How a Brush With Death Fueled Dr. Leo Moore’s Guide to Men’s Health

Youthful and athletic, a black goatee framing his Hollywood smile, Leo Moore is a Black man who clearly takes care of himself. He also takes care of others: a practicing physician in Los Angeles, Moore specializes in HIV prevention, but also regularly dispenses wellness, diet, and workout tips on social media, often during his regular trips to the gym. 

Yet when attendants wheeled him into an operating room for routine elective surgery in January 2023, Moore almost didn’t make it out alive. In the middle of the procedure, on the operating table, his heart stopped cold. It didn’t beat again for an astonishing 9 minutes, 25 seconds. 

No one, not even the surgeons who worked frantically to revive him, could explain it. Moore’s pre-surgical vital signs and tests were normal; “I had been eating well, exercising, getting my sleep,” he says. Miraculously, Moore suffered no brain damage and hit the gym just days after leaving the hospital. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t changed.

“I emerged from that experience with even bigger fire, because I realized that there's more that I'm meant to do,” says Moore, medical director for clinic services at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. “If I can survive nine minutes and 25 seconds, then I'm on this Earth for a reason. Let me do what I'm here to do.”

That purpose emerges in Moore’s new book, “The Men’s Preventive Health Guide: What to Check, When to Check It and Why it Matters.” It’s an owner’s manual for men, with chapters arranged by age range: 20s, 30s, 40s, and so on. Along with a summary of what to expect, health-wise, in each decade, there are health markers and data men should keep an eye on as they age, such as cholesterol levels, blood pressure, liver function, and PSA numbers. The chapters also recommend age-appropriate vaccines, screenings and topics to discuss with a doctor in the examination room.. 

His intent, Moore says, is to help Black men avoid a fate like his - especially one with an unhappy ending. 

He only survived a nine-minute heart attack “[because] my body was in peak health,” says Moore, who oversees public health centers throughout Los Angeles County that specialize in HIV prevention, sexually transmitted infections, and refugee health.

“Hopefully, there will never be a cardiac arrest,” he says. “But it could be a car accident. It could be, from a mental health perspective, the loss of a family member or a relationship ending. But if we prime our bodies, if something happens to us, we are more likely to be able to either reverse it or to recover from it.”

The Reckoning caught up with Moore to talk about his book, why men are less likely to take their sons to the doctor, and why comedian D.L. Hughley has set an example more men should follow. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity. 

The Reckoning: You’ve had quite the journey so far. You come from a family of nurses. You trained at Yale University School of Medicine, and you were Men’s Health Magazine 2024 Ultimate Guy. What inspired you to write this book? 

Dr. Leo Moore: This idea came about from community conversations. It came about from presentations that I've given where I'm talking with men, and I always will go through the different decades and the tests and vaccines that they should have. I noticed they would say, ‘Well, I need this in a way that I can take to my doctor's appointment with me.’ 

My goal is truly for it to be able to reach as many men as possible. Yes, I could have spent a year or so and written a 300-page book that goes into detail about every little piece. But my thinking is, the need is now. The need is now, particularly for our community — for Black men. 

TR: For sure, Black men have worse health outcomes than white men. But why do you think Black men in particular need a book like this? Aren’t doctor visits enough? 

Moore: It's not everyone's experience, but I do think that there are many [Black] men who are still struggling with medical distrust. It could be rooted in concerns around discrimination. It could be rooted in actual experiences that either they or their family members had. It could also be fear that they would go in and receive a diagnosis that they weren't expecting. Some men would rather not know.

It also could be a concern about (how do I want to phrase this) not being seen as vulnerable, being seen as weak, if you will. Men, and particularly Black men, are taught that you are supposed to be strong. You're supposed to be the head of the household. You go out and get the bacon and you bring it back. And I think for many they would rather focus on caring for other people than actually focus on their own health care. As a kid, I don't remember a single time hearing my dad saying he had gone to the doctor. And I definitely have never been to the doctor with my dad.

“If I can survive nine minutes and 25 seconds, then I’m on this Earth for a reason. Let me do what I’m here to do.”

