Colon Cancer Screening

            It is hard to imagine that if caught early, the survival rate for colon cancer is 95 percent, but only four in ten people get detected in the early stages. This is because a lot of people forego their screenings even though they are over 50 years old. Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths for both men and women, but the lifetime risk of developing colon cancer is slightly higher for men than for women. Although, as with most cancers, there is no sure way to prevent it, there are lifestyle choices that have been shown to lower the risk of developing it, such as eating more grains and vegetables and less red meat. Other risk factors that have been detected are obesity, smoking, family history and past cancers. Although the death rate for colon cancer has decreased in the last 20 years, getting screened early is still vital for these chances to be lowered. Some of the diagnostic tests your doctor may use are physical examination, blood tests, biopsy, colonoscopy, and sigmoidoscopy and endorectal ultrasound. It is recommended that people over 50 get screened regularly and find the best diagnostic test to take for them. For a full explanation of all of these, visit Cancer.gov.

Arm Yourself

            Rotator cuff injuries are some of the most common cause for pain and disability among adult males. The rotator cuff is made up of four muscles that help move and stabilize the shoulder joint. Damage to any one of the four muscles or their ligaments can cause disability with movement or use of the shoulder. There are two types of injuries that lead to a rotator cuff tear. The first, mainly with young adults, is an acute tear, which is caused by one severe injury, for example, heavy lifting or a fall on the shoulder. The other type of injury occurs mainly with age and that is a chronic tear, or degenerative tear. This occurs mainly from repetitive trauma to the muscle or is also found in athletes whose sports require excessive overhead activity, such as baseball pitchers. Some of the symptoms to keep in mind for an acute tear are a sudden tearing sensation followed by a sharp pain and inability to have full rotation of the arm or raise it to one side. For a chronic tear, pain is usually felt at night and there might be gradual weakness or decreased shoulder motion. There are also two types of treatment the doctor might recommend. One is non-invasive and it involves therapy and maybe some anti-inflammatory medicine. This will improve function but it rarely improves strength. If the pain doesn’t decrease with treatment or the tear is too large, the doctor might recommend a surgical procedure. Seeking treatment is extremely important. If disregarded, rotator cuff injuries can cause severe damage to the function of the arms.

Skin Cancer and You

            Skin cancer is the most common form of human cancer with an estimated one million new cases occurring every year and it is most commonly found in men. Skin cancer refers to three types of cancers; basil cell carcinoma (BCC), squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and melanoma (the most dangerous). Fortunately, the most common are BCC and SCC and they are caused by gradual damage due to sun exposure and other factors, such as age and fair skin. Since these almost never spread, they are easily treatable by curettage or desiccation, which involves scooping out the session using a spoon tool and then applying a small dose of electricity to control the bleeding and kill remaining cancer cells. This is dermatologists’ preferred method. Melanoma, the most dangerous of the three, occurs usually in the chest and back for men. Although it is almost always curable if found in the early stages, melanoma still causes the most skin cancer deaths. Some of the risk factors for melanoma include exposure to UV light, moles, fair skin and weak immune systems. Getting a thorough examination by a dermatologist is important as well as self check-ups. 

            Naturally using UV block sunscreen while outdoors is a good way to help protect your skin. Also, covering up with long sleeves and a broad-brimmed hat.

Protecting Your Prostate

In the U.S, over 217,000 new cases of men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year, and about 32,000 deaths are attributed to prostate cancer. African-American men have the highest frequency of the cancer in the world and the highest death rate from the disease. Two of the main causes are diet and genetics. If you’re a dedicated consumer of foods high in fat, in particular fat from red meat, consider changing your diet.

“Prostate cancer is not a death sentence. Regular screening of men with PSA [prostate-specific antigen] and DRE [digital rectal examination] has helped decrease the mortality rate of prostate cancer significantly,â€� Dr. Patel Vipul, M.D., Florida Hospital says. 

Prostate cancer is less common in countries where the basic diet consists of rice, soybean products and vegetables. Eating more of these could help you and your prostate in the long run. One of the best ways to cut your chances of getting prostate cancer is to quit smoking. If you are a pack-a-day smoker you are more at risk for developing prostate cancer than a non-smoker. Quitting smoking will lower your risk greatly. Even if you consider yourself an active, healthy person, it is still vital to have a prostate check annually after age 40.

Better Beers for Less Belly

If you drink a beer every once in awhile, you have nothing to worry about. It’s having lots of them and often that could wreck your physique. The average beer contains 150 calories. Light and ultra-light beers have about half the calories, but even with light beers, if you drink too many, you can exceed your calories and gain weight. For most men weight gain happens around the abdomen, rather than the thighs, buttocks or chest, as it does for women. Try to stay active by exercising vigorously at least three times per week for 20 to 30 minutes to help burn those extra calories and stay in shape. Furthermore, alcohol increases your appetite so try to choose healthy foods, not fatty “pub grub� when you get hungry after your beer. If you just need to have a full-calorie beer, reach for a dark beer or a micro brew. Dark beers still have calories, but they also pack more antioxidants, which help reverse cellular damage caused by oxidizing compounds that naturally occur in your body; and micro brews usually contain more hops and less polyphenol, which helps lower cholesterol, fight cancer, and kill viruses.

A Hairy Ordeal

Don’t freak out if you see those strands of hair washing down the drain.  On average, we lose about 100 to 150 strands of hair per day. However, according to the American Academy of Dermatology, two out of three men in the U.S develop some form of balding. Chances for hair loss increase by 50 percent if you have an immediate family member who is balding. So, throw away the myth that hair loss is passed down through the mother’s side only and thank those pesky genes and hormones. If you’re experiencing hair loss, don’t shy away from the mirror or cover up with a hat. Do your research on hair restoration. There are several new procedures available to help you. NeoGraft, for example, is minimally invasive, restores follicles one at a time and gives much better results than the old-style strip surgical, linear scalpel procedures in the past.