Prostate cancer is a serious health concern in Georgia. According to the American Cancer Society, the state of Georgia ranks 11th in number of estimated deaths per capita from the disease. In an effort to raise awareness about prostate cancer and ensure more men commit to be informed and screened, several companies and media organizations have joined the Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition in launching a pledge campaign.
The Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition, RC Cancer Centers and the Georgia Department of Community Health along with the Atlanta Hawks, Atlanta Thrashers, UPS, CR Bard, WXIA Television, Morehouse School of Medicine, KISS 104.1 Radio and WSB Radio are supporting this initiative to increase prostate cancer awareness throughout the state of Georgia.
“Specifically, we are encouraging every man who is over the age of 40 in Georgia to speak to his doctor and take the pledge to get screened for prostate cancer,” said Frank Catroneo, Georgia Prostate Cancer Coalition Board Member. “Our goal is to have 10,000 men in Georgia pledge to have the conversation with their doctors and/or be screened between now and April 20, 2011.”
M. Rony Francois, MD, MSPH, PhD, Director, DCH Division of Public Health and State Health Officer said, “I look forward to the potential that this pledge campaign holds in increasing the number of men who talk to their doctor about prostate cancer screening.”
To encourage prostate cancer discussions and screenings, the Atlanta Hawks and the Georgia Prostate Cancer Pledge committee will provide two tickets to several Atlanta Hawks home games, starting with the December 7th home game versus the New Jersey Nets, to the first 2,000 men who commit to being screened for the first time. Men can visit http://www.hawks.com/ or http://www.georgiaprostatecancerpledge.com/ to make their screening pledge and redeem their complimentary tickets online.
There will be a number of activities and events to help educate men and their loved ones, and to bring awareness to the serious health impact of prostate cancer for all concerned. The events will culminate in April with a prostate cancer symposium, a golf tournament, a motorcycle ride, video testimonials of survivors and much more.
Michael Holton, president and COO of RC Cancer Centers, which specializes in the ProstRcision treatment for prostate cancer said, “Throughout the campaign, we will be offering free of charge PSA screenings for men over 40 years old, who have not been diagnosed with prostate cancer or previously treated for this disease. They can be screened at any one of our five locations in Georgia. For screening locations, visit http://www.rccancercenters.com/.”
Current data available from Georgia Department of Community Health, the Centers for Disease Control and the American Cancer Society show:
“It is crucial for men to maintain an ongoing relationship with their healthcare provider as the risk for prostate cancer will vary from person to person,” said Roland Matthews, M.D., from Morehouse School of Medicine and Director of Georgia Cancer Center for Excellence at Grady Health System.
A prostate screening PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) is a simple blood test which will not define a man’s prostate cancer status, but provides the basis for men to start the right conversations with their doctor. When prostate cancer is detected early, it is a very curable disease.
To learn more about this prostate cancer initiative, visit www.GeorgiaProstateCancerPledge.com .
The Mo, slang for moustache, and November come together each year for Movember.
Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men. Much like the commitment to run or walk for charity, the men of Movember commit to growing a moustache for 30 days.
The idea for Movember was sparked in 2003 over a few beers in Melbourne, Australia. The plan was simple – to bring the moustache back as a bit of a joke and do something for men’s health. No money was raised in 2003, but the guys behind the Mo realized the potential a moustache had in generating conversations about men’s health. Inspired by the women around them and all they had done for breast cancer, the Mo Bros set themselves on a course to create a global men’s health movement.
In 2004 the campaign evolved and focused on raising awareness and funds for the number one cancer affecting men – prostate cancer. 432 Mo Bros joined the movement that year, raising $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia – representing the single largest donation they had ever received. The Movember moustache has continued to grow year after year, expanding to the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Spain, South Africa, the Netherlands and Finland. In 2009, global participation of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas climbed to 255,755, with over one million donors raising $42 Million US equivalent dollars for Movember’s global beneficiary partners.
Please help RC Cancer Centers raise awareness about prostate and testicular cancer by donating to our Movember team at: http://us.movember.com/mospace/586356/ .
Thank you!
Sheryl Crow, Cynthia Nixon, and Christina Applegate are just a few of the celebrities who have fought breast cancer.
You know their faces; you heard they had breast cancer. But do you know what really happened to these women? We’ve pulled together the details about how 10 of the world’s top performers and public figures endured breast cancer’s treatments and traumas——all while living in the public eye.
To read about their stories, click here.
