Massachusetts Medical Society to raise awareness of men's health issues

Waltham, MA June 3, 2004 - The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) today announced that the organization will expand its role beyond simply raising awareness of the poor state of health of men to one of the identification of specific prevention and treatment strategies, health care , men will improve physical and emotional health.Citing psychological facts such as one in five men suffer a heart attack before age 65, nine of the, health care , 10 fatal accidents claim the lives of, health care , men, and men accounted for four of the five suicides, the Medical Society Committee Men's Health brings a new focus on the topic of men's health. It seeks to educate primary care physicians, general practitioners and mental health on the need for diagnosis, treatment and maintenance plans for their male patients. Among the topics addressed at this year's symposium are drug abuse, heart disease, prostate cancer, men and domestic violence, mental development, erectile dysfunction, and psychosocial,, health care , health care , problems of gay men. The Massachusetts Medical Society 2nd Annual Symposium on Men's Health, will take place Wednesday,, health care , June 16th the Society's headquarters in Waltham, is a full-day event and one of the many continuing medical education programs offered by the Massachusetts Medical Society for physicians and healthcare professionals . The first Society conference on the health of men occurred last year, highlighting the critical state of health of men in America. Highlighting the 2004 symposium is keynote speaker, health care , Randall W. Maxey, MD, Ph.D., president of the National Medical Association (NMA), the country's oldest and largest organization of African, health care , American physicians and health professionals and the voice of more than 25,000 African American physicians and their patients. Dr Maxey, a nephrologist in private practice in Los Angeles, will speak on the issue of eliminating disparities in health Care.The question of the health of men came to the fore about four years ago a national survey by Harris and Associates for The Commonwealth Fund, a private health foundation. The study, health care , found that one quarter of the men is not a physician in the year preceding the survey to see three times the rate for women, and that one third of the men is not a regular doctor to see, health care , when sick or have need for medical advice. One years later, the Centers, health care , for Disease Control announced findings that men make fewer visits to those physicians, hospitals and outpatient emergency departments do women.The significance of the findings were clear: that a "disconnect" between men and health . Thus, men often do not get preventive care or to search for potentially life-threatening disorders as common in men 40 and older, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon and prostate cancer.The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than, health care , 18,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the physicians and patients, health care , of Massachusetts. Founded, health care , in 1781, the, health care , MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country. The association owns and publishes The New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal Watch family of professional newsletters, AIDS clinical care, produces and Health News, a consumer health publication. For more, health care , information, visit www.massmed.org.