By Brandon Leonard, MA

Although summer break for many Americans is inconceivably more than half over, there are still many vacations, barbeques and outdoor games to be had. While you’re enjoying the sunshine, make sure you’re being nice to your skin. This is of particular concern to men, who on average spend more time outdoors for both work and play than women. Unfortunately, men also appear to be less aware of the risks of sun exposure and do less to protect themselves when they’re outside. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, white men over 50 are the demographic with the highest rate of skin cancer, and men in general are less like to take precautions or to quickly deal with skin issues when they do develop. Do men just care less about taking care of themselves? The results of a 2006 study about the prevalence of sun-care products in popular U.S. magazines suggests that part of the issue is simply lack of awareness. Analyzing summer issues of the magazines, the researchers found that 77% of advertising for sunscreen and similar products occurred in women’s magazines, while publications targeting men such as outdoor recreation magazines included such ads only once every six issues on average. There’s a self-perpetuating cycle of public perception that men don’t care as much about their health, and then less information targeting men with products and suggestions that can help them avoid serious health issues.

I’m not suggesting that sunscreen is the ultimate solution to skin diseases such as melanoma. But certainly, using the appropriate kind and amount of these products is one of the best ways to protect yourself if you’re going to be outside. Other simple suggestions: don’t leave home without a hat and sunglasses, and when possible wear a long-sleeve shirt to better protect your arms (wear sunscreen anyway). For some helpful tips on when, where and what type of sunscreen to use, take a look at this page from the Skin Cancer Foundation: http://www.skincancer.org/sunscreens-explained.html. One important note is that clouds don’t keep all of the sun’s rays from reaching your skin – so get in the habit of wearing some sunscreen daily, no matter what the weather is like. Equally important is being aware of changes in your skin such as moles and sores that could be symptomatic of cancer or other serious diseases. Some helpful tips on what to look for can be found here: http://www.skincancer.org/Self-Examination/. When you spot changes or irregularities, be sure to see a doctor right away. Finally, help your family and friends by encouraging them to protect themselves from overexposure to the sun and to perform regular self-examinations to catch any problems early. Enjoy the rest of your summer, and don’t forget to take care of your skin!

References:

“Men and Skin Cancer: Solving the Knowledge Gap.” The Skin Cancer Foundation. 2010. http://www.skincancer.org/Self-Examination/.

“BU dermatology study says sunscreen advertising doesn’t reach men.” BU Today. June 7, 2006. http://www.bu.edu/today/node/1569

By Diana Stobo

Many people, including nutritionist, still think that you cannot get enough protein without eating meat, fish, or chicken. But is this really true?  I don’t eat meat, I am in decent shape, my body is lean but not small.  I have good musculature and strong bones.  I walk/run 5 days a week, do yoga and lift weights at times.  I am always full of energy, don’t need too much sleep, unless it’s winter, then I hibernate. I am a over 80% raw and mostly Vegan.  Am I truly at a deficit if I am not eating animal flesh?   The question for me really is how much do “the experts” say we need, as apposed to how much we really need?  I  don’t have the answer, but if “the experts” are right, then I had better start eating MORE Spinach!

“The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has set the daily Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) of protein for males, 19 years old and older, at 56 grams and for females, 14 years old and older, at 46 grams.  Pregnant and lactating women require an additional 25 grams of protein per day for a total of 71 grams.  Though not proven, athletes who are doing strenuous aerobic exercises may need extra protein. If you’re doing regular, strenuous resistant or weight-lifting exercises, your body is actually producing more of its own protein so you don’t really need to be eating an extra amount.”

However, this is mostly disregarded as a standard because the theory is that you need a a certain amount of protein in direct relation to your body weight.  Of course this number varies depending on who you are talking too   The basic formula is the number of grams of protein you need is your body weight (in pounds) multiplied by 0.37.   So, if you weigh in at 170 pounds, you need to eat 63 grams of protein a day (170 x 0.37 = 62.9).  Here is a handy chart to help you get the gist of how to plan your next meal:

Body Weight Proteins (Grams)

• 110            41
• 120            44
• 130            48
• 140            52
• 150            55
• 160            59
• 170            63
• 180            67
• 190            70
• 200            74
• 210            78
• 220            81
• 230            85
• 240            89

But, what is a gram of protein and how do we measure that in pounds?

There are 454 grams in a pound.

The average cut of beef (T-Bone, Filet, Porterhouse, etc.) is about 25% protein.  So, if you require 70 grams of protein a day, a 10-ounce steak will take care of all of this. (454/16=28 x 10 = 280 x 0.25 = 70)  The fact is, anyone who eats meat, chicken or fish on a daily basis is probably getting enough protein when you add all the other sources and there are many.

A 10 ounce cut Top Sirloin has approximately 575 calories, 39.4grams of saturated fat, 191 mg of cholesterol, not to mention the addictive qualities, the difficulty in digesting, the inability to digest the proteins completely for lack of enzymatic activity, unless of course it is rare and all natural, then you may still have some live activity in the beef.  But our discussion is solely on Protein, so let’s focus!

