-
Source: ONE News -
Related
Kiwi men are risking their lives by not taking better care of their health says one of New Zealand's most respected doctors.
Former All Blacks doctor and now Vodafone Warriors medical director, Dr John Mayhew, says research released on Sunday shows that one in five Kiwi men aged over 50 have never been checked for prostate cancer - despite widespread publicity campaigns.
The independent research commissioned by men's health charity Movember also found that one fifth of Kiwi men say they did not know where their prostate gland was located.
Dr Mayhew says he's astounded at the number of men he sees in his general practice who don't have a good understanding of their own body and who fail to get regular medical checks.
Prostate cancer is of particular concern, he says.
Every year 3000 Kiwi men are diagnosed with the disease and around 600 die. This makes prostate cancer the second largest cause of male cancer deaths, after lung cancer.
Dr Mayhew says knowing how to recognise the symptoms can result in early diagnosis and treatment of this disease.
"Men don't seem to realise that a little bit of knowledge could potentially save their lives.
They really need to recognise what is normal for their body and discuss any changes with their GP. This is a good habit to get into and can help address health concerns much earlier."
Movember, the moustache growing event held during November each year, aims to tackle this problem and raise awareness and knowledge of men's health issues - last year 13,000 men in New Zealand took part raising almost a million dollars for charity.
This year's charity partners are the Cancer Society of New Zealand in support of prostate cancer and the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand in support of its "Out of the Blue" depression awareness campaign.
Dr Mayhew says recognising the symptoms of prostate cancer could save many lives down the track. "When detected early, the successful treatment rate for prostate cancer is very high so the important thing is to not be afraid to visit your GP and they can advise whether you should be checked."
Symptoms to look out for include straining to begin urinating, a dribbling or thin stream of urine, a sudden urge to pass urine, not being able to pass urine or having to go to the toilet to pass urine frequently, especially at night.
Dr Mayhew says in most cases, these symptoms are not caused by cancer but due to pressure on the urethra from an enlarged prostate which is just part of normal aging.
