Dr Christian urges older men not to accept erectile dysfunction as inevitable part of ageing

Nearly half of older men would prefer to talk about difficult financial matters than sensitive health issues such as erectile dysfunction or Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome (TDS) with their doctor, a new report has revealed.

TV presenter Dr Christian Jessen, famed for his ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ TV series, is taking part in an awareness campaign Talking TDS, being sponsored by Besins Healthcare which produced the report.

He is urging older men not to let embarrassment prevent them from visiting a doctor if they start experiencing health problems they are worried about.

The doctor, who admits he himself doesn’t like going to see doctors about embarrassing issues, warns that the fear and awkwardness of visiting a doctor could end up killing people if they do not get sensitive and potentially embarrassing issues checked out as early as possible.

Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome

Testosterone Deficiency Syndrome (TDS) affects around 700,000 men aged between 59 and 70 in the UK and can cause ejaculatory dysfunction, loss of concentration and hot flushes and sweats.

TDS can be cured and prevented with treatment and lifestyle changes so Besins Healthcare and Dr Christian are urging more men experiencing symptoms to visit their doctor. Other symptoms include fatigue, reduced muscle mass and weakness and depression.

Research carried out by Besins Healthcare showed 60 per cent of men do not regularly talk to their partner about their mental and physical health. Nearly a third revealed they would rather have painful root canal treatment than talk to their doctor about embarrassing health issues.

Although TDS affects around eight per cent of men aged between 59 and 70, obese men are nearly two and a half times more likely to have it and the risk is nearly two times greater for men with high blood pressure.

As part of the awareness campaign Talking TDS, Dr Christian has been encouraging men to visit their doctor and get advice about any symptoms they might have previously blamed on ageing, saying men should not have to experience a loss of sex drive just because of their age.

He says: “Older people might be more wary of a sinister diagnosis so they choose not to go and bury their heads but most health problems are now fully treatable and the likelihood is that anything picked up will be able to be treated.

“Older people in general have more pressing issues which interfere with life such as men needing to get up in the middle of the night to pee but older people shouldn’t shrug these things off as ageing. It is never an excuse and I rarely say something is because you’re getting older as it is something that you shouldn’t have to just put up with.

“This nicely applies to TDS because men who are generally getting more tired, they can’t concentrate and are getting erectile dysfunctional might think it is part of them getting older but once they have received treatment they will feel reassured and rejuvenated.”

So would Dr Christian be uncomfortable about a trip to the doctors if he was not a doctor himself? He admits: “Certainly! I am a doctor and I still don’t like seeing doctors and I have ignored things even though I’m always telling people not to ignore stuff. I still have a fear and I’m not used to needing help.

Encouraging discussions

For those married to or living with someone who might be showing symptoms of TDS, encouraging them to visit the doctor can be a tough task, but Dr Jessen thinks it is often these discussions that will help a person worrying to get checked.

He highlights the important role that partners can play in helping men visit their doctor to gain a medical diagnosis. Speaking about partners and family he says: “Really you may possibly play a key role as it is usually the woman who rules the roost in a house and will be the one who gets the man kicking and screaming to go to the doctors.

“If you are someone who has noticed symptoms in someone else you can play an important role and a tip for the best time to bring up an awkward subject is in a car when driving. This is clever because it is not face to face interactions so they can talk to you but you don’t have to make eye contact when broaching a difficult topic.

“It is important not to nag the person into going however as that will put them off so reassurance is more important.”

Lifestyle changes

Although the risk of developing low testosterone levels increase as a person ages, simple lifestyle and diet changes can reduce the likelihood of this happening, boosting men’s own self confidence and improving their overall health.

The main piece of advice given by the TV doctor reveals that a simple change to a person’s lifestyle can minimise the symptoms and chances of TDS occurring completely.

Dr Christian says: “We know obese men are more likely to get TDS and it’s a boring reason without a very trendy message but it is so important that they do lose the weight for their health.

“Once they have started losing weight many patients will come to me like they have been given the secret to life because of how much better they feel. I think we could do away with a lot of medication if people were able to keep their weight down.

“Part two of the secret to losing weight is diet more than exercise. Often in true male fashion men will like to go to the gym and do lots of exercise but still like to maintain eating lots but it really is about having a good diet and also the amount of alcohol they consume.

“It is self-fulfilling because the more people lose weight the better they feel about themselves and the more they enjoy continuing to be healthy. It can often become quite tedious for those family members who hear them discover they must do something about their weight problem when it’s been screamingly obvious to others the whole time!”

Embarrassing older bodies

As part of the hugely successful Embarrassing bodies series on Channel four, Dr Christian was part of a special Embarrassing Older Bodies series looking into health issues of older people and said the popular topics of concern raised by the older general public surprised him.

He says: “One thing that has stayed with me that I learnt from doing Embarrassing Older Bodies is that older people still care about how they look and we should not disregard older people as not being interested in sex. It’s just based on a stereotype that we consider older people not to be interested in sex and their appearance which is very wrong. What we consider old needs to change too because 50 and 60 year olds are just not old anymore even though in the past that would have been a person’s lifespan.”

Dr Christian is passionate about changing the perception of medical professionals and believes communication should be improved among doctors.

He says: “I know this will irritate other medics but I think medicine is 75 per cent communication and the rest you can look up. You don’t have to be a great brain but doctor like to keep this mystery of medicine but it I think it is so important to be approachable, a communicator and reassure - it is simple but the most important part. When I was training medicine as a student it was heavily academic but what we need is both communicators and academics.”

Get it checked out

The last piece of advice Dr Christian has for men experiencing some of the symptoms of TDS is not to let embarrassment kill them due to fear over visiting their doctor.

He says: “If a man is not sure, the best thing they can do is go and ask their GP. Don’t shy away from it and it will be better to get things sorted out. It goes right back to our embarrassment but it will be easier than you think. Don’t kill yourself with embarrassment; don’t let your embarrassment kill you because that’s what it will do if you don’t go and get things checked out.”

As part of the Talking TDS campaign a short film has been created to raise awareness and share information with viewers. The video can be viewed by visiting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X0Eq8WJa94&feature=youtube.

For more information on the condition visit: www.whatistds.com