Now, if you were to rely solely on spinach, which has 49 % bio-available protein,  you’d need to eat 12 cups of spinach to get your 70 gram requirement.  That would only be about 84 calories, no fat, with the added benefit of about 800mg of potassium. Many vegetables contain protein, but just eating a variety of them as your only source will probably not add up to the minimum requirement.  Add in some beans, lentils, nuts, and whole grains though, and things start adding up.  Here’s a list of protein rich foods not including meat, chicken or fish, I also excluded dairy products, to stay true to my discussion:

• Food                            Serving Size        Amount Protein
• Avocado                           1                                5 grams
• Spirulina                         1 Tbsp                   10 grams
• Soybeans                         1 cup cooked         29 grams
• Shitake mushrooms      8 ounces                  5 grams
• Sesame seeds                  1 ounce                     5 grams
• Black beans                     1 cup                      15 grams
• Lima beans                      1 cup                      14 grams
• Lentils                               1 cup                      17 grams
• Kidney beans                   1 cup                      15 grams
• Pinto beans                      1 cup                      14 grams
• Navy beans                      1 cup                      15 grams
• Tempeh                            4 ounces                 20 grams
• Tofu                                   4 ounces                   9 grams
• Oats cooked                    1 cup                        6 grams
• Tomato                              1                            1.5 grams
• Pumpkin seeds               ¼ cup                     8.5 grams
• Peanuts                            ¼ cup                    9.5 grams
• Almonds                           ¼ cup                      7 grams
• Kale                                    1 cup                       2.2 grams
• Mustard greens               1 cup                        3 grams
• Spinach                             1 cup                        5 grams
• Romaine lettuce              2 cups                       2 grams
• Mushrooms                     5 ounces                  4 grams
• Asparagus                        1 cup                    4.5 grams
• Broccoli                            1 cup                    4.5 grams
• Swiss chard                      1 cup                       3 grams
• Collard greens                 1 cup                       4 grams
• Cauliflower                       1 cup                       2 grams
• Brussel sprouts                1 cup                       4 grams
• Miso                                   1 ounce                   4 grams
• Turnip greens                  1 cup                    1.5 grams
• Green beans                     1 cup                    2.5 grams
• Cabbage                            1 cup                   1.5 grams
• Squash                              1 cup                    1.5 grams
• Garlic                               1 ounce                 1.5 grams

If you’re a vegan,or just getting Naked  it’s fairly easy to get enough protein listed on the chart above—2 cup spinach (Popeyes passion-12 grams), 1 cup lentils, tomato, avocado (Lentil tostadas in Get Naked Fast -26 grams), 1 quart green juice (18 grams), ¼ cup almonds (almond Milk-7 grams) 1 cup romaine lettuce, 1 oz sesame seeds (My Big fat greek Salad- Get Naked Fast-7 grams), and of course in these recipes are other sources of protein as well.

This being said,  it is all more complicated than you may think.  Protein is a complex molecule comprised of a combination of different amino acids, and not all proteins contain all of the amino acids.  Eight of these are refered to as “essential” because your body cannot manufacture them on its own.  The others are “nonessential” for the opposite reason. The menu that I have comprised above contains most if not all essential amino acids, based on the variety of vegetables, grains , seeds and nuts.  These plant-based proteins are bio-available for your body and easily digestible.

Now, we just ate a menu for a full grown man of 190 pounds, based on suggested protein- if the chart above feels accurate to you, modify for your body size.  Most important is quality of protein grams over quantity, for losing weight, maintaining healthy tissue, and keeping metabolism functioning at full potential.  If you are really interested in the most usable source of a complete protein, add fresh sprouts to every meal you eat.  Nothing promotes health and healing or contains more life force energy than fresh live sprouts!

And Bon appetite-  nothing tastes better than healthy food!

——–

Blurb about today’s Guest Blogger:

Diana Stobo lives in Northern California with her husband and three children. She is a classically trained Cornell culinary artist and raw food advocate who healed herself through food. She teaches the raw food lifestyle in classes, retreats and live presentations on local television and in Whole Foods Markets. An inspirational and motivational speaker, Diana changes lives with her delicious and fully accessible recipes that make maintaining the raw lifestyle easy and fun to incorporate. You can find more information about Diana Stobo’s work, including recipes and more helpful tips about raw food, at www.DianaStobo.com.

By Luke Manley, MPH

When you reflect on what it means to be a Man, you probably think in much the same way as generations of men have before you.  The tough Western cowboy, the dutiful soldier, or the heroic fireman. Chances are you don’t consider Adam Sandler’s Billy Madison, Seth McFarlane’s Peter Griffin, or any of the current crop of male TV sitcom characters to be pillars of Masculinity.  Yet while the stoic, focused, and responsible male archetype has persisted for generations, it seems that at no other point in our history has the reality deviated so sharply from the ideal.

