Myles Spar - Optimal Mens Health

DR. WEILS HEALTHY LIVING GUIDES

Andrew Weil, MD, Series Editor

Integrative Medicine is healing-oriented medicine that takes account of the whole person, including all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the therapeutic relationship between practitioner and patient, is informed by evidence, and makes use of all appropriate therapies.

Published and forthcoming titles:

Optimal Mens Health by Myles Spar

Non-Toxic: Living Healthy in a Chemical World by Aly Cohen and Frederick vom Saal

Optimal Aging by Mikhail Kogan

Optimal Skin Health by Robert Norman

Optimal Brain Health by Daniel Monti and Andrew Newberg

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Oxford University Press 2020

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Spar, Myles D., author.

Title: Optimal mens health / by Myles Spar, MD, MPH, Founder and President, Tack180, Director of Integrative Medicine, Southern California Mens Medical Group.

Description: New York : Oxford University Press, 2020. |Series: Dr. Weils healthy living guides |Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019027218 (print) | LCCN 2019027219 (ebook) |ISBN 9780190654870 (paperback) | ISBN 9780190654894 (epub) | ISBN 9780190654887 (updf)

Subjects: LCSH: MenHealth and hygiene. Classification: LCC RA777.8 .S657 2020 (print) | LCC RA777.8 (ebook) | DDC 613/.04234dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019027218

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019027219

This material is not intended to be, and should not be considered, a substitute for medical or other professional advice. Treatment for the conditions described in this material is highly dependent on the individual circumstances. And, while this material is designed to offer accurate information with respect to the subject matter covered and to be current as of the time it was written, research and knowledge about medical and health issues is constantly evolving and dose schedules for medications are being revised continually, with new side effects recognized and accounted for regularly. Readers must therefore always check the product information and clinical procedures with the most up-to-date published product information and data sheets provided by the manufacturers and the most recent codes of conduct and safety regulation. The publisher and the authors make no representations or warranties to readers, express or implied, as to the accuracy or completeness of this material. Without limiting the foregoing, the publisher and the authors make no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or efficacy of the drug dosages mentioned in the material. The authors and the publisher do not accept, and expressly disclaim, any responsibility for any liability, loss or risk that may be claimed or incurred as a consequence of the use and/or application of any of the contents of this material.

This book is dedicated to my teachers. By that, I mean my family, colleagues, professors, friends and patientsbecause my growth and learning has come through all of them. I offer this book as a tool to help men to become more engaged in their own health; thus I also dedicate it to anyone who gets something useful from these pages.

In 2013, I asked Dr. Myles Spar to be the senior co-editor of Integrative Mens Health, a volume in the Weil Integrative Medicine Library published by Oxford University Press. This was an academic work intended for health professionals. In the foreword I wrote for it, I stated my belief that it would give practitioners useful information and resources to provide better care for male patients. I could not have been more pleased with the book Dr. Spar produced.

Both he and I saw a need to make the information in it accessible to a general readership. Although men have unique health needs and their disease risks are different from those of women, most books and magazines addressing mens health focus narrowly on fitness. With the publication of Optimal Mens Health, there is now a resource that explains how the lifestyle choices men make influence both physical and emotional health and what men can do to achieve optimal well-being.

In these pages Dr. Spar gives you the facts and tools you need and, I hope, the motivation to put them to use.

Andrew Weil, MD

Tucson, Arizona

October 2019

Its hard to be a man.

I know that men arent engendering a lot of sympathy these days, but the fact of the matter is that some of the reasons some men behave badly are also the reasons men are less healthy than women. The need to feel strong and the fear of being perceived as weak have undermined mens own self-interest. We all need to reach out to othersto share what concerns or scares us, to ask for help, to get supportbut reaching out makes men feel weak, so they reach for a beer instead of a phone and go to a game instead of a doctor.

This book is not about teaching men to be vulnerable or getting men to share more. It is about men winning. Because winning requires teamwork and coaches and experts, and winning is not weak. Winning at what? That is up to youbut in my view, first and foremost, you need to be healthy in order to win, so this book is about starting there.

I wrote this book because there is nothing else out there for men who want to proactively take charge of their own health using the whole spectrum of tools that can prevent disease and maintain optimal healthan approach we call integrative medicine, because it integrates lifestyle, prevention approaches, pharmaceutical approaches, and non-Western approaches in a science-based and comprehensive way. Sure, there are books for men on fitness and on specific conditions. But this is your guide for winning at whatever matters most to younot just building muscles or preventing one disease. Its about prevention and treatment of all of the most common diseases of concern to men, and its about what tools you should have in your toolbox beyond simply pharmaceuticals.

You can read this book cover to cover or skip to a chapter that feels relevant. In order to win, you need practical toolsso each chapter ends with a quick Bottom Line section along with relevant resources and questions to ask your own healthcare practitioner, because I want to support that relationship with a doctor, not replace it.

In order to win, you need to change behavior as much as you need information. This book helps you with both. Reading it, youll understand how much control you actually have over your own health, and what the next best steps are for you to take. Look at it as your guide to what to do to stay healthy and win.