Naturopaths men suffer secretly and quietly

44th Heilpraktikerkongress: Men's health more note

15.04.2011

Men are less likely to consult a doctor or naturopath than women if they experience discomfort. They suffer secretly and silently or simply sit out the disease. But doing nothing can have fatal consequences and may shorten the life expectancy significantly. The 44th Heilpraktiker Congress in Baden-Baden will focus on gender-specific medicine this weekend in particular.

Being a man is risky and unhealthy
To be a man nowadays, „is unhealthy and risky“. But this is far from being a law of nature, as Dietmar Falkenberg, the first chairman of the Association of German Naturopaths in Baden-Württemberg, explained. For this reason, the 44th Heilpraktiker Congress is under the health motto: „Typical man and typical woman“.

Men go less to the doctor or naturopath
Why men go to the doctor less often can only be speculated. Scientists believe that education and socialization play a crucial role. From an early age many boys had to hear: „An Indian knows no pain“. Which means as much as „Do not pretend to be in pain“. When men, however, listen more to themselves „If they were to go to the doctor more often, their life expectancy could be closer to that of women“ explains Falkenberg. Therefore, non-medical practitioners have men with their very specific health and mental problems in recent years more in focus, says the Naturopaths chairman.

Two-thirds of patients who go to non-medical practitioners or doctors are still women. In conventional medicine, however, it is too often neglected to question male patients about their private and family difficulties. Only in this way can one create an overall picture and find out which type of complaints are present, says the alternative practitioner. Men also often eat much worse than women and also showed a lower body sensation.

Symptom Denier man
The public image of men is no better. Ill men are barely noticed and sometimes no longer fully recognized. Men hardly ever appear in the public debate. Therefore men are regular „Symptom-objector“. „Being sick and not performing well is something terrible for men“. Men often suffered from serious symptoms such as sleep disorders, gastrointestinal symptoms or a lack of ability to concentrate. In the opinion of the Naturopathic experts, this is due to stress and overburdening at work and in private life.

Men often do not dare to talk openly about their emotional or health condition. Therefore, the problem is not perceived by the public. Because until today there is no official men's health report, warns Falkenberg. By contrast, women's health reports have been a firm social standard and established for years. Men commit suicide about three times more frequently and statistically more often seek malignant cancerous tumors.

Gender justice also with the topic health
By no means does the alternative practitioner want to feel misunderstood. The emancipation and increasing attention of women was urgently needed. Now it is urgently time to produce a gender equality in the field of health. „We need to get men to take their physicality and health more seriously“. This also means that men do not view illness as a weakness, but as a bit more quality of life.

Under the motto "Typical man - typical woman?" (gender-specific medicine) is this year's 44th Heilpraktiker Congress in Baden-Baden. With around 40 lectures, seminars and workshops, doctors, alternative practitioners and therapists continue their education. The congress will be held from 16 to 17 April. (Sb)

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