ED Predicts Heart Attacks Better Than Chest Pain: The 2 Tests to Ask For | Dr. Tobias Kohler

Dr. Tobias Kohler (0:00)

We have a problem with men's health overall in the United States and in the world. Longevity for men is 50 years behind the times.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (0:08)

Men die earlier than women.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (0:11)

If you compare how long men live now, it's identical as to what it was in women 50 years ago. If you look at the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States, the men are winning in 9 of the 10

I want people to be proactive, not reactive. You got to take command of your own health. The human body is amazing. We do have this incredible marker, which men are very sensitive to.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (0:49)

Dr. Tobias Kohler, welcome back to the show. And I have to say, your episode was one of our most watched episodes.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (0:56)

Thank you for having me back. It's quite an honor.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (0:59)

You said that the penis is the most sensitive biomarker a man has.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (1:05)

Yeah, I still believe it's true.

The penis is the check engine light, canary in the coal mine, whatever saying you want to utilize because in order for it to function on all cylinders, your body has to be willing to give resources there. As you know, if you're sick, if you're not feeling all of your stress, the body shunts resources towards the brain, right? So first of all, it means you're overall healthy. You have to have excellent blood supply. You have to have normal nerves. Your hormones have to be on point. And if any of these things are missing, it won't work.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (1:40)

We are hearing a lot of information on the women's health space right now, which is a long overdue. But you and I were talking about before the camera started, and you had mentioned something in terms of, number one, men die earlier than women. But also you had mentioned something about the way in which we look at men's health.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (2:01)

You know, it's just a fact that the average man in the United States lives to age 76 The average age a woman dies is 81 Women, yay, they get to live five years longer. If we were to look back in time, if you compare how long men live now, at age 65, what their mortality is at age 65, it's identical as to what it was in women 50 years ago.

Meaning that essentially longevity for men is 50 years behind the times. If you look at the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States, the men are winning in nine of the 10, and the only one that women are winning in is, can you guess?

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (2:41)

Well, you told me, so it's Alzheimer's. I'm not so sure if I'm supposed to act dumb because I didn't mean to help with that. But when you say winning, you're talking about chronic disease.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (2:51)

It's the bad type of winning.

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (2:52)

Right. You don't want to win at that.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (2:53)

Yeah, you definitely don't want to win at dying earlier. We have a problem with men's health overall in the United States and in the world. It's something that I think needs to be addressed. It comes from a variety of reasons. Number one, men are a lot less likely to seek health care than women. They're 33% less likely to just even go to the doctor in the first place. Number two, men are much less likely to talk to their friends or family about any medical problems that they may be having. You know, the phrase, I'm healthy as a horse, I haven't seen a doctor in so long. That's not a good thing. It's a bad thing. The other thing that's different is when kids go to pediatricians, girls get handed off to the OB-GYN doctors and boys get handed off to, most often, no one. So there's this period of time where men learn not to go to the doctor, 10, 20 years. And these are the prime years where we can do screening, we can do education, we can prevent things like suicide, which is four times higher. You're much more likely to die from suicide because men typically choose much more...

Dr. Gabrielle Lyon (3:59)

Aggressive.

Dr. Tobias Kohler (3:59)

Aggressive solutions, so to speak. There's a difference in mental health acquisition. You know, that's why I think it's something that needs to be worked on. And I'm very excited to see that currently there is a bill on the floor, which is for an Office of Men's Health.