Daffodil Day 2010 - How Cancer Aware Are You?

Dr Galen

Recently got some stuff through the door regarding the annual daffodil day, run here by the Irish Cancer Society.

Going back to our roots as the Mens Health forum, I thought it might be a good time to ask posters about how cancer aware they were?

The ICS provide a pretty good guide to all things manly and cancer here, well worth a read, no matter what age you are.

Questions for ya all.....

So when was the last time you checked your balls?
Have you ever checked the juniors?
If not, why not?


Are you one of our older gents, so then, when did you last get your PSA checked by the GP?
How would you recognise the signs and symptoms of Prostate cancer then?


Ever asked what your grandad, granny, mother, father, uncle Albert died of? Ever investigated your family risks of certain diseases, e.g diabetes?


Oh and just for everyones benefit, and in a way that beats the drool thread everytime I'll repost the Rachel Stevens video on the issue of ball cancer. You need sound to get the full benefit...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pu2K4eIqxd4

Khannie

Haven't done it in a while tbh and the last time I did was because I had a pain there (which I went to the doc about and turned out to be nothing serious, which was good).

So how often should we be doing this?

Dr Galen

Khannie are you seriously asking me how often you should be having a fondle of your nuts?

I'm thinking the obvious answer here.....;)

Handsome Bob

I regularly check downstairs. I know that cancer has been near non-existent among the males in my family. That being said I regularly read up on symptoms of the various forms of cancer. Also, I have unfortunately become over-confident because of the lack of cancer in my family history among males, I can't remember the last time I went for a check up.

krudler

Wait wait wait....

We now have an excuse to go rummaging for around in the basement?,I do that when I'm bored

Really though, I do check, its crazy not to, and guys really need to get over this "ah sure it'll be grand" attitude most of us have, I did then found what turned out to be a harmless cyst, wouldnt have let it there worrying about it though

Dr Galen

krudler wrote: »

Wait wait wait....

We now have an excuse to go rummaging for around in the basement?,I do that when I'm bored

Really though, I do check, its crazy not to, and guys really need to get over this "ah sure it'll be grand" attitude most of us have, I did then found what turned out to be a harmless cyst, wouldnt have let it there worrying about it though

and an even better excuse to get a lday friend to do the rummaging around for you.....;)

its actually a great way to do the checks without getting too serious about it.

mood

Guys there is a simple blood test that can be done to detect prostate cancer. Unfortunately I know about this because a family member has been diagnosed recently. Get checked.

I not 100% sure what age you should start getting checked. Maybe someone else might know.

Dr Galen

well if we're talking about Prostate cancer once you hit 40 its not a bad idea to start giving it some thought. Its true that cases in men that age are rare enough, but the age profile is getting lower and personally speaking I've seen quite a few men in with it who are in the early 40's bracket.

I'd love to see it become part of a Man's Healthcheck which would be free and given every 2 years by your GP.

Khannie

mood wrote: »

Guys there is a simple blood test that can be done to detect prostate cancer.

Yep. It's called a PSA test. I'll be getting them fairly soon. The oul' boy died of prostate cancer.

Dr Galen

well depends on age Khannie. If your under 40 its highly unlikely that your at risk, statistically anyway. Though its sometimes a good idea to keep an eye on things and put concerns to bed early.

Khannie

Ah, when I say "soon", I mean at around 40 I'll probably start getting annual PSA tests. I look after myself...exercise (very) regularly, eat (very) well, am lean, don't smoke, don't drink excessively. I've been meaning to investigate the factors influencing various cancer rates for a while. Might do it now.

Will

Stupidly aware. I've been checking the liathroidí on a forthnightly basis due to the previous threads on testicular cancer. About 3 weeks ago I found a small lump on lefty. Immediately I felt sick and a cold chill ran through me as cancer runs in my family. Being typically male I tried to ignore it for about a week or so, quite a sh¡tty week that week was. Anywho finally bit the bullet and went to my GP who had a fondle and told me was nothing much. If it gets any bigger to come back but that my balls were healthy and 'fluctuant' i.e had some bounce, I kid you not lol.
24 now, cancer doesn't give a fook what age or how healthy you are. Keep an eye on the lads.

Anywho yeah cheers guys.

Cicero

I'm 100% cancer aware in that a lot in my family have died from it...whether that means I am more cautious, and check out things more myself...probably not as much as I should ...thanks for the reminder :-)

Dr Galen

i have this image now of men going home to the missus and explaing that a monkey on the internet said she "had" to do it.

