Men’s Health Week runs every year in June.
There’s a lot of noise around men’s health. Campaigns, statistics, the occasional stern headline. Some of it lands. A lot of it doesn’t.
What actually tends to work is a straightforward conversation. No lecture, no guilt trip. Just: here’s what we know, here’s what’s worth paying attention to, and here’s what a GP visit actually looks like if you haven’t been in a while.
That’s what this is.
Men’s Health in Australia: Heart Disease, Mental Health and the Data Behind It
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare’s 2024 Burden of Disease Study found that the leading causes of health loss for Australian men are coronary heart disease, back pain, and suicide and self-inflicted injuries.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) was the leading single cause of burden for males, accounting for 7.2% of total male disease burden. In 2024, the overall burden from cardiovascular disease for males was 1.9 times as high as for females, after adjusting for age.
That’s not a scare tactic. It’s worth saying because most of the risk factors sitting behind that number are things GP Care can help with. Blood pressure. Cholesterol. Weight. How much you’re moving. How much you’re sleeping. These are the basics, and the basics add up.
The gap extends beyond cardiovascular disease. Men also experience a fatal burden from all diseases combined at 1.6 times the rate of women, according to the same report. While biology plays a role, health outcomes are also influenced by lifestyle factors, preventive care, and how early problems are identified and managed.
Men’s Mental Health: Why It’s One of the Biggest Health Risks Australian Men Face
We know this topic doesn’t always feel like a natural fit for a health check. But the data makes a pretty clear case for including it.
According to Beyond Blue, only 37% of men reach out for support when they need it. Suicide and self-inflicted injuries are among the top three causes of disease burden for Australian men overall, and remain the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44.
The reasons men don’t seek help are well documented and have nothing to do with weakness or not caring. Self-reliance is a genuinely useful quality. It just has a point at which it stops serving you, and that point is easier to find when someone you trust asks the right questions.
We ask. It’s a normal part of an appointment at Sandstone, not a separate, uncomfortable conversation bolted on at the end or ignored in the interests of time.
What a Men’s Health Check Covers – Body and Mind
If you haven’t had a health check in a couple of years, here’s what a GP will typically look at.
Blood pressure.
High blood pressure usually has no symptoms at all, which is exactly why it’s worth checking. It’s one of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular disease, and it’s straightforward to manage once you know it’s there.
Cholesterol and blood sugar.
A simple blood test gives a picture of your cardiovascular risk and can pick up early signs of type 2 diabetes. Earlier detection is better with both.
Weight and waist measurement.
This is about understanding your risk profile, not about aesthetics. Carrying weight around the middle is associated with higher risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and it’s useful information to have.
Bowel cancer screening.
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme sends a free home test kit to all Australians aged 45 to 74. It’s quick, it’s private, and it finds things early when they’re far easier to deal with. If yours is sitting in a drawer somewhere, now’s a good time to use it.
Sleep, Mood, Energy and Stress – Clinically Relevant Questions
How you’re going generally. Sleep, energy, mood, stress. These aren’t soft questions. They’re clinically relevant, and changes in any of them can point toward something worth looking at more closely.
Book a Men’s Health Check in Brisbane – Physical and Mental Health
We book enough time to have a proper conversation. We’re not trying to get through six people an hour.
If you come in for a health check, we’ll go through the relevant tests, talk through what the results mean for you specifically, and be clear about whether anything needs following up. If everything looks good, we’ll tell you that too. The point is that you leave knowing where you stand.
Men’s Health Week, which takes place every June, is a good prompt if you’ve been meaning to book something and haven’t got around to it. But honestly, any week works.
Appointments at Sandstone Healthcare Yeerongpilly
If you’d like to book a health check at Sandstone Healthcare Yeerongpilly, you can do that online through our website or by calling the practice.
Further Reading: Trusted Australian Resources on Men’s Health
- The health of men in Australia (AIHW, 2024): A thorough overview of men’s health across the life course, including chronic disease, mental health, and key risk factors.
- Men’s mental health (Beyond Blue): Plain-language information on mental health for men, including why help-seeking can feel hard and what to do about it.
- National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme (Australian Government): Details on the free home screening kit available to Australians aged 45 to 74.
- Heart, stroke and vascular disease: Australian facts (AIHW): Current data on cardiovascular disease in Australia, including risk factors and burden of disease.
