Facing Your Fifties: Every Man's Reference Guide to Mid-Life Health

by Gordon Ehlers

Book Overview

Men's bodies are essentially bullet-proof until the age of 50, when the first signs of ageing and later-life health issues begin to show. This comprehensive guide will speak directly to... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871319543
• ISBN13: 9780871319548
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: M. Evans and Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

An all in one handy medical reference guide!

As unbelievable as it may sound, I'm in my fifties--and still doing well (at least in my opinion) . . . yet that said, I sometimes find myself with questions about my health and in need of answers, I seek them out via the Internet, friends, doctors, etc. So I was delighted to come across FACING YOUR FIFTIES by Dr. Gordon Ehlers and Jeff Miller . . . it is much of the information that I've been seeking--all in one handy reference guide that is written with a minimum of medical jargon. I recommend it not only for any guy in the 40-60 age range, in addition to their wives or significant others . . . you'll of course find information on cancer and heart disease, in addition to some unexpected though most helpful advice on how to pick shoes . . . I particularly liked these two suggestions: * Try on shoes at the end of the day, when your feet are the largest; and * Uncomfortable shoes in the store will stay that way, even with "breaking in." There were many other useful tidbits; among them: For prevention, two good examples of stacking the odds in your favor are: (1) taking eighty-one milligrams of aspirin (a "baby" aspirin) daily; and (2) taking 400 IU (international units) of vitamin E daily. How likely is it that taking aspirin will cause a problem for most people? Not very. How likely is it that taking vitamin E will cause a problem for anyone? Not likely. But both help to significantly reduce the risk of a fifties male suffering a heart attack or stroke. In these two cases, the benefits far outweigh the effort and affects of taking the pills. If the alarm clock is waking you from a deep sleep, and you're overly tired in the early afternoon, and you can't shake that midday fatigue, then you need to adjust your schedule to create a better sleep pattern. Working in fifteen or twenty-minute increments, start by giving yourself one more increment of sleep. Try it for a week or so. If this doesn't create the desired results, add another increment and then another until you find the optimum amount of sleep you need. Once you determine that, you can easily figure out when you need to go to bed to obtain that amount of sleep-and still get to work on time. Finally, one last piece of advice--maybe the best piece of advice in this entire book. Once you've had a physical assessment, once you've taken the preventive exams and tests, once you've implemented a sound, life-long program of good eating, exercise, and periodic physician visits, then remember: Don't obsess about your health Simply live your life to the fullest.

SO MEN YOU HAVE REACHED THE" BIG FIVE O!"

Many of us men who have reached our fifties or about to attain the big "five O" have been told that it is all- downhill from here on end!How often do we begin reading our morning newspaper by first turning to the obituaries? As heart disease and cancer are the principal killers of the male species when they attain their fifties, we cringe at the thought of perhaps spotting the name of one of our buddies, who may have met his maker.How about those aching joints, bladder problems, hair loss, sleeplessness, upset stomachs, sexual dysfunctions, knee pains, lower back pains, shoulder pains and a number of other aches and pains in places we never knew existed.Family and sports medicine physician Gordon Ehlers has teamed up with magazine editor, writer and author, Jeff Miller, to provide men reaching their fifties with a good overview guide as to what to expect when reaching this milestone and how to cope with many of the health - problems. Though Facing Your Fifties: A Man's Reference Guide to Mid-Life Health is probably the first medical reference book to address the health concerns of this particular age group, it could have easily been called A Man's Reference Guide to Health.No matter what your age may be, the advice, recommendations and explanations will prove to be invaluable.Focusing on three principal watch- words, "awareness, early-warning testing and preventive actions," readers are counseled that they must take a pro-active attitude when it comes to their health. The authors make it very clear that the book is neither an encyclopedia nor a replacement for health service providers, but rather a first-consult book providing a general understanding and awareness of health matters as it affects males.Divided into eight distinct sections, the authors explore such topics as blood sugar level, prostate examinations, exercise, diet, weight problems, musculoskeletal system, cardiovascular and respiratory networks, digestive and urinary tracts, sexual issues, mental state and changing patterns, cancer, becoming proactive, diet and smoking.In addition, the mixture of true life stories and sidebars replying to common queries such as can an aspirin a day really help, how a treadmill test really works, understanding inflammation, makes for a very compelling read.The book's strongest points are the authors' determination to present information in a readable, down to earth and authoritative format. Readers with a low tolerance for medical jargon will find this book a pleasant change from many of the primers dealing with male health issues. However, as the epilogue states: "don't obsess about your health. Simply live your life to the fullest."This review first appeared on the reviewer's own site

A Wealth of Information!

This book is fantastic!It is full of information that is really helpful to wives, who have husbands that do not like to talk about their health! It covers a broad range of topics from heart disease, blood pressure,prostate,sexual issues and male menopause! My husband has started reading it now and is learning all kinds of useful information! This was a lucky find! Very well written!

What took so long?

Finally, a book written for men doing just what the title says;"Facing the Fifties" written by a couple of guys who obviously don't subscribe to the "if you have fabulous abs everything must be just fine" school of health. Incredible it took this long for someone to realize with all us "boomers" out there that the need for this kind of book was huge. I like how straight forward, simple and easy this book is. No BS, just clear information and a nice sense of humor about it as well. This was clearly written by men who understand what we're up against physically and emotionally and I recommend it to anyone in the neighborhood of their fifties.