Thats great news lads though. If this thread causes even 4 blokes out of all the posters here to check or get checked, then it has served a purpose. Like our Circumcision thread, which really really highlights why this forum as a semi serious place to discuss these issues is so important.

cocoa

Hmm, sometimes I wonder how effective these awareness campaigns are in achieving their goals. I mean, when we think of awareness, what do we want to be aware of? How to avoid or reduce the impact of a disease, certainly, but what else? Who's in a high risk category would be nice, and what the general risk level is would be nice too. Comparing the risk to other diseases would be very nice. A book I read recently mentioned studies* claiming that in modern society, more pain and suffering is caused by the fear of and worry about cancer, than by the disease itself.

While I'm not suggesting that the disease be downplayed or that it isn't a danger, it worries me that sometimes all the awareness campaigns achieve is to convey two things, the disease exists, and it is scary. You might get some info about avoiding it, but no where will you receive any kind of grounding or reassurance that medicine is actually doing really well, which is one reason why cancer is more common than it was, people are living longer!

Anywho, my apologies for the slight off-topicness, good thread and it's all for the best the more people know.

* obviously this holds no actual weight, I can try and hunt down the actual studies if people are interested though...

Dr Galen

you probably right cocoa that it is a bit off topic, but I think its more than likely a good discussion. I'll have a think and see what I can come up with too. If you could dig out those studies or even the references that would be cool, but no hassle if you can't. Maybe we could start another thread?

Pete M.

Well I'd say I probably know my nuts as well as the back of me hand, if not better.

As for awareness, me Ma died of bowel cancer years ago and me old Man is struggling along with a type of leukaemia for the past four or five years.
Was told he had six months initially, so he's doing well.
Other relatives have died from similar cancers previously, so I reckon that is how I will eventually meet my demise.

Either that or a shoot out with the law........

Dr Galen

depending on the type of cancer, how early you catch it etc and your own age, thats not necessarily true. Most cancers are very treatable tbh, its the catching of them thats the issue.

Pete M.

The catching of cancer? Sorry, but I really don't think that there's a whole lot of it going round really.

Sorry to be pedantic, but surely it develops due to certain circumstances and exposures to materials or situations which cause it to occur, so therefore you don't really catch it do you?

I mean ok, perhaps if you 'catch' genital herpes as a lady you may be more likely to develop cancer of the 'lady garden', sorry I know this is the gentlemens club, so a better example may be exposure to radiation or particular carcinogens, which causes the cancer to start growing.

I am right there aren't I?

I fully understand that an unhealthy diet can increase your risk and that smoking obviously doesn't help.

BrianD3

I'm going to go against the grain here and say I hardly ever think about testicular cancer. I have occasionally checked my balls - but testicular cancer is uncommon, there is no known lifestyle behaviour that can help prevent it and if someone does develop it, the cure rate is far higher than that for other cancers. Even metastatic disease is usually curable.

A quick google tells me that 4 people died of testicular cancer in Ireland in 2005. But it has a relatively high profile thanks to sportstars like Lance Armstrong, John Hartson, a Cork GAA player etc. I think these good news stories about testicular cancer patients beating their cancer are pretty irrelevant to most cancer patients - because of the major difference in cure rates as I've already described

I wonder how many men in say the 20-40 age group die of colorectal cancer. It mostly occurs in older people but I've no doubt there are some younger patients dying from it. I wonder how many people are aware of this and also how many know that many colorectal cancers can be *prevented* (not "caught early") by colonoscopy screening

I note that colorectal cancer is mentioned in that pdf on www.cancer.ie/men but I see no mention of pancreatic, oesphagael or gastric cancer on there. Hundreds die from these cancers every year making them a major cause of cancer death and a threat to a man's health over his lifetime. Mostly older people but still.

cocoa

Pete M. wrote: »

The catching of cancer? Sorry, but I really don't think that there's a whole lot of it going round really.

Reasonably sure Mystik Monkey was referring to catching in the sense of detecting the cancer. As in, the earlier you catch (detect), the more you can do to treat it, and the higher the likelihood of the treatment being successful.

Dr Galen

BrianD3 wrote: »

I'm going to go against the grain here and say I hardly ever think about testicular cancer. I have occasionally checked my balls - but testicular cancer is uncommon, there is no known lifestyle behaviour that can help prevent it and if someone does develop it, the cure rate is far higher than that for other cancers. Even metastatic disease is usually curable.

A quick google tells me that 4 people died of testicular cancer in Ireland in 2005. But it has a relatively high profile thanks to sportstars like Lance Armstrong, John Hartson, a Cork GAA player etc. I think these good news stories about testicular cancer patients beating their cancer are pretty irrelevant to most cancer patients - because of the major difference in cure rates as I've already described

I wonder how many men in say the 20-40 age group die of colorectal cancer. It mostly occurs in older people but I've no doubt there are some younger patients dying from it. I wonder how many people are aware of this and also how many know that many colorectal cancers can be *prevented* (not "caught early") by colonoscopy screening

I note that colorectal cancer is mentioned in that pdf on www.cancer.ie/men but I see no mention of pancreatic, oesphagael or gastric cancer on there. Hundreds die from these cancers every year making them a major cause of cancer death and a threat to a man's health over his lifetime. Mostly older people but still.

there's a lot I agree with in your post, especially when you talk about educating people on the topic of colorectal cancers and prevention of same. I would tend to disagree on other things though.

