More to prostate cancer than Movember

When I was first told that the health page for this edition was going to cover prostate cancer, I admit that I was a little loss on the timing.

When I think of a time to recognize prostate cancer, my mind goes to November…er, sorry, Movember…when men grow out their upper lip hair to show support and raise funds to keep that hair growing for the month.

I’ve done the Movember thing before, even though I admittedly look like a stereotypical cop (especially when I used to have a buzz cut). My grandfather was a police officer, so I suppose it’s a look that follows in the family.

Another thing that has hit my family is prostate cancer. My mother’s husband recently finished radiation treatment for the disease. Thankfully, doctors caught it early and everything is going to be fine (although I got my fair share of phone calls from an understandably worried mother).

Sadly, where he was lucky is where many other men aren’t. According to Prostate Cancer Canada, one in eight men will be diagnosed at some point in their lifetime. In fact, it’s the most commonly diagnosed cancer among men in this country, accounting for about a quarter of new cases.

According to the same research, it’s estimated that 24,000 men in Canada will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year alone.

From that, the disease will be a death sentence for 4,100 of them. That’s a little more than one sixth. That’s a number that, quite frankly, is too damn high.

However, things are slowly getting better. The death rate has been slowly on the decline, dropping by about four per cent every year between 2001 and 2009. An increase in research and more awareness of the disease are bringing that number down.

But I still think that one sixth is too high. So if you find yourself matching any of the symptoms, it’s imperative that you get to a doctor to get checked out.

Those symptoms include difficulty urinating, an urgent need to urinate, burning or pain when urinating, blood in urine or semen and painful ejaculation.

Now, I know it can be difficult to bring that stuff up with your doctor. But it’s better to bring that stuff up now then potentially waiting until it’s too late.