In a fascinating new novel, cultural historian Gary Cross explores the modern epidemic of man-boyhood that first infected parts of the WWII generation, spread most noticeably in the Boomer generation, and has now become a part of the cultural genome of the Gen X’ers and Millennials.  Don’t believe it?  Just take a look at the way men are overwhelmingly portrayed in the most popular TV shows and movies.  Awkward, whiny characters stuck in a perpetual state of immaturity that in most cases must be dragged, kicking and screaming away from their toys and into adulthood. Toys that are indistinguishable from those in which they indulged ad nauseum during their teenage and college years.  These man-boys view responsibility and formerly respectable activities such as excelling in a career, marriage, and raising a family as an albatross at best and at worst a curse to be avoided at all costs.  Once resigned to this domestic purgatory, we nurture our portrayal as bumbling, beer-swilling, video-game-addicted, good-for-nothings.  Consider the cultural icons of the older generations, such as Cary Grant, Robert Redford, Humphrey Bogart, and Paul Newman and compare it to today’s stars.  Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Hugh Grant, and Russel Brand.  Men whose characters celebrate and revel in their desire to avoid commitment and responsibility.  Most frightening of all is that the statistics bear out this shift.  Surely exacerbated by the current financial crisis, which has hit men especially hard, a staggering 55% of American men between 18 and 24 years old and 13% between 25 and 34 are currently living with their parents.  This is compared to only 8% of women in the same situation.  The average age for marriage has been climbing steadily over the years and now over 16 percent of men reach their early 40s without marrying, up from only 6% in 1980.  What do the statistics say men are doing with all this extra time?  Sadly, not working on their careers, but rather indulging in the same activities that they were unable to leave behind in college.  For example, the average video game player was 18 years old a decade ago.  Want to take a guess at the mean age now?  If you guessed 33 you would be, sadly, correct.

Most interesting is that Mr. Cross traces the roots of much of this change back to the men of the Baby Boomer generation and their rejection of their father’s passive involvement in their childhood.  These men brought about what in many ways was a sea change in the paternal-child relationship, making it acceptable for fathers to no longer be merely the disciplinarian, but take on roles that had always been traditionally reserved for women.  They paved the way for the modern emotionally available, stay-at-home, soccer dads.  However, in subsequent generations this laissez-faire approach to fatherhood appears to have caused an unintended confusion about the role of manhood.   In the quest to dismantle the father-as-authoritarian and regain some of our boyhood to connect more with our kids, we have failed to produce a proper alternative role-model to which men can aspire.  This ambiguousness has led to much of the current culture of men as the loveable, useless, lounge-about; dad as the easy-going playmate that flouts the rules as often as the kids.

Now don’t get me wrong, no one laughs harder at Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Happy Gilmore than I and there is nothing I look forward to more than playing a twilight game of hide-and-seek or having summer water-balloon battles with my kids.  Yet there has to exist a healthy mix of 1950’s responsible disciplinarian and 2010’s lovable playmate (my vote is for Mike Brady or Cliff Huxtable).  There is a dignity and nobility in the balance of softness and strength, a trait that our wives and girlfriends will surely appreciate and which our sons and daughters will benefit from and remember far more than how to beat Level 5 of Rock Band.  I don’t need my kids to call me “Sir”, but I sure as heck don’t want them calling me “Dude”.

References

“Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity”. Gary Cross. 2010. Book Review: http://cup.columbia.edu/book/978-0-231-14430-8/men-to-boys

Excerpt from “Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity. History News Network. George Mason University. 2008. http://hnn.us/articles/53417.html

The Basement Boys: The making of modern immaturity. Newsweek. George F. Will. 2010. http://www.newsweek.com/2010/03/07/the-basement-boys.html

By Jed Diamond, Ph.D.

I began working on my male menopause series when I turned 50.  The changes hit me like a ton of bricks.  Everything seemed to be falling apart at once.  My erections were going south, my hormones were dropping off, my energy was going down, my sleeplessness was increasing, my prostate was enlarging.  My children were growing up and leaving home.

I wanted answers in the worst way.  And I wasn’t alone.  Mid-life men and women weren’t content to slip quietly into old age.  When I began research for the book Male Menopause most people laughed at the idea.  Well, really to be truthful, most men laughed at the idea.  Most of the women I talked to said things like, “Well, it’s about time men finally figured out that they are as hormonal as women.”

I said, “After completing four years of research, I concluded that midlife men have significant hormonal and physiological changes and that ‘male menopause’ was the proper name to describe what all men experience as they move from the first half of life to the second.”

When I began my research, I assumed I would find that men and women differed greatly in how they experienced the “change of life.”  I expected women’s changes to be more physiological and hormonal and men’s changes to be more psychological and social.  But it turned out that as many women suspected, men were every bit as hormonally driven as were women.

