Information about how to stay healthy and fit as a man.
Prostate Cancer
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among American men. Most prostate cancers grow slowly, and don’t cause any health problems in men who have them. www.cdc.gov/cancer/prostate/.
Risk Factors
Men have a greater chance of getting prostate cancer if they are 50 years old or older, are African-American, or have a father, brother, or son who has had prostate cancer.
Starting at age 50, men should talk to a doctor about the pros and cons of testing so they can decide if testing is the right choice for them. If they are African American or have a father or brother who had prostate cancer before age 65, men should have this talk with a doctor starting at age 45. If men decide to be tested, they should have the PSA blood test with or without a rectal exam. How often they are tested will depend on their PSA level.
Colorectal cancer and polyps
Beginning at age 50, both men and women should follow one of these testing schedules:
Tests that find polyps and cancer
- Flexible sigmoidoscopy every 5 years*, or
- Colonoscopy every 10 years, or
- Double-contrast barium enema every 5 years*, or
- CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) every 5 years*
Testicular Cancer
Testicular cancer is the most common cancer in young men between the ages of 15 and 35. It starts as an abnormal growth or tumor that develops in one or both testicles. It is a highly treatable type of cancer with a very good cure rate (about 95%) if found and treated early.
- Because treatment is so successful, the risk of dying from this cancer is very low: about 1 in 5,000.
- A man’s lifetime chance of having testicular cancer is about 1 in 270.
- Estimated New Cases of Testicular Cancer for 2014 is 8,820
- Estimated Deaths for 2014 is 380.
- Percent of men surviving 5 years or more after being Diagnosed is 95.3%.
Sources:
What is testicular self-examination (TSE)?
Regular self-examination of the testicles is important for young men, particularly those at risk for testicular cancer. Being familiar with the size, shape and usual level of lumpiness can help you determine if something is not quite right.
A testicular self-examination can help a man detect any changes in the testes early. Men are encouraged to perform monthly testicular self-exams, ideally after a bath or shower, when the scrotum is relaxed.
The American Cancer Society recommends getting a testicular exam as part of your routine checkup.
By Fitness Intern Kathleen Reno
Fitness Advice, Health News, Lifestyle
cancer, colorectal cancer, Men's Health, polyps
Recently I reviewed the National Center for Health Statistics data on the major causes of death in Western society. It was not surprising to find 4 of the top 7 were indications of chronic lifestyle-related conditions; heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes among the top 7 listed. It is interesting to note, only 100 years ago, the leading causes of death were primarily infectious diseases such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, diarrhea, liver disease. As improvements in medicine and health care advanced, the incidence of the diseases reduced, only to be replaced by the choice of unhealthy lifestyles.
I bring this up because the majority of the unhealthy lifestyle related causes are preventable. According to The Healthy People 2010 review, physical activity or exercise, nutrition and stress management are considered the priority to optimal health and wellness and primary changes for longevity. Data collected in the Healthy People review suggest that modest changes in physical activity patterns and nutrition can prevent more than 400, 000 death annually! Modest changes in physical activity and increases in exercise are a small price to pay for illness prevention and premature causes of death. Keep yourself healthy and well by continuing to incorporate exercise as part of your lifestyle.
For tips or more information on how to make changes to your exercise routine, please feel free to contact Kendra Kainz.
Fitness Advice, Health News, Lifestyle, Weight Loss, Women's Health
cancer, diabetes, Health Statistics data, heart disease, infectious diseases, stroke
Every person in the world knows of someone that has had cancer or presently has cancer; sadly it is becoming more prevalent within our society with 1/3 of our population having some type of cancer. Cancer very plainly is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells; and there are more than 100 different types of cancer. With more than eight million cancer survivors it is becoming increasingly important to create structured workout regimes for the rehabilitative and maintenance of this issue.
With the two major issues for current cancer patients being loss of body mass and daily functional status (including extreme fatigue and difficulty walking), it is important to start an exercise routine during and following cancer treatments.
The benefits of exercise for cancer treatment side effects:
- Decreased sense of fatigue
- Increase in body mass
- Increased coordination
- Increased muscular strength
- Increased cardiovascular endurance
- Increased quality of life
- Prevention of future cancers
So what should a cancer survivor’s workout goals be?
- Improve your overall functional status. Are your workouts making life seam easier, giving you more energy, distracting your mind?
- Improve flexibility and mobility of joints. Keep you loose and limber, this may take some thought as to not cause pain while stretching but it can be done.
- Increase circulation with active motion. Get that blood pumping in your entire body!
- Increase ventilatory function. Try to create an exercise routine that gets you to work on systematic breathing.
- Prevent blood clotting. Keep your blood healthy with movement.
- Increase muscular strength and endurance. Work with weights and cardio equipment to your own submaximal effort.
- Reduce bone loss. Add weight bearing exercises to your workout to strengthen your bones and joints.
- Keep your metabolism up and keep your muscles. Working on keeping your muscles strong and toned will keep your strength as well as keep your metabolism elevated.
- Listen to your body. You don’t want to over tax your body, look for signs of increased fatigue, dizziness, cramping during or following exercise and stop what you are doing.
What should a workout for a cancer survivor look like?
- Frequency At least 3-5 times a wk
- Intensity 60-80% heart rate max or RPE 11 to 14 (out of 20)
- Type Large muscle groups, walking & cycling
- Time 20-30 continuous min per session
- Progression May be cyclical with periods of regression depending on treatments
For those with some medical issue, exercise really is the cure all. No matter what the medical issue, exercise has never been shown to have detrimental effect, but rather the opposite; it usually alleviates all of the negative side effects. What you have to understand is how to modify exercise for each issue that arises like stated above. If you have questions about how to exercise being a cancer survivor please feel free to contact Fitness director Jacob Galloway.
Fitness Advice, Health News, Motivation
cancer, health, recovery, rehab, Seattle, treatment, workout
