Each year, men’s faces become adorned with creative facial hair as Movember draws a focus to men’s health. Notably though, for November this year, it seems the prevalence of Movember quietened. And although the Movember Foundation work year-round, looking back at previous years it was difficult to miss, both throughout the general public and celebrity appearances. But it seems this year to have been overpowered by other stories- with a focus on the likes of the cost of living and Prime Ministerial musical chairs etc. And despite the valiant efforts made year on year, the state of men’s health is in crisis.
Gender is one of the strongest predictors of life expectancy across the world as on average, men die 6 years earlier than women. And the high levels of excess deaths caused by the pandemic caused this life expectancy to fall further. The 2021 Public Health England health profile for England shows that where covid caused life expectancy to fall by 0.9 years for women, its fell by 1.3 years for men- illustrating that covid only exacerbated the existing disparity.
While Movember is known predominantly for tackling the stigma around mental health and debunking the ‘emotional men are weak’ fallacy, it is equally important to focus on men’s physical health. Studies from the Mental Health Foundation show that men are less likely to seek help from friends or medical professionals for health issues. And in a study commissioned by Gillette, in partnership with the Movember Foundation, three quarters will put off going to the doctors when showing signs of illness- with one in five claiming they are healthy and therefore do not have to worry. However, a crisis remains worldwide where men are dying too young.
The findings of the Gillette study are increasingly worrying as- with any disease- the earlier it is caught or diagnosed, the better the chances for successful treatment. But globally, men are missing out on giving themselves the best chance by ignoring early symptoms. Most worryingly, the early symptoms of serious illnesses such as prostate or testicular cancer.
The Public Health England heath profile quotes findings that in 2018 the most common cancer sites for males were prostate, lung and bowel. Working closely with cancer patients receiving stereotactic radiosurgery on metastasised brain tumours, this data is itself a cause for concern as lung and bowel cancer are two of four cancers (the other two being skin and breast) that are most likely to metastasise in the brain. And tragically, in recent years, we have seen patients coming in for treatment in later stages of their disease, making treatment options more complex.
From this, it is clear that the importance on educating men across the country is pressing. This involves providing information on spotting the early signs of cancer and encouraging them to seek help for less significant symptoms before they develop.
The early signs and symptoms of these cancers that warrant seeking medical advice and further investigation include:
Prostate
- Frequent urination, often during the night and disrupting sleep- many men attribute this to simply getting older but should be investigated further.
- Numbness/ loss of feeling as the bladder fills- essentially needing to rush to the toilet, or less warning for when you need to go.
- Difficulty or hesitancy in starting to urinate.
- Straining/ taking a long time to pass urine or experiencing a weak flow.
- A feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully after urination.
- Blood in the urine or blood in the semen.
Bowel
- A persistent change in bowel habit that causes more often and pass looser stools, usually together with blood on or in stools.
- A persistent change in bowel habit without blood in their stools, but with abdominal pain.
- Blood in the stools without other haemorrhoid symptoms, such as soreness, discomfort, pain, itching or a lump hanging down outside the back passage.
- Abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always provoked by eating, sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
Lung
- A persistent cough that lasts more than 3 weeks, or a long-standing cough that gets worse over time.
- Persistent or recurring chest infections that come back despite treatment.
- Coughing up blood.
- An ache or pain when breathing or coughing- persistent breathlessness.
- Persistent tiredness or lack of energy- loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss
Less common symptoms of lung cancer include:
- Changes in the appearance of fingers, such as becoming more curved or their ends becoming larger (this is known as finger clubbing).
- Difficulty swallowing (dysphagia) or pain when swallowing
- Wheezing and a persistently hoarse voice.
- Swelling of your face or neck and persistent chest or shoulder pain
It is also important to note that signs that the cancer may have spread include bone and back pain, a loss of appetite, pain in the testicles and unintentional weight loss.
If any of these symptoms present, it is important that medical advice is sought.
By Daniel Lumley, Director of Clinical Operations, Amethyst Radiotherapy UK