As a nearly 40-year-old man, I am gathering reasons to go to the doctor the way a rolling katamari ball collects cars and pedestrians.

Suppose I were like many men of the modern era. In that case, some of these illnesses that I now have to just deal with for life might've killed me a long time ago. Because, statistically speaking, men are dying from preventable diseases at significantly higher rates than women. And a big reason for that is that they won't get checked out.

It's an old stereotype that a stoic man would rather grit and bear the pain of whatever ails him than go to the doctor and, God forbid, have to take some pills. It's a stereotype that somehow persists into 2025, as doctors and public health experts told the New York Times they've been waving red flags about this for years.

Men aren't only avoiding care because it's inaccessible, although that's also a factor. They're staying away from the doctor because of deep-rooted habits, embarrassment, and a general "I'm fine" attitude.

You won't be fine when you're crying family is sitting your urn on a shelf.

Heart disease is a big reason, as, according to the New York Times, it kills men at a "substantially higher rate than women." As Futurism dug up, a 1990s American Heart Association study showed that men made up 75 percent of sudden cardiac deaths.

It's not that the signs of heart disease are too subtle to notice. It's because men actively ignore them until it's too late. Coronary artery disease is treatable. But you actually have to show up at the doctor's to receive treatment. And no, you're not going to be saved by whatever dips**t alternative medicine loser you follow on TikTok.

Then there's prostate cancer. One in eight men will get it. One in 44 will die from it. And yet many men still act like getting a prostate exam is a bigger indignity than dying in their 60s. Dr. Eric Wallen of the Medical University of South Carolina says men often dismiss screenings entirely, even though they have symptoms, like frequent nighttime urination.

It's their body's way of telling them that they should get checked out. Besides, if you're really so insecure that you think the old finger-up-the-butt prostate exam is too gay for you, prostate cancer can also be detected with a blood test nowadays called a PSA test.

Ask your doctor about it. As I mentioned earlier, I'm about to turn 40, so this whole world of prostate health is something I'm about to become very familiar with and will embrace with open arms (and butt cheeks) if necessary.

The problem got worse post-COVID, which killed men at higher rates and also normalized telehealth. ED meds like Viagra and Cialis, once a gateway to broader health conversations with doctors, can now be ordered through apps. That's cutting out a whole doctor visit that men could have used to casually toss in concerns like "Oh, in addition to my floppy c**k, is it normal to cough blood into a handkerchief like someone with tuberculosis in an old western?"

A lot of it is avoidable. You have to take that first step and make that goddamn appointment.