One doctor told me he had seen men in the throes of a heart attack deny that there was anything wrong. And, a friend who was approaching middle age told me that he didn't go to the doctor because if there was anything wrong he didn't want to know about it.
That characteristic of men makes the following advice, which came from several reliable sources, hard to take. When it comes to voiding one's bladder, standing up is the manly thing to do, but research has shown that sitting down is healthier.
According to research from the Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, sitting down allows for ‘"a more favorable urodynamic profile." In non-scientific terms that means the flow is stronger. Why is that important? It helps ward off that old man botheration - prostate problems.
The study suggests that when a man voids his bladder while standing, it activates muscles around the lower abdomen, pelvis and spine which actually prevents proper urination.
The report says that sitting down is actually the best option for men with prostate problems or for men who, for whatever reason, can't stand up for a long time. For men with prostate problems fully evacuating the bladder is a problem and sitting down can help get those last few squirts out.
The Dutch research also suggested that problems with standing also arise because men engage extra pee-stifling muscles while using public toilets. The reason? The muscles engaged to hold in the loud and embarrassing passing of gas are also muscles involved in preventing further urination.
Culturally men just don't empty their bladders in this fashion, but countries such as Sweden and Japan are actively encouraging men to do so.
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