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by Anonymous User on 10:59 AM March 28th, 2005 EST (#1)
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"The prostate cancer community is 10 years behind the breast groups in terms of being acknowledged and coming forward," he lamented.
The article makes a number of good points, this being just one of them.
R.
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by frank h on 04:27 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#2)
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I'm gonna piss some people off here, but so be it.
Part of the problem with funding prostate cancer research is men. Let me say that again, because it deserves repeating: part of the problem with funding prostate cancer research is men.
And the problem is that men simply don't want to talk about it, be aware of it, or be active in asking for support. I'm the president of a small (very small) organization called Do This for Your Father (http://www.dtfyf.org). We've been running public events for about three years now, and my experience has led me to conclude that men simply are not willing to do much for the sake of their own health.
The sooner men realize that their children, their wives, and their friends want them to stick around for awhile, the sooner they'll take the time to see to their own well-being. And the sooner they'll learn that they need to speak up so that the politicians, elected and otherwise, who control the research funding recognize their constituency.
It's one thing to take risks on behalf of your family with the intent to provide for or protect them. It's quite another to blithely shorten your life by ignoring the care of your own health, especially when far too many fathers leave their children by dying far earlier than need be.
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by Luek on 06:34 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#4)
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I'm gonna piss some people off here, but so be it.
Part of the problem with funding prostate cancer research is men
This doesn't piss me off at all.
Many problems men face today are the result of their own lack of concern or lack of activism in men's rights issues.
The sooner men realize this the better.
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by Anonymous User on 02:11 PM March 29th, 2005 EST (#12)
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It doesn't piss me off, either.
I think you have a valid point, Frank. You too, Luek.
Also, remember men have been socialized to believe that they are some how less important than women, and that they are expendable, and just don't matter as much.
Thundercloud.
"Hoka hey!"
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by Anonymous User on 07:48 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#5)
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Men get sub-standard health care in part because the medical community is insensitive to mens needs. That is to say, men dont bitch and moan as loudly or frequently as women or children with regards to pain. I am a layperson, but it seems to me that in the medical community the squeeky wheel gets the grease. That means, unless you complain about pain you don't get medical care.
My own story is really simple. I had appendicitis (sic?) I showed up at the emergency room. I waited in that emergency room for 6 hours before I left because I wasn't acting like I was in trauma, after a lifetime of "buck it up sport" conditioning. However the women and kids with sore throats who wailed and cried and self pittied in their pain, well they all got service.
I went home. Saw my doctor the following week. From a very cursory examination determined what was probably wrong, and had me addmitted for emergency surgery. My doctor had me in surgery in under an hour from the time he saw me.
Simple fact of the matter is medical care is deeply sexest and discriminates heavily against the culture of men, and is insensitive to the needs of men.
So fuck that, men dont have to change, the medical community has to change, and they have to learn to address the needs of men or face a battery of discrimination of care lawsuits. After all, I consider a good and polite thing that I dont impose my pain on all those in my immediate surrounding with my wailing and groans and crying. All they have to do is stop treating me like a child, or a woman, and the problem will dissappear.
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by frank h on 08:07 AM March 29th, 2005 EST (#10)
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Regardless of how medical care may (or may not) discriminate against men once they arrive at the doctor's office, men have to get off their duff's and go to the doctor's office first.
And that is the problem: Men simply do not do that as frequently as they should.
If showing up at the doctor's office and asking for help constitutes being a "squeaky wheel." then we all (men) need to squeak a little more frequently.
I will concede to you this: the health care industry has little regard for time or dignity, and men seem to have far less tolerance for this. In this manner, men are not accommodated.
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by shawn on 09:55 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#6)
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I'm gonna piss some people off here, but so be it.
Part of the problem with funding prostate cancer research is men.
You didn't piss me off, but I have another opinion. I'm 45. It wasn't until I was 25-30 before I learned that prostate cancer was something that almost exclusively affected men (side note, a handful of women get prostate cancer). I heard of prostate cancer before, but never as a health issue that was specific to men. On the other hand, I probably knew that breast cancer was a woman's health issue by the time I was 10.
Why the big difference? Was it a lack of concern for my own health? I don't think so. I go to great lengths to take care of my health. The reason is that the subject was never really presented to me as something that I should be concerned about (contrast this with breast cancer, which is presented to me on a daily basis).
About 7 years ago my workplace had a "prostate cancer seminar." The event was advertised and the place was packed with 150-200 people (mostly men). Standing room only. I believe men do care about their health when the information is presented to them.
This is not to say that men shouldn't share any blame. I believe men are to blame, at least in part, for feminism. Men have not stood up to this evil. And feminism and men's health do not mix. So men do need to take some responsibility for their 2nd class status in our society, but when given the chance, they will take care of their health.
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by Gregory on 10:09 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#8)
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"I learned that prostate cancer was something that almost exclusively affected men (side note, a handful of women get prostate cancer)."--Shawn
I've never heard that there are a few women who get prostate cancer. Interesting... I'd like to learn more about that.
My understanding is that in the US, close to several hundred men die annually from breast cancer. And of course, very little research is done on male breast cancer.
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by frank h on 07:57 AM March 29th, 2005 EST (#9)
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"a handful of women get prostate cancer"
Women do NOT get prostate cancer. Women do NOT have a prostate gland.
However, men DO get breast cancer, at a rate of about one out of every one-hundred-thousand cases. Usually, they are fatal, because in men, detection is highly unlikely until the disease is so far advanced that it is terminal. And the reason for this: (drum roll) Detection methods are optimized for women.
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by shawn on 01:13 PM March 29th, 2005 EST (#11)
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"a handful of women get prostate cancer"
Women do NOT get prostate cancer. Women do NOT have a prostate gland.
Actually, a very small percentage of women do have the resemblance of the prostate gland. It's one of those evolutionary things. And it's subject to cancer. As I said. It's a true handful. Like being hit by lightening while being eaten by a shark.
As you point out, the situation with breast cancer in men is different. Although the the number of male breast cancer victims is small, it's not insignificant. Roughly 1 in 100 breast cancer victims are men, with men dying at about twice the rate as women (of those with breast cancer).
As far as men not going to the doctor ... of course men do not go to the doctor. If politics/media are to be believed, men never get sick. They have no health problems. All serious health issues affect only women. Why should I even think that I might have a health risk when pretty much everything I see and hear is in reference to women?
I don't believe the problem is with men, it's with how society completely ignores men.
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by Anonymous User on 10:09 PM March 28th, 2005 EST (#7)
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I'm so tired of this sort of crap from "aid" organizations. I won't give them a penny until they start showing some concern about men.
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Anonymous User writes "