And once again I ran into a resistant belief system.  In our youth oriented culture, we didn’t want to believe that hormonal and physiological changes were impacting men.  In fact, most physicians I talked to felt that “male menopause” was a myth.  However, in England, Germany, Denmark, Russia, Australia, and many other countries more and more medical professional were recognizing the reality of male menopause.

Here’s what I said about Male Menopause:

Male menopause (also called viropause or andropause) begins with hormonal, physiological, and chemical changes that occur in all men generally between the ages of forty and fifty-five, though it can occur as early as thirty-five or as late as sixty-five.  These changes affect all aspects of a man’s life.  Male menopause is, thus, a physical condition with psychological, interpersonal, social, and spiritual dimensions.

The purpose of male menopause is to signal the end of the first part of a man’s life and prepare him for the second half.  Male menopause is not the beginning of the end, as many fear, but the end of the beginning.  It is the passage to the most passionate, powerful, productive, and purposeful time of a man’s life.

The three books in the series, Male Menopause, Surviving Male Menopause, and The Whole Man Program became best-sellers throughout the world and were translated into more than 30 foreign languages.  As more and more men move into and through the male menopause passage, we continue to learn more about what it means to be a male today.

Although, they became world-wide best-sellers, what was most satisfying was that they honored the memory of my father.  Going through his own “male menopause passage,” he tried to commit suicide.  No one understood what was going on for him and he was shipped off to a mental hospital.  It didn’t have to be that way.

I know I’ve been able to save thousands of families from going through what we went through.  Male Menopause is real and it can be treated.  Men don’t need to suffer the despair that overwhelmed my father.

—–

Blurb about Guest Blogger:

Dr. Jed Diamond have been helping men, and the women who love them, for the last 44 years. He has written 8 books, including Male Menopause, The Irritable Male Syndrome, and Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places. He is passionate about helping transform relationships and make the world a better place for us all. For more information, please go to www.menalive.com.

By Armin Brott

At some point not long after the baby is born, just about every new father gets hit with a sharp jolt of reality: he’s a father–with new responsibilities, new pressures, new expectations to live up to. For some of us, this seemingly basic little epiphany comes early, before we leave the hospital. But for others, reality may not hit for a few days. Sooner or later, though, we all come to realize that our lives have changed forever. Sometimes the changes are subtle, sometimes not so subtle. But they’re almost always surprising.

1. You may be confused. If there’s one thing that sets the first few months of fatherhood apart from the net few years it’s the confusing and often conflicting emotions you may feel. On the one hand there’s the virility, power, and pride at having created a new life. On the other, the feelings of helplessness when you can’t satisfy (or sometimes even understand) your baby’s needs.

Maria (_overfly_), “Papa” October 31, 2008 via Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution.

2. You’ll discover a new and different kind of love. There’s no comparing the all-consuming love you’ll have for your child with the love you have for any other person. Maurice Sendak may have captured the feeling better than any other writer in a scene from Where the Wild Things Are where the monsters plead with Max not to leave them: “Please don’t go,” they say. “We’ll eat you up we love you so.”

3. You’ll feel ambivalence. One day, completely out of the blue, you’ll look at your baby and realize that the intense passion you felt just the day before has been replaced by a numb, hollow feeling. Do you know this child? Do you care? You’ll feel like bagging this whole dad thing and starting a new life somewhere else. Chances are the very next thing you’ll feel is incredible guilt at having had these feelings in the first place. After all, if you aren’t head-over-heels in love your child 100% of the time you’re not a good father, right? Wrong. Ambivalence is a perfectly normal part of being a dad and you’re going to have the same feelings dozens of times over the next 50 years. So get used to it now.

4. You may get depressed. Yep, it’s true. Even though most people think that postpartum blues are a women’s thing, plenty of guys get depressed after their babies are born. Our blues, though, aren’t hormonally based like our partners’, but may, in fact, have more to do with returning to reality. When you were an expectant and brand new dad, people paid more attention to you and probably cut you a little slack. But after a few weeks it’s back to the grid at work, plus you’ve got to deal with all the bills, the sleep interruption, and the extra laundry at home. That’s enough to depress anyone.

5. You’ll be afraid. The first few months of fatherhood are simply littered with fears: that you won’t be able to live up to your expectations of what it means to be a father; that you might not be able to protect your child or your family from harm, that you won’t be able to adequately provide for your family, that you don’t know what to do with your child, that you’ll be too much–or not enough–like your own father, that you’ve made a horrible mistake. These fears and many others are a completely normal part of making the transition from man and husband to father. Some will go away as your skills increase, others will go away with time. But sooner or later they almost all go away.

6. Your relationship with your partner will change. Before you became parents, you and your partner spend a lot of time together, nurturing each other and making your relationship stronger. But once your baby shows up everything changes: now the focus of just about every thing you do is on your baby. You barely have time to sleep let alone do the things that brought you and your partner together in the first place. If at all possible, try to carve out some time, even if it’s only a few minutes a day, to spend talking with your partner–about something other than the baby.

