As a men’s health activist and a testicular cancer survivor, I am very interested in reading research studies pertaining to these topics. Throughout the month of February, I’ve been sharing my insights and commentary on a November 2018 men’s health study from The Urology Foundation (TUF), a UK-based charity that “leads the fight against urology disease.”
In the first edition, I examined what their findings about perceptions about testicular cancer. This time, we’ll take a look at what the study revealed about UK-based men and their knowledge of prostate cancer.
What do British men know about prostate cancer?
- 70% of British adults do not know the correct age from which men should be tested for prostate cancer
- 2 in 3 British adults do not know what a prostate does
While I have a vague understanding of these matters, these were topics I admittedly needed to research to fully understand. According to the American Cancer Society, a prostate is a gland found only in males that makes some of the fluid that is part of semen. Prostate exams should begin at 50 years old for average males (and as early as 40 for the higher risk population).
I was correct in knowing that the prostate had something to do with the male reproductive system and that it’s generally screened later in life. However, I’m not sure that this is something I knew off hand before making my life’s work about men’s health. I also am assuming that even though I am citing American Cancer Society statistics, the same holds true across the pond.
Though prostate cancer is generally regarded as an “older man’s cancer,” any man with a prostate can develop it – the twisted mirror of testicular cancer being a young man’s disease. Either way, more men need to know this information so they know what to look out for.
To this end (pun very much intended), I commend a new fellow advocate friend, Gabe Canales, for committing to educate young men about prostate cancer (and how to lower risk from an early age) through his Blue Cure foundation.
Would you have been able to answer what a prostate does and when you should begin getting an exam… or did you have a hard time putting your finger on it?
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