam comes along he would have to start smoking as well.”

In St. Kitts and Nevis, the legal age to start drinking is set at 18. Mr. Nital noted that an age should also be attached to smoking as “no one should start smoking before age 21. The reason for a later age is because “science would have shown that the brain isn’t fully developed until around the age of 25 and if you are not going to protect these persons from smoking before 25 it can create some problems for us.”

Mr. Nital added that they can develop aggressive behaviours, lose interest in school and have deteriorated friendships and relationships among others. He made a clarion call for policies to be implemented to prevent such from happening especially at an early age.

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