Men have more heart problems than women with death rates doubling after age 40, Janet Ajuluchukwu, a professor of cardiology at the College of Medicine, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba has said.

She made this assertion while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview on Saturday in Lagos.

The professor said researches carried out proved that many men do not go to the hospital until too late and with late diagnosis, they were more prone to heart problems.

The cardiologist stressed the need for men to go for regular checkups because conditions such as hypertension do not come with obvious signs.

“Right now, my interest has gone to men because all over the world the men think that they are stronger.

“There is this perception that they are strong and that they won’t go to the hospital.

“They believe it is a sign of weakness to say they are sick and have gone to the hospital.

“Many patients will come and beat their chest and say, for the last 40 years, I have not been to the hospital.

“And I always tell them it is not responsible not to go to the hospital when you are sick,’’ she said.

Ms. Ajuluchukwu said women were more proactive and would usually take advantage of the opportunities they had to have themselves checked whenever they visited the hospital.

“Women have more opportunities. They take their mothers to hospital; they take their children to hospital; when they’re pregnant, they go for antenatal.

“They’re always around the healthcare professionals, so they take advantage of it,” she stressed.

She advised men to go for urine, blood pressure and sugar tests regularly.

The cardiologist said that healthcare professionals were searching for innovative ways targeted to reach out to men.

She urged everyone to help persuade the men around them to go for regular checkups.

“We want it to be everybody’s job. We have mothers, we have sisters and we have brothers. Let everybody try to encourage the men.”