For lots of men, the biggest health issue they have is an affliction called staunchness.

“That’s not going to happen to me.”

“That will go away.”

“I’ll get that looked at when I get some time.”

If you have found yourself using anything like one of the above excuses as a reason not to visit your doctor or seek qualified medical advice, you are your own worst health enemy.

“We don’t look after our health as well as most of us look after our cars,” says Dr Lance O’Sullivan, former New Zealander of the Year and an ambassador for Men’s Health Week.

‘We need to do something about this. Seeing men in their 40s and 50s dying of heart attacks these days is unacceptable. 

That’s part of the message we are trying to get out via Men’s Health Week – many illnesses, including many heart diseases, are preventable or manageable. “

With one New Zealander dying every 90 minutes from a heart disease, and one Kiwi bloke dying every three hours from a preventable illness, the numbers are telling us that we need to take action.

And the bloke taking this action? That’s you mate.

Start with the What’s Your Score? health checklist, supported by Heartland. 

This checklist gives you a snapshot of some basic checks and habits that men from their 40s on (and earlier for some) should be embracing. The checks aren’t painful, difficult or expensive, but if you are too staunch to be doing them, you are doing yourself and those who love or depend on you absolutely no favours.

Beware the staunchness disease – it can kill you

Men’s Health Week provides an opportunity for men to take a step back and ask themselves if they are truly looking after their health, or instead are carrying around the deadly staunchness virus.

If you think you or a bloke close to you could be suffering from staunchness, don’t worry – it’s curable. Start now, get checked, make small changes to your diet, manage your alcohol and dump the smokes, and try to get maybe 30 minutes of mild-medium exercise most days.

You will live longer, feel better and give the people you love a much better life by being staunch-free when it comes to the thing you can control more – your health.