Are you in it for the long-term?

They're usually uncurable and often last a lifetime yet this section of malehealth on long-term health conditions, prepared specially for Men's Health Week 2007, is one of the most upbeat on the site. Why?

Because most of the men with long-term conditions (LTCs) that we've spoken to try to take the attitude: what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Nobody would volunteer for an LTC and they can be a right pain in the arse at times but it is also true that learning to live with them can teach you a lot about yourself, life and what's important.

What is an LTC?

Long-term conditions include diseases like arthritis, diabetes, asthma, migraine, many skin conditions, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, ME, Parkinson's Disease and many, many others. Any health challenge you have to deal with for a long-time. They're usually conditions that are, to use the medical jargon, 'chronic' rather than 'acute'. 

LTCs: Meet the men who know...

• 'When I got diabetes I thought my rowing career was over'

   

  Rower Steve Redgrave knows a bit about LTCs. He's got three. He's got five Olympic Golds too.

• Facing up to a long-term challenge

   

  James Partridge argues that people with facial disfigurements can be happier than Hollywood starlets

• 'My consultant told me my illness did not exist'

   

  Stephen Colver

  has had ME for 13 years - proof that the disease is a little more than 'yuppie flu'. 
• 'I'm much happier, truthful and accepting of myself'

   

  Arthritis is not a women's disease. It affects about 3.7 million men - that's right: 3,700,000. Mark has had it since he was 25 years old.

Arthritis can affect you at any age. Chef Ainsley Harriet, magician Paul Daniels and actor David Prowse who played Darth Vader in Star Wars all have the disease.  

Are LTCs common?

Very. Because we're getting better at treating diseases like cancer and heart failure which were once killers, the sorts of conditions that will be considered LTCs and therefore the number of men living with an LTC will increase considerably over the next few years.

Already, it is estimated that at least seven million men in the UK live with LTCs. As the graph shows, your chance of being affected tends to increase with age but even so at least one 30 year-old man in 10 is living with an LTC.

LTCs: All the advice and info you need...

• The secret of living with a long-term condition?

   

  Tips and advice from the men who know.
• A short guide to long-term conditions

   

  From MS to ME, depression to dementia, Parkinson's to prostate, all the starting points you need for the more common LTCs.

• Get the best out the NHS

   

  Despite its difficulties, the NHS is one of the best and fairest health systems in the world but it's big and complicated. As someone with an LTC you need to know your way around.

• Links for the celebrity pix: chef Ainsley Harriet, magician Paul Daniels and actor David Prowse.