Do men’s health needs change with aging?

A man’s health needs begin to change after age 40. According to a June, 2025 article by family practice physician Dr. William Wagner, “Hormones shift. Muscle mass declines. The risk for chronic conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes starts rising.”

If you are approaching midlife and you feel great now, you may unconsciously believe you’ll always be in peak health. If so, you would be wise to think twice. As 20th century Polish author Stanis?aw Jerzy Lec reminds us, “Youth is the gift of nature, but aging is a work of art.”

During middle age, all men experience changing health needs. Common age-related processes include lower testosterone levels, increasing visceral fat, less energy, achy joints and muscles, poor sleep, urinary problems due to BPH, higher prostate cancer risk, even mood and mental changes.

Thus, the Sperling Prostate Center supports the principle that midlife is the ideal time for men to take control of healthy aging.

Is there a way to know how long you will live?

If you had a crystal ball, it might predict how many years lie ahead for you. Unfortunately, no such magic exists to guide pacing your way into aging as a work of art.

Ask yourself, how long can I expect to live? That number refers to your longevity, or lifespan. Now ask yourself, how many of those years will I be in good health? That’s a different question.

To help find reasonable answers, the University of Connecticut’s Goldenson Center created a Life Expectancy Calculator. It offers a simple questionnaire on your personal history and current lifestyle. It then calculates how many healthy years lie ahead for you, how many unhealthy years will follow, and totals them up. Assuming you change nothing going forward, it then approximates your age at death.

But that’s not all. The beauty of the calculator is bonus information at the very end. Based on your answers to the lifestyle questions, it calculates how much time you can add to your life expectancy by making specific lifestyle changes! It addresses lifestyle habits such as

• The amount of exercise you get
• A healthier BMI (Body Mass Index)
• How much sleep you get
• Alcohol consumption
• Smoking

Try it for yourself, and see how you can add not just years to your lifespan, but how many of those will be healthy.

What are some specific changes men can make as they age?

Health expert Dr. Natalie Barclay identifies proactive health investments men can make in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. Here is a summary of her key points.

• 40s – As testosterone levels start to drop, strength training is recommended to maintain muscle mass and tone. This is also a stage in which weight begins to creep up, and waist measurement increases. Thus, it’s a good time to shift away from liquid calories, especially alcohol reduction, and avoid fast food and convenience meals. Aiming for 150 minutes of exercise a week helps keep weight down and establishes a foundation for long term cardiovascular health.
• 50s – Commit to regular checkups on prostate health, blood pressure and cholesterol. Many men begin to experience urinary changes due to prostate enlargement. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, and talk with your doctor about urinary problems. Keep up the strength training.
• 60s – Make a shift toward lower impact exercise like swimming or cycling. Pay attention to your ability to balance, as older men may begin to find falling an issue. This is also a decade to monitor blood sugar and cholesterol, and have doctor-patient discussions about medications such as statin drugs if necessary.
• 70s and beyond – Preserving mobility and balance is essential, especially as deterioration in eyesight and hearing affect how well you move and respond to stimuli. Programs like tai chi and yoga help with flexibility, balance and movement as well as strength.

Don’t forget cognitive and mental health. It’s not just physical systems and senses that are affected by aging, but the whole person and his quality of life. Dr. Barclay points out, “Research suggests that people who remain physically fit, eat a nutrient-dense diet and stay cognitively active by getting involved in things like volunteering and crossword puzzles might be able to slow the onset of dementia.”^[i]

Dr. Dan Sperling emphasizes that Dr. Barclay’s advice respects how each decade from age 40 onward brings physical and cognitive challenges associated with growing older. Her recommendations are therefore age appropriate. While Dr. Sperling specializes in prostate health, particularly BPH and prostate cancer, he has always maintained that choosing a healthy lifestyle supports a healthy prostate.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Q: Are exercise and diet connected with prostate health?

A: Exercise and diet are absolutely connected with prostate health. At the Sperling Prostate Center, we know that what’s good for the heart is good for the prostate, and vice versa. Check out our blog section for specific research-based information on how workouts and nutrition help prevent prostate cancer by discouraging tumor biology, preventing chronic inflammation, reducing belly fat, etc.

Q: Can testosterone cause prostate cancer?

A: No, testosterone cannot cause prostate cancer. This belief partly came about because of the discovery that patients with prostate cancer that had spread beyond the gland went into a sort of temporary remission when their bodies were deprived of testosterone (androgen deprivation therapy). However, eventually their cancer “outsmarted” the therapy and came back. We now know that testosterone replacement therapy is safe after successful treatment for localized prostate cancer if the patient also has low testosterone (as measured by a blood test).

Content reviewed by Dr. Dan Sperling, M.D., DABR — updated July 2026.

NOTE: This content is solely for purposes of information and does not substitute for diagnostic or medical advice. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing pelvic pain, or have any other health concerns or questions of a personal medical nature.

References

[i] “Lifestyle changes men should make in their 40s, 50s, 60s & beyond.” Updated July 9, 2026. RTE Irish media. https://www.rte.ie/lifestyle/living/2026/0709/1582564-lifestyle-changes-men-should-make-in-their-40s-50s-60s-beyond/

About Dr. Dan Sperling

Dan Sperling, MD, DABR, is a board certified radiologist who is globally recognized as a leader in multiparametric MRI for the detection and diagnosis of a range of disease conditions. As Medical Director of the Sperling Prostate Center, Sperling Medical Group and Sperling Neurosurgery Associates, he and his team are on the leading edge of significant change in medical practice. He is the co-author of the new patient book Redefining Prostate Cancer, and is a contributing author on over 25 published studies. For more information, contact the Sperling Prostate Center.