7. You’ll take your baby’s “opinions” a little too seriously. For the first six to eight weeks of life, your baby probably won’t give you much feedback about how you’re doing as a father: no smiles, no laughing, not much response in any way at all. In fact, just about all he’ll do is cry. It’s very easy to take your baby’s lack of enthusiasm as some kind of referendum on your worth as a dad. Don’t. If you back off, your baby will too. So hang in there for a little longer–it’s well worth the wait.

8. You’ll learn new ways of being loved. Over the next few months, as you learn to master your baby’s cues and meet his needs, your baby will learn to love you–and to express that love in the most amazing ways. And the first time that your baby coos as you or hugs you or falls asleep on your chest absentmindedly stroking your shoulder you’ll discover the true meaning of life.

9. Your baby will teach you about planning–and flexibility. Before you became a parent getting ready to leave the house meant grabbing your wallet and car keys and making sure the oven was off. But now, going on a trip to the grocery store with your baby in two takes as much planning as an expedition to Mt. Everest. That’s assuming that your baby doesn’t fill her diaper two or three times just as you’re walking out the door.

10. You’ll talk about very different things than you used to. If someone would have told you a year ago that you’d be willingly participating in long discussions with your friends about projectile vomit, leaky breasts, episiotomies, and the color and consistency of the contents of a diaper, you’d have laughed yourself silly. But you’re doing it, right? And you’re loving it too.

Lastly and importantly to all fathers – new and old everywhere, Happy Father’s Day!

——

Blurb about today’s Guest Blogger:

Armin Brott, a nationally recognized parenting expert, is known worldwide as Mr. Dad. He is the leading author of books on fatherhood, which have sold millions of copies worldwide.  Armin writes the nationally syndicated column, “Ask Mr. Dad,” and hosts the “Positive Parenting” radio show. For more information, please visit his website at www.mrdad.com.

By Ramon P. Llamas, MPH, CHES

“A brush with mortality turns out to be the best way to appreciate how blue the sky is, how sensuous grass feels underfoot, how melodious kids’ voices are,” wrote Nicholas D. Kristof in a recent New York Times op-ed piece.  Mr. Kristof was fortunate, even lucky to have been found with a malignant tumor on his kidney after a CT scan was ordered for another part of his body.  Despite survival rates of less than 50% for kidney cancer, a three-hour operation merely weeks ago left him with a six-inch scar, but more importantly, another chance to appreciate the finer things in life – to “seize the day” more often.

From my perspective Mr. Kristof had a little more than luck on his side.  It is apparent that Mr. Kristof is a proactive participant in his health.  Having been aware enough to notice a problem and the initiative to consult his physician are behaviors that should be encouraged, especially within the male population.  From the stories I have heard in the past from male participants at health education events and fairs, most had not seen a physician for a routine visit in at least 10 years – some even longer!  Female participants on the other hand, have engaged me with questions regarding their concern for their significant other.  This difference in health-seeking behaviors mentioned above partly explains the health disparities presented below:

Life Expectancy at Birth, 2007



Leading Causes of Death, 2006*

Men have a higher death rate for most of the leading causes of death:

Cause of Death                     Men         Women
Heart disease                      248.5         162.2
Cancer                                 220.1         153.6
Injuries (unintentional)         55.2         25.5
Cerebrovascular disease       43.9          42.6

Health can be viewed as a resource for living and it plays a vital role in an individual’s quality of life, as well his educational, social and professional pursuits.  The significant gap in life expectancy results from poorer health outcomes because men are less likely to receive preventive health care and as a consequence, are diagnosed with chronic illnesses at later stages compared to women, thus reducing their likelihood of positive prognoses, therefore increasing costs of treatment and rehabilitation and decreasing their levels of productivity.

When an individual succumbs to illness, the people around them are also affected.  Take for instance a family that temporarily loses its primary source of income because its financial provider begins to undergo treatments for lung cancer.  Both the immediate and extended family will directly experience personal as well as financial burdens.  In addition, many others will experience the health problem indirectly, including the individual’s employer, co-workers and others in the individual’s direct social network.  Therefore, as men continue to struggle with reduced health outcomes when compared to women, many others are also affected simultaneously and actually struggle with them.  Is it reasonable to allow approximately 150 million Americans to live with reduced health outcomes?

Men: take the time this month to assess your health, because we can’t always count on luck to be on our side.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any ideas on how we can change how men view health at ramonl@menshealthnetwork.net.

]]> http://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/2010/06/09/more-than-luck/feed/ 2 http://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/2010/06/07/false-positive-or-false-negative/ http://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/2010/06/07/false-positive-or-false-negative/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:06:15 +0000 Sonny Patel, MPH http://www.talkingaboutmenshealth.com/?p=343

By Dr. Michael J Rovito
CHECK THIS POST OUT ON SCRIBD

The following post is paraphrased from one of my recent guest lectures. It sparked enormous debate and I was very pleased to see college students taking the initiative to discuss their health among peers. Although the topic was testicular cancer and testicular self-examination, I told the females in the class to parallel the discussion to breast cancer and breast self-examination.

