15 Seconds That Could Save Your Life!
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| Participants listen as information on prostate cancer statistics are given. |
African American men have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world and the lowest rate of survival.
by Johnnie Grant
African American men are two to three times as likely to die of prostate cancer as men of European ancestry. Only 66% of African Americans diagnosed with prostate cancer survive for five years, compared with 81% percent of Caucasian men.
African American men with prostate cancer can live as long as other men after diagnosis, but only if they receive early treatment. Too many African American men do not receive adequate treatment because they do not present themselves for treatment until the disease has progressed to a late stage (Stage 3 or 4). Quality care is essential, as is early treatment.
General Risk Factors
Cultural stigmas and taboos keep some African American men from going
for screenings. They hurt only themselves and their families by
delaying. (It is interesting to note that black men living in Africa
have the lowest prevalence of prostate cancer in the world.)
Genetics may also influence the risk factors. Men with first-degree
male relatives (father or brothers) with prostate cancer have a
two-fold increase in their incidence of prostate cancer; men with two
or three first-degree relatives with carcinoma of the prostate may have
as high as a fivefold to tenfold increase in risk.
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| Prostate cancer survivors Jasper Beavers and Willie Hawthorne spoke to participants about the importance of being screened. |
The following signs and symptoms may be indications of prostate cancer.
Consult your physician right away if you are experiencing any or all of
the following symptoms:
• weak or interrupted flow of urine
• urinating often (especially at night)
• difficulty urinating or holding back urine
• inability to urinate
• pain or burning when urinating
• blood in the urine or semen
• nagging pain in the back, hips, or pelvis
Free Prostate Screening
The Asheville-Buncombe Institute of Parity Achievement (ABIPA), in
association with the NC Office of Minority Health and Disparities and
NC Comprehensive Cancer Program, are sponsors of the Prostate Screening
Initiative to be held June 14, 2008 from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., at
the W. C. Reid Center, 133 Livingston Street in Asheville. We urge
every man of 50 or over to stop by for a screening.