— Leo Moore, MD, MSHPM

TR: That’s really interesting. Why do you think that is? 

Moore: There is not a natural entry point into health care for men. Women are in with an OB/GYN very [young], whereas for men, we have to be intentional about tapping in and staying connected to health care. Many of the diseases that are killing us are diseases that you would not detect unless you're being screened regularly. 

TR: Talk a little more about that.  

Moore: I can't tell you how many times I've had conversations with men in the community and said, ‘When's the last time you saw a doctor?’ And they can't remember. So this book is an instruction manual. My thinking for this is, let's break this down in a way that any man can understand. 

Let's make it clear in a way that you know what tests you should be receiving when you should be receiving them. And let's make this shareable as easy as possible to loan to your friend or to discuss with your friend and feel that if you leave them with the book, they will be able to understand what they should be doing for themselves.

TR: I understand that, after your presentations, men will often ask you questions that they don’t feel comfortable asking their own doctor.  Is that right? 

Moore: It's definitely a common experience. I was being pulled to the side about different questions in a way that I knew that they were comfortable in part, and in a major part, because I look like them.

The number of Black doctors is not nearly what we need it to be in order to be able to care for our entire population. I have seen strong and beautiful relationships between black men and doctors who are white and of other races. 

I'll give you a great example: D.L. Hugely and his doctor. He posted about this, maybe a week ago. He’s at his doctor’s, where he's there to get his PSA and his digital rectal exam. And you can see him in the camera, and behind him is his doctor with a glove. And [Hughley] is smiling and joking with his doctor like, you know, ‘Don't get too close. It's about that time for me to get my PSA.’ He didn't say digital rectal exam, but we knew what he was getting, and he wanted to talk about it for all of his followers.

TR: So what advice do you have for finding a doctor like D.L. Hughley’s? 

Moore: Step one is truly to shop around for the best provider for you, someone you feel is making the space and taking the initiative to actually get to know about you as a person; not just your healthcare, but who you are. That connection, I think, is so important. And if you feel that someone cares genuinely about you, then maybe you're more likely to push through the anxiety or feeling embarrassed about something that you have to share with them.

Doctors are in the customer service industry as well. You are our customer. You could go elsewhere for your care, and should go elsewhere if you're not getting the care that you feel that you deserve. So shop around and if you feel rushed, if you feel that they don't care, if you feel that they are not listening to what your concern is at that moment, and they come in the room with just their agenda for what they think that you need, that's not the doctor for you. 

“There is not a natural entry point into health care for men. Women are in with an OB/GYN very [young], whereas for men, we have to be intentional about tapping in and staying connected to health care.”

— Leo Moore, MD, MSHPM

TR: You shared in our interview that you leaned into HIV treatment when a close friend tested positive. But the HIV rates among Black people are still rising. People struggle to tell their doctors, or be honest and open with their sexual health.

Moore: Sex is still very taboo in medical education as well. People who are coming out of medical school who aren't comfortable with sex, just as a person. Then they didn't receive a lot of training on it in medical school. Then they get the residency, and they're the people who are kind of chuckling when there's someone who comes in and they have to do a digital rectal exam, and the rectum is a little bit looser than they would have expected. 

I currently work for the health department. Our clinics don't offer HIV care, so it's mostly prevention. I also oversee a few sexual health clinics and a few tuberculosis clinics. But my focus has been ensuring that men know about their [HIV] status. 

TR: Tell me about the role mental health plays in how men stay healthy. It seems that the stigma around taking care of your mind is easing a bit. 

Moore: I'm so glad to see the way that it is easing. You see more men talking about journaling, about meditation, more men talking about seeing a therapist, amazing organizations doing the work around men and masculinity and mental health, [including] the Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective. Even just getting men into the mindset of what self care looks like — getting your mental health in order. 

There's so many signs that our bodies give us, but many of us are not attuned to those signs and in tune with ourselves. The more that we see other men becoming in tune with ourselves and feel comfortable saying the things that otherwise men wouldn't have said 20 years ago, the more men will feel that they can do that too, and that they can let those walls down.