Movember: Men’s Health Month

Movember is an annual charity event held during November, where participants are encouraged to grow a moustache to raise money and awareness to benefit men’s health – specifically prostate cancer and male depression.

According to the Movember Foundation, men lack awareness about the very real health issues they face. The average life expectancy for men is five years less than for women. There is an attitude that they have to be tough – "a real man" – and are reluctant to see a doctor about an illness or go for regular medical checks.

Movember aims to change these attitudes and make men’s health fun by putting the "Mo" back on the face of fashion and in the process raise some serious funds for key men’s health issues, including prostate cancer and male depression.

About Prostate Cancer

Every year 2,900 Australian men die from prostate cancer and over 18,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the most common form of cancer in Australian men (after non melanomatous skin cancer). One in six men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives. One in 34 will die from it, making it the second leading cause of death in Australian men.

However, cancer that is confined to the prostate gland (has not spread) is generally curable and survival rates are high with early diagnosis. If not diagnosed early, prostate cancer can spread to other areas of the body and is very difficult to cure, although treatment can be used to slow the spreading of the disease and prolong life.

The risk of a man being diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in his life is 1 in 6 (17%). However, only 3% of men die from prostate cancer.

The risk factors for prostate cancer include age (men over the age of 40), a family history of prostate cancer, obesity, and an unhealthy diet with a lot of meat and few vegetables.

Prostate cancer often has no noticeable symptoms, so to encourage early diagnosis, men over the age of 50 are encouraged to get PSA tested by their doctor.

The PSA test (Prostate Specific Antigen) is a blood test that helps determine whether a man is at risk of prostate cancer. If so, the next stage is a prostate biopsy, where tissue samples from the prostate are tested for cancer.

Movember

To raise awareness and money for prostate cancer, the first official Movember was held in 2004, when 262 registered participants based in Melbourne raised just over $55,000 for Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

Since then, it has spread throughout the world with Canada, Spain, USA, UK and New Zealand getting involved in 2006 and raising a total of $6.63M. In 2007, 130,000 people participated worldwide, including 96,000 from Australia

Funds raised through Movember have enabled PCFA, in partnership with Cancer Australia, to commit $6M to vital research projects that aim to find a cure for prostate cancer, or assist men and their partners affected by the disease.

In terms of awareness, a recent survey showed that over 70 per cent of Movember participants have becoming more aware of men’s health issues and have discussed those issues with family members, friends or colleagues. This kind of communication is important for promoting early detection of prostate cancer and breaking down the stigma attached to depression.

This year, the Movember celebrations with culminate in huge gala parties in each state capital, as well as in towns and workplaces across the country, with awards given to the best moustaches and costumes on both men and women.

For more information on Movember, visit http://www.au.movember.com/.

For more information on Prostate Cancer, visit www.prostate.org.au

References:

1. Movember Foundation (http://www.au.movember.com/) 
2. Jemal, A, Siegel, R, Ward, E, et al. Cancer statistics, 2008. CA Cancer J Clin 2008; 58:71.
3. Smith, RA, von Eschenbach, AC, Wender, R, et al. American Cancer Society guidelines for the early detection of cancer: update of early detection guidelines for prostate, colorectal, and endometrial cancers.
4. The Cancer Council Australia. Prostate Cancer Screening Position Statement. 2005. Accessed online 12/09/2008. Available from: http://www.cancer.org.au/File/PolicyPublications/PSprostatecancerscreeningAPR2005.pdf
5. Brenner, H, Arndt, V. Long-term survival rates of patients with prostate cancer in the prostate-specific antigen screening era: population-based estimates for the year 2000 by period analysis. J Clin Oncol 2005; 23:441.
6.  Cooperberg, MR, Moul, JW, Carroll, PR. The changing face of prostate cancer. J Clin Oncol 2005; 23:8146.