…and so the lecture/discussion began:

Would you rather feel a strange bump on your testicle, get anxious and worried, make an appointment (still stressed out, mind you), go to your physician and have him/her perform a manual examination on your testicles and have them tell you it’s nothing (a false positive), or would you rather not even think about your testicular health and not screen yourself, or get screened, for cancer? Let’s face it, statistically you have a very slim chance of developing the disease so why would you even worry yourself over something that could be absolutely nothing?

Perhaps for false positive cases a trip to the physician might cost you a co-pay and your insurance company a couple hundred dollars for the 30 minute visit. But as long as you do not have cancer, all is good. Right? On the other hand, what if you did not perform regular testicular self-examinations or, if you did, you did not perform it thoroughly? Perhaps you may have missed something. You would think you don’t have cancer as you feel no lumps. Maybe even you refuse to realize you are vulnerable and therefore have no reason to perform self-screening. But again, what if you actually do have the disease but you believe that you don’t (false negative)?

So back to the original question, would you rather have some anxiety and worry about whether or not you have cancer because you felt a lump on your testicle erroneously or would you rather ignore or misperceive possible symptoms (lumps, heaviness in the groin, etc) and believe you do not have testicular cancer when actually you do?

…after some initial reactions from the students, I continued:

Testicular is nicknamed the “hurricane cancer” for a reason. The tumor usually doubles in size over the course of a few weeks. So the answer to your question should be pretty clear. You would probably want to be a bit more involved with your bodily health and understand what the warning signs are for the disease. If you look at Lance Armstrong’s situation, all signs and symptoms were not paid proper homage. When he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, it was already metastasized to his lungs and brain. He was only given approximately a 40 to 50% chance of survival. If you catch testicular cancer in its early stages, your chance of recovery is 99%. Do the math.

…again, more debate followed. At this point I was surprised at the passionate exchange of ideas. Perhaps traditional barriers of modesty and embarrassment to discuss such topics among not only other men, but females as well (and vice versa), are being eroded. I concluded with the following:

Men need to understand their health is indeed at risk. Under no circumstances should a man be uninformed of what those risks are and what he can do to limit them. Although risks rise and fall with certain demographic variables, generally a man should understand his body and how to achieve and maintain healthiness. Just because you are a man does not give you a free pass to get out of unhealthy situations. In fact, the traditional societal roles imposed onto men can indeed put them more at risk. You’re a human. You are going to get sick at some point in your life. Some people more than others. However, you have the power to help shape your health outcomes. So if the question of whether you would prefer a false positive or false negative (in the case of testicular cancer), you would probably rather be more safe than sorry.

…I left the discussion pleased. Maybe students are being more efficacious with their health and well-being. That’s indeed something positive to hear amidst the endless stream of bad news we experience every day from our cable news channels, particularly what’s been going on in the Gulf of Mexico and Afghanistan.

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Blurb about today’s Guest Blogger:

Michael J Rovito received his M.A. in Geography and Ph.D. in Public Health from Temple University in Philadelphia. Michael currently is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Temple University. His research specializes in health behavior change, men’s health, and audience segmentation. His most recent research developed the “Control Identity” Personality Typology that aims to assist health education and intervention efforts for tailoring messaging strategies. Michael is a Fellow of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, and the Information Technology in Society Research Group. His interests include military and World War II history, outdoor sports, and political strategy.

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By Luke Manley, MPH

I was recently given the incredible honor to represent my peers as the speaker for the Masters and MPH programs at the 2010 graduate school commencement ceremonies. Our esteemed editor, Mr. Sonny Patel, felt that my speech, while not specifically male-centered, would serve quite well for this month’s blog entry. Of course, as men, we make up roughly half of the population and bear equal responsibility for doing all that we can to work tirelessly to make our society and the world a better place. Additionally, through our actions we must ensure that we leave our children and future generations with a legacy of which we can be proud. Enjoy!

-Luke

Ladies and Gentleman, I cannot possibly express what a privilege it is to stand in front of you all today celebrating what I believe to be the greatest of all achievements: education. The success of any educational institution is not necessarily what their professors can teach, but the extent to which they encourage their students to learn. That is what I have appreciated most about my time here at USC. Time and time again I have been encouraged to not simply be a passive observer in my education, but to challenge myself to think critically, thoroughly, and independently. This came in handy while crafting my speech, since I found myself focused a bit too much on one particular guideline recommending that we avoid being cliché. I began to angst about how I could possibly not be cliché. What do I say? “We’re all doomed”? or “Hey, forget this; let’s go to the beach”? Of course not. What I came to realize is that we live our lives surrounded by maxims and platitudes. Many of us define ourselves by those old chestnuts that we hear from our families, neighbors, politicians, and on TV. So it is with great honor that I present to you the clichés that have remained with me over the years and have defined my unique experience here at USC. I can only hope that they resonate and journey on with you also as you embark upon the next stage of your lives.

