44% of Men Die Prematurely

44% of men die prematurely in Canada. Most likely higher in the US. But what about men with Huntington's Disease?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:16):
It's time to speak up, It's time to speak out.
Welcome to We have a Voice. Community discussions about Huntington's
Disease and Juvenile Huntington's Disease show host James Valvano, You
are loved. They say men are tough, stoic, strong, unshakable,

(00:46):
But seventy five thousand men died early in twenty twenty three.
It's Canadian men. Seventy five thousand. Now I pause because
I just want to let that number echo for a second.
That's a packed hockey stadium, gone, every seat, every cheer, silenced,

(01:09):
and not from natural causes, from causes we might have prevented,
causes like suicide, cancer, heart disease, opioid overdose, overdose, and accidents,
things that in many cases gave warning signs, signs that
were ignored, missed, or just never understood. According to Statistics

(01:34):
Canada and a CBC report, forty four percent of Canadian
men are dying prematurely. That's nearly half. Now, it says
Canadian men. Now, we know the statistics say or show
that Canadians live just a few years a little longer

(01:55):
than our American counterparts. So if that's the case, then
probably that number is a little higher in the United States.
Now here's something even harder to swallow. Three in four
suicides in Canada are men. That's not a statistic, that's

(02:17):
a scream. That's a whole gender quietly unraveling behind closed
doors while pretending everything's fine. And it's worse. For Indigenous men.
The damage is deeper, the silence heavier, the system less forgiving.
Why why are we letting men fall through the cracks?

(02:40):
Because they don't ask for help, because they're taught not to,
because they don't always have the words to describe what's
happening in their bodies or in their minds, Because stigma
still tells men tough it out, because gender bias still
whispers you'll be fine, And because low health literacy still

(03:03):
yells you're overreacting until it's too late. But it gets
worse when you zoom in. Let's talk about something personal,
something genetic, something cruel. Let's talk about Huntington's disease. Most
people don't even know what it is, but if you

(03:24):
do know, it's likely because it's touched your family. And
when it touches, it doesn't tap you lightly. It rips
through generations Huntington's is a genetic neurological disorder. It's uncommon,
it's progressive, it's fatal. There's no cure. If you have

(03:45):
the gene, you will develop the disease. It's not if,
it's when. And for many men, the signs start small.
A bit of clumsiness, some mood changes, a short temper,
may be some forgetfulness. But those symptoms they can be
dismissed as stress, as aging, as just having a bad week,

(04:10):
and they often are because men don't want to admit
something might be wrong. They don't want to talk about
brain fog or coordination issues. They don't want to be vulnerable,
so they wait, and the disease moves, and the window
to prepare closes. And for the men who know they

(04:33):
carry the gene but don't want to be tested, the
fear of confirmation is paralyzing. They walk around with a
silent countdown in their head, every dropped key, every emotional outburst,
wondering is this it? Has it started? And if their
father or they may they may have passed it on unknowingly, unintentionally.

(04:58):
That guild is a bee no man should have to
carry alone. Now, combine that fear with a system where
men are already less likely to seek help, less likely
to understand medical terms, less likely to attend preventive screenings,
and more likely to die by suicide. It's not just heartbreaking,
it's enraging. We need to start asking what is masculinity

(05:24):
worth if it comes at the cost of men's lives?
What good is being strong if strength means silence? And
here's the part that's often forgotten. Huntington's disease doesn't just
affect the body. It affects identity, personality changes, anger, depression, impulsiveness.

(05:46):
Relationships shatter not just because of what the disease does,
but because of how it distorts who a man believes
he is. Imagine knowing your body is betraying you and
your mind is slipping, and the people around you don't
recognize you, and you don't even recognize yourself. That's not
just a disease. That's a war on the soul. And

(06:09):
too often men are fighting that war alone. But what
if we stopped framing health as weakness. What if we
reframed masculinity to include bravery in asking for help. What
if vulnerability wasn't seen as a crack in the armor
but the key to surviving and surviving is not enough.

(06:31):
We want living, laughing, connecting, growing old, with dignity and care.
We want men to feel like they deserve to live
because they do so. Let's make space for indigenous men,
for rural men, for quiet men, for angry men, for
scared men, for fathers and brothers and friends who are

(06:54):
just trying, just trying to get by. Let's educate, let's
Listen's normalize going to the doctor without shame. Let's talk
about diseases like Huntington's without whispering. Let's dismantle the idea
that being a real man means walking through fire alone,

(07:14):
because too many are dying before they've ever had the
chance to ask for help. And I'm done watching the
stadium empty. Let's change the score. If you're a man
listening right now and you're scared something's wrong, or maybe
nothing is wrong, but you haven't seen a doctor in years,

(07:35):
let today be the day, make the call, ask the question.
You don't have to be strong in silence. You could
be strong by speaking up because we need you here, alive,
wholesale and scene, and remember you are loved. M