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CNN Live Today

'Daily Dose'

Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:38   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It wouldn't surprise you to know that some men may do a better job at getting checkups and seeing the doctor and things like that. Well, not very well. They do that more with their cars than they do with themselves. But with Father's Day coming up on Sunday, we are going to focus now on men's health in our "Daily Dose." And for that, we turn, as we always do, to our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
All right, guys are guys; we know how we are.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, you may be more of the expert on this, because you're a guy, and so you can explain some of this behavior. Men healthwise are kind of a mess. Did you know male babies in the womb are more likely to be stillborn than female babies? And basically, it goes down the hill from there.

HARRIS: What's the story there?

COHEN: Men are more likely to live sicker lives than women, and they tend to die six years earlier. Let's take a look at some reasons why that's true. Men are less likely to have health insurance. They are less likely to see their doctor annually, and less likely to go to the doctor early in the illness. They wait until they're incredibly sick. And they're also less likely to adopt healthy behaviors, such as eating well and exercising. They are also less likely to get psychiatric help. And they are more likely to smoke and to abuse alcohol.

So the message here for Father's Day is actually pretty simple. Men, you need to go to the hospital. Many men end up -- or you need to go see your doctor on a regular basis. Many men say they end up going when their wives tell them to go.

HARRIS: Pretty much. You say this deal starts in the womb. That, to me, is fascinating.

COHEN: It is.

HARRIS: All right, so what is it -- is there something psychological about men, or something in our DNA? What is it?

COHEN: There are a couple different explanations, and one of them about why women see the doctor more than men has to do with sex. When women become sexually active, late teens, early 20s, that's when they tend to go to the doctor. They went to get birth control. They want to get gynecological check-ups.

HARRIS: They have more parts.

COHEN: They've got more stuff. But men, before they are sexually active, they don't care about going to the doctor to have sex. They just have sex, right?

HARRIS: You don't go to the doctor to talk about that, no.

COHEN: That's right, exactly. So they don't have that life event that spurs them on to have sex.

In fact, we were talking to the head of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and he says, when I see men come in for their first physical, sometimes it's when they're in their 40s or in their 50s, and that's when they're showing up for the first time, and reason why they're showing up is either because their wives have made them or they are starting to see their friends get sick, they are starting to see their buddies come down with heart disease, with cancer, and that's the reason why they're there.

HARRIS: Or changing insurance companies. Sometimes insurance companies make you go get one.

COHEN: That's true.

HARRIS: Against our will. You get dragged in there.

So if that's the case, then what are the most common killers or threats to men's health.

COHEN: Let's look at the top five killers for men's health. They would be, first of all, heart disease, and then cancer, and then stroke, and then accidents, and then chronic lung conditions. In many of these, if you look at certain age ranges, men are more likely to get heart disease, cancer, are more likely to get basically all of these things. So that's one of the problems about men not going to the doctor.

HARRIS: And four of those five can be tracked back to something as simple as smoking as well.

COHEN: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Thank you for the little fuss session.

COHEN: Sorry, got to say it. Happy Father's Day.

HARRIS: Gee, thank you. Here's a prostate check. Happy Father's Day. I don't think so.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

Okay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired June 13, 2003 - 11:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It wouldn't surprise you to know that some men may do a better job at getting checkups and seeing the doctor and things like that. Well, not very well. They do that more with their cars than they do with themselves. But with Father's Day coming up on Sunday, we are going to focus now on men's health in our "Daily Dose." And for that, we turn, as we always do, to our medical news correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
All right, guys are guys; we know how we are.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Leon, you may be more of the expert on this, because you're a guy, and so you can explain some of this behavior. Men healthwise are kind of a mess. Did you know male babies in the womb are more likely to be stillborn than female babies? And basically, it goes down the hill from there.

HARRIS: What's the story there?

COHEN: Men are more likely to live sicker lives than women, and they tend to die six years earlier. Let's take a look at some reasons why that's true. Men are less likely to have health insurance. They are less likely to see their doctor annually, and less likely to go to the doctor early in the illness. They wait until they're incredibly sick. And they're also less likely to adopt healthy behaviors, such as eating well and exercising. They are also less likely to get psychiatric help. And they are more likely to smoke and to abuse alcohol.

So the message here for Father's Day is actually pretty simple. Men, you need to go to the hospital. Many men end up -- or you need to go see your doctor on a regular basis. Many men say they end up going when their wives tell them to go.

HARRIS: Pretty much. You say this deal starts in the womb. That, to me, is fascinating.

COHEN: It is.

HARRIS: All right, so what is it -- is there something psychological about men, or something in our DNA? What is it?

COHEN: There are a couple different explanations, and one of them about why women see the doctor more than men has to do with sex. When women become sexually active, late teens, early 20s, that's when they tend to go to the doctor. They went to get birth control. They want to get gynecological check-ups.

HARRIS: They have more parts.

COHEN: They've got more stuff. But men, before they are sexually active, they don't care about going to the doctor to have sex. They just have sex, right?

HARRIS: You don't go to the doctor to talk about that, no.

COHEN: That's right, exactly. So they don't have that life event that spurs them on to have sex.

In fact, we were talking to the head of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and he says, when I see men come in for their first physical, sometimes it's when they're in their 40s or in their 50s, and that's when they're showing up for the first time, and reason why they're showing up is either because their wives have made them or they are starting to see their friends get sick, they are starting to see their buddies come down with heart disease, with cancer, and that's the reason why they're there.

HARRIS: Or changing insurance companies. Sometimes insurance companies make you go get one.

COHEN: That's true.

HARRIS: Against our will. You get dragged in there.

So if that's the case, then what are the most common killers or threats to men's health.

COHEN: Let's look at the top five killers for men's health. They would be, first of all, heart disease, and then cancer, and then stroke, and then accidents, and then chronic lung conditions. In many of these, if you look at certain age ranges, men are more likely to get heart disease, cancer, are more likely to get basically all of these things. So that's one of the problems about men not going to the doctor.

HARRIS: And four of those five can be tracked back to something as simple as smoking as well.

COHEN: Absolutely.

HARRIS: Thank you for the little fuss session.

COHEN: Sorry, got to say it. Happy Father's Day.

HARRIS: Gee, thank you. Here's a prostate check. Happy Father's Day. I don't think so.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much.

Okay.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com