First, “Do what you love”. Forbes magazine recently reported that 87% of Americans don’t like their jobs. I, like many of you, have spent much of life surrounded by the concept of the corporate office. Not the funny version on the TV sitcom “The Office” with Steve Carrel, but rather the notion that upwards of 50 years of your life will be spent in an 8-hour, 5-day slog through meetings, memos, and TPS reports. Despite our quintessential American optimism it often seems that disliking your job is just a fact of life; as inevitable as death and taxes. However, I refuse to accept this. Our generation in particular is known for the ability to multi-task, adapt, and innovate. We have grown up with Apple’s iEverything, the rise of Google, and the all-encompassing web of Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Our world is no longer defined by just our towns, our cities, or even our countries. The world is now truly our playground, so let’s play!

Second, “Question Authority”. Perhaps nothing is as fluid as knowledge and we in the science profession are acutely aware that what we know is only as true as the results of the next research study. Someone else may have said it first, but I think my father put it best when he said, “Nobody knows nothing”. But why is that a bad thing? The beauty of science has always been its rejection of dogma; it’s embracing of the idea that the world is a continually fascinating and evolving series of questions. Those questions are ours to answer and the world is counting on us to make the effort.

Third, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. More than ever before we live in a global society where our deeds and actions have ever-greater and far-reaching consequences. Given the ideological differences just in the United States, it is sometimes difficult enough just to identify with some of your own neighbors. However, especially for those of us here today, it is absolutely imperative that we always remember that regardless of how we feel about taxes, religion, or government, our fundamental desires are the same. If there is one single thing that I have learned from my travels it is that people are just people. Those living in the slums of Mumbai don’t want to be poor; the people from Iran aren’t part of an “Axis of Evil”. Regardless of whether you are Indian, Syrian, Burmese, Ethiopian, Peruvian, or American, we all want the same things: to have a full stomach, do something meaningful with our lives, find love, and watch our children grow up. We must always keep in mind that nationality is a choice, but humanity is universal.

In closing I would like to share with you a story. As many of my classmates are aware, I have a profound love for the Middle-East and have taken every opportunity to journey there. A question that I am asked often is “What is your most memorable experience?” and my answer is always the same. My flight landed in Aleppo, Syria at 3 in the morning and I had slept perhaps 2 hours the night before on the metal airport benches during my 24-hour delay in Istanbul, Turkey. Caught in the mad crush of people exiting onto the street, all of a sudden a man charges up to me, mutters my name and leads me into a taxi that looks as if it was taken from a Hollywood crash scene. To this day I don’t know how he knew my name or if it was even my name that I heard. Yet here I was, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed American in one of the oft-mentioned Axes of Evil speeding down a completely dark, deserted road at 3am supposedly in the direction of my hostel. My first two thoughts were “God, I’m glad my mother can’t see this” and “I hope this doesn’t end up with me on YouTube”. Yet I remembered my clichés and in my broken Arabic conversed excitedly with the driver throughout the entire drive. In the end he dropped me off in the deserted alley directly outside the hostel and left me with a genuine smile and perhaps the only English he knew: “Thank you for visit Syria. You are very welcome.”

My point is this: The world is your oyster, so use your brain and follow your heart, but most of all, pursue your passion no matter what others say or however challenging it may seem. In other words, “Just Do It”.

By Ramon P. Llamas, MPH

Last week, countries all over the world celebrated Earth Day hosting a variety of awareness activities and rallies – from Bulgaria to Columbia to the United States.  The National Mall, between the U.S. Capitol and Washington monument, hosted thousands at the Earth Day Climate Rally on Sunday, April 25, 2010 with live performances featuring artists such as Sting, John Legend, and the Roots as well as notable speakers like Reverend Jesse Jackson, James Cameron and Bill Demong.  Of the messages emphasized, one in particular caused me to further reflect and assess into my own lifestyle and habits – how to create long-term sustaining change. As a consequence, I believe that Earth Day celebrations should be limited to one day or one week out of the year, as it is more of a vague reminder.  In contrast, if we actually care and want real change to happen, we each have to realize that changing ingrained habits is a long and arduous process which takes significant amounts of time, effort, action, and will power. Of course, then we need to act on them. Action is the key; similarly, the same commitment to change health behaviors into more positive, healthy choices takes time, effort, action and will power.

