Prostate Cancer

Munier Zaitoon, a Greensburg urologist.

"I've seen more patients at an earlier stage than before, and the encouragement of their wives helps a lot," Zaitoon says.

Some men, such as Tom Forgrave, of Ross, freely admit that they are not eager to see their doctors, but often are grateful when their wives talk them into it.

"I usually don't go to the doctor unless I get bugged a couple of times," Forgrave, 61, says.

His wife, Susan, encourages him to go, and now he makes an appointment with his doctor at least twice a year.

If you want your husband to get better health care, consider these suggestions from local and national physicians: Try to understand the psyche of maleness: Men are performance-oriented, but don't respond well to pain and need.

"He won't go a doctor for chest pain, but he'll go to a doctor for Viagra," Bonhomme says.

"They're not as responsive to pain or fear, but they will do things in order to be able to perform better." With this in mind, try to tap into your husband's desire to perform better in life, to be more productive and virile, and to be more attractive.

Health care, then, becomes more attractive to him, when the motivation is that he will perform better.

"What's really funny about men is that, if a man's driving a car and the car makes a funny noise under the hood, he's under the hood in a snap, like a bolt of lightning," Bonhomme says.

"If we can get men to take care of their bodies the...

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