The Irish Cancer Society Men's Cancer Action Week is highlighting the threat that delay in seeking help poses for today's men. David Labanyi reports
Personality should not matter when it comes to health, but it does, particularly for men.
Many maintain the deep-held male view that seeking help is an admission of weakness. With certain conditions, such as cancer, delays can often determine the success of the treatment. Yet, for many men, the link between lifestyle and their health remains a blind spot.
That is why this week the Irish Cancer Society Men's Cancer Action Week is focusing on the alarming rise in the number of seriously overweight and obese males in Ireland and how obesity increases men's exposure to cancer.
Prof John Armstrong, professor of radiation oncology at UCD and chairman of the Irish Cancer Society, says recent research has shown obese people are developing a greater percentage of cancers than non-obese people.
"In Ireland there is a particular increase of cancers of the gastro-oesophageal junction. And this cancer is appearing in young to middle-aged men," he says.
It is not yet clear if it is the obesity itself, or the diet that causes obesity, that also causes the cancer. It may not be the fact the person is obese but that they have eaten a certain way to get obese that is the cause.
Researchers are also examining whether excessive amounts of fat may cause the body to handle sex hormones in different ways, which may predispose someone to cancer.
"When you add up all the lifestyle risks together, excessive drinking, lack of exercise, obesity, poor diet and smoking and you put all those things together, it's a time-bomb. The combined effects are very significant and determine the likely health of an individual in later life," he says.
Armstrong says men have a very poor record when it comes to taking responsibility for their health compared with women. As a mature society, residents in Ireland need to realise that modifying behaviour is ultimately the cheapest way of controlling healthcare costs, he says.
"We are putting too much emphasis into the diagnosis and treatment of conditions and not enough into the prevention. The caricature of the modern patient is someone who doesn't do anything for their own health, has all these terrible habits and then complains because there is a difficulty accessing healthcare when there is a problem caused by their own lifestyle. Obviously that is an unfair caricature but there is a grain of truth in it. As individuals we have a responsibility for what we do to our own bodies."
Younger men, tempted to dismiss cancer as an issue for later life, should be aware that a man in his late 20s and early 30s is particularly at risk of gaining weight. Men should aim to keep their waist measurements below 37 inches, according to the World Health Organization.
Evidence of the growing Gaelic girth comes from the Irish Universities Nutrition Alliance Report (2001) which found 66 per cent of men in Ireland are overweight or obese (46 per cent overweight and 20 per cent obese).
Researchers have also recently become concerned that fat tissue, previously thought to be inactive and just used to store energy, is in fact secreting hormones and other growth factors into the bloodstream. This may encourage cells to divide and grow at a quicker rate, possibly increasing the risk of cancer.
Small lifestyle changes can have a significant impact, according to the Irish Cancer Society. For example, if a man engaged in moderate physical exercise for about 45 minutes on five days or more, he could reduce his risk of colon cancer. Excessive consumption of alcohol is another risk factor. Someone with alcohol damage to the liver is more susceptible to liver cancer.
The European Code against Cancer says moderation is the key with alcohol. Men should have no more than 14 units of alcohol per week, a unit being the equivalent to a half-pint of beer or a glass of wine. Crucially, no more than two units should be consumed in one sitting.
Then consider the amount of activity it takes to burn off the calories in a pint. According to the Department of Health, for just one pint a man must either walk for 50 minutes, swim for 30 minutes or play golf for one hour and 20 minutes.
These lifestyle factors have a role in a proportion of the 6,500 cases of prostate, colo-rectal (bowel), skin, testicular and lung cancer diagnosed in men living in the Republic each year.
The most common cancer among men remains prostate cancer with more than 1,370 new cases diagnosed each year and more than 519 deaths, according to data from the National Cancer Registry for 2001.
Colo-rectal cancers are the next most common with about 1,030 new cases each year. About 526 men die each year from this cancer.
Cases of lung cancer in men are falling. Just over 1,000 cases of lung cancer were reported in 2001 and Armstrong says progress has been made in reducing the number of men smoking although there are disappointing signs the number of women smoking is on the increase. However, it remains a highly lethal cancer which causes about 960 deaths each year.
Behind many of these male cancers are lifestyle choices. "It's commonsense stuff. Having said that it's never too late to make lifestyle changes," says Armstrong.
Visit the Irish Cancer Society website at: www.cancer.ie