For those unaware about the current efforts in staying healthy and creating clean renewable energy, please check out Green Revolution, Inc at http://www.egreenrevolution.com/. The mission of Green Revolution, Inc. is to create clean renewable energy by harnessing human activity, specifically, the conversion of mechanical energy into stored, usable energy.  In fact, one of the major sports clubs in Washington, D.C. has recently offered a spin class that does just that.  Essentially, an individual who works out using this new technology not only improves their health well-being, but also produces and stores energy to power small devices.  Furthermore, the company estimates that an average class over the course of one year can potentially light 72 homes for one month’s time.  Imagine the collective impact a community can have in reducing its energy usage.  Imagine the sense of empowerment and accomplishment to have individuals in the community working out to achieve personal health and fitness goals while simultaneously reducing their energy burdens.  I feel strongly that this is just the beginning of innovative technology that synthesizes science with practical and impactful application.  I am personally excited about the future of public health and I motivated as ever to maintain my health while also remaining cognizant of the environment I leave for those around me and for future generations that follow me.

If you have any ideas on staying healthy and green, I would love to hear from you!  Send me an email at ramonl@menshealthnetwork.net.

By Dr. Michael J Rovito

The opening moniker for any of my lectures on men’s health, “Being a man is harmful to one’s health”, routinely elicits a few chuckles or some questioning glances. However, I repeat the statement and claim that, generally, it’s true. If you are a man, chances are you are less likely to talk about important issues like prostate, testicular, and/or sexual health. Why? For many men, discussing issues of sickness, vulnerability, and death with others (especially other men) is perceived as a breach of their masculinity. It is this reluctance to discuss such important issues that is having a direct effect upon our health and wellbeing.

A recent study by Winterich et al (2009) suggested that men experience digital rectal exams and colonoscopies negatively (DRE’s more negatively than colonoscopies) due to their association of said preventative behaviors with homosexuality. Men also perceived anal penetration via DRE or colonoscopy as an “affront to their masculinity”. (p. 300) The literature on testicular cancer parallels these findings. Any given cross sectional study on male perceptions of testicular health will surely suggest that most men are hesitant to discuss their testicles to anyone (e.g. Trumbo, 2004). Generally, men feel uncomfortable discussing such inherently male-centric topics such as testicular, prostate, rectal, or sexual health for fear of seeming ‘womanly’, ‘girly’, ‘queer’, or ‘weak’.

So how and why did this behavior among men begin? Apparently, the forces that defined masculinity have therefore shaped and molded an idea of a man as one who should not demonstrate vulnerability or weakness in any kind of visible form. The idea of a man being vulnerable is viewed as a gateway of losing their masculinity. The social construction of “manliness” does not allow for an Achilles’ heel, especially when dealing with health and wellbeing topics. Therefore, when men seek medical advice or require medical attention, they may be somewhat hesitant to fully disclose their discomfort or suspicions. If you factor into this discussion a man’s prostate, testicles, rectum, or sexuality, the more reserved a man gets. Because men generally value, or abide by, this socially constructed notion of being a “man’s man”, they are predisposed to not want to talk about any health or wellness topic concerning their “manhood”.

Should men want to: (a) learn how to perform testicular self-examination and then perform it regularly, (b) want to discuss their digital rectal examination results with their physician, or (c) openly discuss sexual health with other men? They should, but generally, they don’t. Can these reservations have an effect upon health outcomes? Of course they can. Looking at any testicular or prostate cancer data, many diagnoses for such preventable diseases occur post-diaspora from the prostate or testicles, thereby making treatment and/or recovery that much more difficult. For example, Wynd (2002) suggests that later detection results in worse health outcomes, with 15% to 50% of (testicular) tumors being metastasized at time of discovery. The later the stage of discovery, the higher the risk of mortality.

This veil of silence prohibits any quality communication between men and their physicians, friends, colleagues, and/or family about testicular, prostate, rectal, or sexual health. This is not only limiting quality of life, but also length of life. We must support and encourage men to have open dialogue about their health concerns. It could mean the difference between a long, healthy life and a critical, deadly diagnosis. So yes, being a man may be harmful to one’s health but as long as we continue to communicate the importance of men’s health perhaps we can give that old adage a critical diagnosis of its own.

References:

Trumbo, C. (2004). Mass-mediated information effects on testicular self-examination among college students. Journal of American College Health, 52(6), 257-262.

Winterich, J., Quandt, S., Grzywacz, J., Clark, P., Miller, D., Acuna, J., & Arcury, T. (2009) Masculinity and the Body: How African-American and White men Experience Cancer Screening Exams Involving the Rectum. American Journal of Men’s Health. 3(4), 300-309

Wynd, C. (2002). Testicular self-examination in young adult men. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 34(3), 251-255.

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Blurb about today’s Guest Blogger:

Michael J Rovito received his M.A. in Geography and Ph.D. in Public Health from Temple University in Philadelphia. Michael currently is an Assistant Professor of Public Health at Temple University. His research specializes in health behavior change, men’s health, and audience segmentation. His most recent research developed the “Control Identity” Personality Typology that aims to assist health education and intervention efforts for tailoring messaging strategies. Michael is a Fellow of the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making, the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, and the Information Technology in Society Research Group. His interests include military and World War II history, outdoor sports, and political strategy.