Medicover
Movember – what is it?
It all started in Australia in 2003 when two friends, Travis Garone and Luke Slattery, challenged their friends to a competition to see who can grow the longest moustache during the 30 days of November. They titled their competition somewhat provocatively: "Are you masculine enough to be my friend?"
Thirty of their friends took up the challenge, each of them paying a $10 entry fee, and started the somewhat old-fashioned trend of growing a moustache. Who won? It doesn't matter because that wasn’t the point. The collected money was donated to a research foundation for prostate cancer.
This bet made by a group of friends at the other end of the world, saved 16 men in Poland last year from cancer, perhaps even saving their lives.
All because of Movember, which, thanks to a group of friends in Australia, has become an international movement aimed at promoting the prevention of testicular and prostate cancer.
But let's start at the beginning.
Save your life with a moustache
After a group of friends in Australia made a bet to grow the longest moustache, it became a symbol of a social campaign aimed at protecting men from one of the most dangerous cancers - testicular and prostate cancer. The point is to convince men to undergo screening tests.
Only a year after Movember began in Australia, men from Spain and Great Britain joined in, followed by men from other countries. Today, as part of the campaign, nearly all over the world men are growing a moustache in November spreading the word to their friends to get screened.
The movement has spread so wide that even celebrities and athletes are taking part. English Premier League players, including Michel Owen, the winner of the 2001 Ballon d’Or, have been taking part in it for years.
Movember in Poland
Movember in Poland had its origins in ... Great Britain. This is where the Movember Foundation's European headquarters are located. Poles living in the UK became interested in the movement.
In 2014, thanks to the Kapitan Światełko Foundation, the first educational meetings were held in our country.
In 2016, as part of the Movember campaign, free ultrasound examinations for men were offered across Poland for the first time ever. The result? 1,300 men took advantage of them, out of which 16 were diagnosed with testicular cancer and 30 had other diseases.
Were it not for Movember, these 16 men would have probably been diagnosed with cancer much later, perhaps too late to fight it.
Get screened for prostate cancer! Only lung cancer is more dangerous
While many women have already been convinced to undergo regular breast examinations, men are much less willing to have a prostate screening, and they do anything to avoid a visit to the urologist. This is a huge mistake.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men, after lung cancer.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men, accounting for 13% of all cancers in this group. The first is lung cancer. Every year in Poland 12,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer, of which over 4,000 dies from it.
It all sounds scary, but it doesn't have to be so dangerous. Early detected prostate cancer is, in most cases, completely curable. That is why regular tests are so important to diagnose the disease at the very beginning.
Prostate cancer - symptoms
Usually, at the initial stage of the disease, prostate cancer gives no symptoms or these symptoms are mild. They include:
- frequent urination,
- pressure on the bladder that wakes you up at night,
- urgent need to urinate that is difficult to control
- feeling of incomplete discharge, even immediately after urinating,
- narrow stream of urine.
As the disease progresses and the cancer develops urine retention in the bladder may occur.
Symptoms that may indicate an advanced stage of the disease are:
- low back pain in the lumbosacral spine,
- lack of appetite
- weight loss without a reason.
Prostate cancer - tests
If you notice any of these symptoms, get tested right away. The basic test that every man over 50 should do every 1-2 years is a blood test for PSA. This measures the prostate antigen.
Increased PSA levels may be indicative of prostate cancer, but they may also be caused by certain types of medications, alcohol consumption, occur immediately after ejaculation or prostate examination. Above-normal PSA levels and the results of a medical examination are the first signs that further tests may be needed.
Sometimes, however, high PSA levels are associated with other diseases, not necessarily cancer. Also, in some cancer patients PSA may not be elevated.
Another basic test is the rectal examination during which a urologist examines the prostate gland, its shape, cohesiveness and possible changes through the anus with a finger. Although many men are afraid of this examination, it is completely painless.
If a doctor determines that in-depth diagnostics are necessary based on test results, symptoms reported by the patient, or an examination during the visit, he may order an ultrasound examination.
It helps assess the bladder and prostate. In detailed diagnostics, magnetic resonance imaging is also performed, which allows to detect prostate cancer at an early stage.
If there is strong suspicion of cancer, a standard or targeted biopsy is performed. The procedure is performed under local anaesthesia and involves collecting a piece of prostate tissue. This ultimately confirms or excludes the disease.
Because prostate cancer is highly prone to bone metastases, a skeletal bone test (scintigraphy) is additionally performed in suspected advanced stages of the disease.
Prostate cancer - treatment
Diagnosing the disease in the early stages of development gives the patient a chance for a cure. Treatment consists of surgical intervention (prostatectomy), hormone therapy, radiotherapy and chemotherapy.
Prostate surgery is performed primarily in patients who have a chance of surviving over 10 years and do not have distant metastases. Radiotherapy may be an alternative to surgery or an addition to surgery.
If the above methods are not possible because the disease is already too advanced, hormone therapy is offered, which blocks male sex hormones as they stimulate cancer cells to grow. Hormones may be blocked through medication.
If hormone therapy is no longer effective because the cancer has become resistant to it, then chemotherapy is used.
Prostate cancer - causes
The risk of developing prostate cancer increases with age. The majority of cases are detected in men over 60 years of age, but cases involving men over 45 are increasing.
Genetics, specifically the BRCA mutation, affects the disease. If a family member, brother or father suffered from prostate cancer, the risk is doubled. If there was more than one family member, the risk is 9-11 times higher.
Don’t wait until test results reveal you have cancer. Talk to your family. If you are at an increased risk, you should definitely undergo screening.