I've had a look for some easy to digest stats on different cancers and their spread throughout the population, this is one of the best I found. Cancer in Ireland 1994-2004: A Comprehensive Report

I'll quote a few interesting points from it:

Testicular Cancer

• Between 2000 and 2004 there were 189 males diagnosed with testicular cancer each year.
• Unlike most cancers testicular cancer is a disease found mostly in younger males with a median age at diagnosis during 2000-2004 of 32 years.
• Incidence rates of testicular cancer increased between 1994 and 2004 by 3.6% per year.
• There were 9 deaths per year from the disease between 2000 and 2004

Prostate Cancer

• The most common male cancer diagnosed in Ireland during 2000-2004 with an average of 2,750 cases each year.
• Between 1997 and 2004 incidence rates of prostate cancer in Ireland increased by an average of 8.3% each year.
• During 2000-2004 incidence rates increased steadily with increasing affluence.
• During 2000-2004 there were on average 745 deaths per year in Ireland as a result of prostate cancer.
• Mortality rates decreased by 1.0% (p=0.012) per year in Ireland between 1994 and 2004.

Pancreatic Cancer

• There were on average 265 male and 272 female cases diagnosed annually in Ireland during 2000-2004.
• There was no significant trend in incidence rates between 1994 and 2004 for either sex or country.
• During 2000-2004 there was an average of 270 male and 277 female deaths each year.
• Between 1994 and 2004 there was no significant trend in mortality rates in Ireland for either sex.

Gastric/Stomach Cancer

• During 2000-2004 there were on average 429 male and 276 female cases diagnosed in Ireland each year.
• Incidence rates in Ireland decreased by 2.8% per year for males and 1.8% per year for females during 1994-2004.
• Incidence rates were significantly higher than the average in Ireland for males and females in Belfast, Dublin and Newry &
• Mourne. They were also higher for males in Limavady and Derry and for females in Monaghan, Cavan and Louth.
• here were 300 male and 202 female deaths from stomach cancer each year in Ireland between 2000 and 2004.
• Mortality rates decreased among males by 4.1% and by 4.5% among females between 1994 and 2004.

Dr Galen

BrianD3 wrote: »

I wonder how many men in say the 20-40 age group die of colorectal cancer. It mostly occurs in older people but I've no doubt there are some younger patients dying from it. I wonder how many people are aware of this and also how many know that many colorectal cancers can be *prevented* (not "caught early") by colonoscopy screening

I've been looking for more up to date figures to answer this brianD3 but so far I'm not coming up with anything that wouldn't take me more time than I have to put together in a readable format and stuff.

You can pull specific stats like that though from the report I've linked to above.

citytillidie

Very aware of it now after a family member was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer

CathyMoran

cocoa wrote: »

Hmm, sometimes I wonder how effective these awareness campaigns are in achieving their goals. I mean, when we think of awareness, what do we want to be aware of? How to avoid or reduce the impact of a disease, certainly, but what else? Who's in a high risk category would be nice, and what the general risk level is would be nice too. Comparing the risk to other diseases would be very nice. A book I read recently mentioned studies* claiming that in modern society, more pain and suffering is caused by the fear of and worry about cancer, than by the disease itself.

While I'm not suggesting that the disease be downplayed or that it isn't a danger, it worries me that sometimes all the awareness campaigns achieve is to convey two things, the disease exists, and it is scary. You might get some info about avoiding it, but no where will you receive any kind of grounding or reassurance that medicine is actually doing really well, which is one reason why cancer is more common than it was, people are living longer!

Anywho, my apologies for the slight off-topicness, good thread and it's all for the best the more people know.

* obviously this holds no actual weight, I can try and hunt down the actual studies if people are interested though...

Cancer is not just an older persons illness though...was diagnosed with oesophageal at the ripe old age of 32...if you ever look up the stats on it it is really scary...would support all cancer awareness though it fustrates me that the "male" cancers seem to be largely ignored. One of my best friends died of colorectal cancer aged only 40...people owe it to themselves to be aware and not be scared as if cancer is diagnosed early it can often be treated.

Dr Galen

your totally right CM that it isn't just an old persons disease. Yes, a young person would be unlucky to contract lots of different types, but there are many forms of cancer that have no respect for age.

Take skin cancer for example. The amount of blokes I've seen in Summer, and on holidays who wipe a bit of factor 8 on, then toast til lobster red in the sun is madness.