-Dr.Dianne McCallister, Chief Medical Officer at Porter Adventist Hospital

Father's Day is this Sunday, when we focus on the men in our lives. What better way to celebrate men than Mens Health Month?

And the good news is that according to the CDC, men, in general, are healthier now than they were in 1990 - in fact the average life expectancy of men has gone up by 3.5 years since then, however, it is still 5 years less than women.

It is not a huge surprise men are living longer - we have many new treatments for heart disease, cancer and trauma that have impacted our ability to treat the diseases that affect men.

However, there is still a lot of room for improvement, and many men continue to die younger than they should.

So, what are the most common causes of death for men?

For men under 35, the leading causes of death are: unintentional injuries, cancer and homicide. For men over the age of 35: heart disease, cancer (particularly prostate, colon and lung) followed by unintentional injury and lung diseases.

Difference Between Men And Women

Women have lower rates of death from the top ten leading causes of death in the United States.

In particular, deaths from unintentional injury are significantly higher in men - so this needs to be a major focus of prevention.

The statistics are staggering - teenage males are twice as likely to die in an auto accident as females the same age.

Men of all ages are 3.7 times more likely to drown, and are more likely to have traumatic brain injury. In addition, suicide rates are higher in men than women.

Prevention

Fortunately, all of these problems are preventable, so we can make a huge impact on the lives of the men we care about.

It is recommended that men get regular checkups and discuss their familys health history with their doctors to focus prevention in areas of most concern.

Many studies show that people live longer and are happier when they are part of a community - so do things with friends and family, become a part of a spiritual community, volunteer - its all good for your health!