Club Med

Check the scoreboard. The only one that really matters. Women live a lot longer than men. “Male life expectancy at birth is currently 75.8 years — 5.3 years less than it is for women … Over the past several years, men have died at higher rates than women from 14 of the top 15 causes of death. The only exception has been Alzheimer’s disease — and that, at least to some extent, is because more women live long enough to develop it … That disparity has many causes, one of which is that men simply don’t go to the doctor as often.” I’m not one of the men who avoids the doctor. I have high everything and pretty much any symptom I read about I manage to manifest. My personal tagline could be test in progress. I’ve turned my head and coughed so many times that it’s become my signature dance move. If I see anyone wearing rubber gloves, I instinctively drop my underpants and bend over (which, I’ll admit, has caused some confusion in my local grocery store’s meat section). But a lot middle aged men have been avoiding the doctor since their pediatrician days. At one clinic outside Cleveland, medical professionals are trying to figure out if a doctor’s office vibe change can increase visits. NYT Magazine (Gift Article): What Does It Take to Get Men to See a Doctor? “As soon as I stepped off the elevator at the Cutler Center for Men earlier this summer, I was greeted by a smiling woman with short gray hair in an athletic half-zip top, standing in front of a sign that read, ‘Welcome Guys.’ Past check-in, there were pool tables and foosball tables and two giant-screen televisions showing replays from the N.B.A. finals between the Thunder and the Pacers. A small cafe, decorated with vintage album covers and a classic arcade game, offered flavored water and coffee.” (Once, when I was getting barium enema CT scan, the radiologist decided to play the song Sexual Healing. It was definitely a vibe. But I’m not sure it made we want to come back for another visit.)