Almost every man worries about erectile dysfunction (ED) at some point in his life. For some it is simply an occasional bad night, perhaps after too much alcohol, a stressful week at work or poor sleep. For others it develops gradually and begins to affect confidence, relationships and self-esteem. Many men say nothing for months or even years, hoping the problem will simply disappear.

Following on from last week’s blog about central and visceral fat, it feels right to look more closely at fatty liver and why it matters. Most of us think of liver disease as something caused by alcohol. That is understandable. Alcohol can damage the liver, and for many years it dominated the public conversation. But there is another form of liver disease that is now extremely common. It is linked less to alcohol and more to the way modern life affects our metabolism, through

I say this as a GP, but also as a man who has had to deal with it. Central weight can creep on quietly. It can happen during busy years, stressful years, family years, working years, or simply because habits change and the body changes with them.

The prostate is in the news again this week as Jeremy Clarkson has revealed that he is sadly suffering from prostate cancer. Lets help use this as an opportunity to raise awareness. I wish him all the best and am pleased to say that the overall 5 year survival for all stages of cancer of the prostate taken together is an excellent 97-98%.

Many of the conditions that affect men do not appear suddenly. Heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, frailty, poor mental health and loss of independence often develop over many years, and can often be prevented.

By Dr Mick Watts MBBS MRCGP (Dr Mick Watts is a GP in Windsor with a particular interest in men’s health, healthy ageing and lifestyle medicine.) My aim with these blogs is to explore men’s health in a way that is useful not only to men, but also to the people who live with them, love them, work with them and care for them. The way men respond to health and wellbeing is often shaped by our maleness. Not just by biology, but by the expectations we absorb from childhood onwards

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