Movember
Let’s begin with this - https://www.youtube.com/user/movembertv
The month of November has made a branding transformation over the past few years, thanks to the Australian born Movember movement. In 2003, 2 mates from Melbourne, inspired by their friends’ mum who was fundraising for breast cancer, decided to reach out to their contacts and create the first movement for the month of Movember, raising awareness for men’s health and prostate cancer.
What originally started out as a fun way for men to increase awareness amongst the brother-hood, has grown and morphed into a global movement. Now over 5.5 million brothers and sisters have participated in a range of activities, bringing light and discussion to men’s health topics and of course growing a Mo, aka, moustache.
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer that men can be affected by. It develops when abnormal cells in the prostate gland replicate in an uncontrolled way, forming a malignant tumour.
In Canada, 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Every day, 63 men are diagnosed, and 11 die from the disease. In Australia, around 16,700 men will be diagnosed this year and in the US, again, 1 in 9 will also be diagnosed. If you are over the age of 40, prostate cancer appears to become a more common diagnosis and unfortunately, black men do have a slightly higher risk factor.
Even though there is a high incidence rate/diagnosis of prostate cancer, it is not necessarily the end. The 5 year survival rate for men diagnosed with early stage prostate cancer is around 95%. Early detection is the best way to protect ourselves from becoming a statistic from more advanced metastatic cancer (cancer that has spread to other areas of the body) associated with prostate cancer.
Here is a great video from the Canadiana Cancer Society that is worth watching or sharing with a man over the age 40 https://www.prostatecancer.ca/Prostate-Cancer/About-Prostate-Cancer
Prostate cancer can present in a few different ways, but it is important to note that early stage prostate cancer may not present symptoms.
Advanced prostate cancer symptoms can include:
frequent urination
pain while urinating
blood in the urine or semen
a weak stream
pain in the back or pelvis
weak legs or feet.
More widespread disease often spreads to the bones and causes pain or unexplained weight loss and fatigue.
Causes can be attributed to age (increasing rapidly over 50), family history of prostate, breast or ovarian cancer, especially BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, a father or brother diagnosed with prostate cancer before the age of 60.
There is an association with high testosterone levels also.
If in doubt, get it checked out!
Testicular Cancer
While we are down there, we should address another common cancer for men - testicular cancer. Affecting men aged between 18 and 50. If detected early testicular cancer has a high 5-year survival rate at 98%. So early detection is our best line of defence.
Similarly to prostate cancer, testicular cancer may cause no symptoms. The most common symptom is a painless swelling or a lump in a testicle.
Less common symptoms include:
feeling of heaviness in the scrotum
change in the size or shape of the testicle
feeling of unevenness
pain or ache in the lower abdomen, the testicle or scrotum
back pain
enlargement or tenderness of the breast tissue (due to hormones created by cancer cells).
Causes may be attributed to family history (father or a brother who have had testicular cancer) or having an undescended testicle (when an infant).
Diagnosis can be via ultrasound or blood tests. If it is suspected that cancer is residing in the testical, removal may be recommended.
Knowing what is going on with your nuts could just save your life! Watch - https://au.movember.com/mens-health/testicular-cancer
Once again early diagnosis is best, so when in doubt, get it checked out!
Suicide - Lets talk about it.
In Australia, suicide is the number one way that a man aged between 15-44 will die.
In Canada and the US, a similar trend is seen with many more attempts annually. Over 65,000 Australians attempt suicide annually (men and women). In Canada, there are around 4000 suicides per year and in the US, 48,000 per year. Globally, this year has been a challenging one to say the least with rates expected to rise due to COVID.
Regardless of where you reside, the typical age of those who commit suicide does not vary much and unlike cancer, where a wait and see approach resides, mental health is something that we, as a community need to address.
In all countries, there are resources to help men and women through challenging times such as websites & crisis call-lines, but the biggest impact is connectedness. Men and women feeling connected to their families, friends and community. Talking and spending time. In the age of ‘social media’ we need to be vigilant amongst our circles of friends and understand the signs that may appear. We are the best line of defence.
What to look for, direct excerpt from Beyond Blue website:
Non-verbal indicators may include:
social withdrawal
a persistent drop in mood
disinterest in maintaining personal hygiene or appearance
uncharacteristically reckless behaviour
poor diet changes, rapid weight changes
being distracted
anger
insomnia
alcohol or drug abuse
giving away sentimental or expensive possessions
Indirect verbal expressions may include:
hopelessness
failing to see a future
believing they are a burden to others
saying they feel worthless or alone
talking about their death or wanting to die.
This is not an exhaustive list. Be guided by your instincts.
The above topics may be challenging to have a conversation about, but really, they could save a life. So this Movember, celebrate the opportunity to participate in something fun and have some good discussions with the men around you. Celebrate their presence.