By Rebecca Webber
Mary McGuire-Wien and her husband, Charles Wildbank, had been searching for a new home on Long Island for more than a year, but every place they’d seen was either unsuitable or unaffordable. After one long Sunday of unsuccessful house-hunting with their agent, the couple was anxious to get back home, but got stuck at a traffic light right next to an old barn that was under renovation. “A guy in a hard hat looked over at us and said, ‘Are you looking for a house?’” says Mary.
Though the barn didn’t look like a house—it didn’t even have any visible windows—Mary and her husband got out to take a look. The building turned out to be loftlike, with beautiful historical details (including back-facing windows). “A normal family probably wouldn’t want it,” says Mary. “But it was absolutely perfect for us because we needed a space where I could have a yoga retreat, and where Charles could paint.” They agreed to buy the place from the construction worker, who turned out to be the barn’s owner.
Mary and Charles could be considered fortunate—what are the chances that the owner would stop them when they were most in need of a home? And yet, they were the ones who agreed to investigate an unlikely prospect. Their open-mindedness turned a strange moment into a lucky break.
People who spot and seize opportunity are different. They are more open to life’s forking paths, so they see possibilities others miss. And if things don’t work out the way they’d hoped, they brush off disappointment and launch themselves headlong toward the next fortunate circumstance. As a result, they’re happier and more likely to achieve their goals.
Psychologists are figuring out why some people always seem to juggle incredible opportunities. Their insights can help us all lead luckier lives.
To read about these insights and the rest of the article, click here.
Loss of libido and difficulty having sex are common complaints among breast cancer survivors, new research confirms.
More than two-thirds of surveyed survivors reported that they were still having sexual function problems two years after diagnosis. Most described their sex lives as satisfying before breast cancer.
Women taking aromatase inhibitors as treatment for their breast cancer reported more sexual problems than women taking tamoxifen.
Body image issues and vaginal dryness related to aromatase inhibitor use were among the most frequently mentioned complaints.
“Sexual problems are among the most common and least talked about side effects of breast cancer treatment,” study co-author Susan R. Davis, MD, of Victoria, Australia’s Monash University Medical School tells WebMD.
“About 70% of the women in our study were experiencing a meaningful loss of desire and sexual function a full two years after diagnosis.”
By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Health News
African-American men are 60 percent more likely to be diagnosed and 2.4 times more likely to die from prostate cancer. With the stark reality that black men and their families are more more likely to be affected by prostate cancer than any other group of our population, two events provided a fitting end to last week’s Advance on Washington: The African-American Prostate Cancer Health Disparities meeting organized by the Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) as part of the Congressional Black Caucus meeting, and the Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program (BBHOP) that was held at select barbershops in the Washington and Baltimore metropolitan areas on Saturday. To read the entire article, click here.
Two years after undergoing a double mastectomy and chemotherapy so severe she was hospitalized in intensive care for several weeks, breast cancer survivor Denise Hicks should be following what her doctors call “the plan.”
“I should be taking medication, I should be having tests and lab work,” says the 51-year-old Californian. “But my choice is to pay virtually every cent I have to do that or be able to pay for my rent, food and gas.”
Hicks has health insurance but already reached her coverage limits. So the CT scan that her oncologist “strongly advised” months ago to check a possible recurrence remains undone. “It would cost me $4,700 out of pocket—money I just can’t afford.” She’s also skipping recommended medications. “One drug would cost me $167 a month and another is $200 a month,” she says.
“So what am I doing? Well, I may soon be moving in with my 83-year-old mother, who lives in a trailer. But for now, I pray a lot,” Hicks says. Click here to read the full article.
It is not surprising that research indicates that men squirm at the thought of modern medicine’s devices probing them for clues to prostate health. There is little discomfort in a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) screening. A PSA is a simple blood test that can save a man’s life.
To facilitate a man’s decision on prostate cancer screening or treatment, an informed and shared decision is recommended. Elements that foster an informed and shared decision include:
Part of the human toll taken by prostate cancer is the sense typically experienced by newly diagnosed patients of a loss of personal control over their lives. Learn about the diagnosis and the various treatment options available to you.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has produced two guides to assist men in making the decision on whether to get screened for prostate cancer.
Both guides are available at no cost through the CDC at:
http://www2.prostrcision.com/e/1174/dcpc-publications-prostate-htm/I5MZC/203883422
Take control of your prostate health. And help other men do the same!
©2012 Physician Oncology Services. All Rights Reserved.
Also known as RC Cancer Centers.
