new Democrat Party MP Peter Stoffer (centre) is dragged out of Commons by fellow NDP workers to take part in the campaign to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer research, known as Movember, by shaving off his trademark moustache in Ottawa, Nov. 1, 2010. (Chris Roussakis, QMI Agency)
Having done the Clark Gable thing, Toronto’s Mic Salem is now thinking handlebar. like thousands of other Canadian men, Salem is taking the month of November to grow a moustache and raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer.
A couple of years ago, he raised $800 for Prostate Cancer Canada and grew a moustache reminiscent of the kind old-timey actors made famous: Small, clean and manicured. “this time around, I will shoot for the whole handlebar thing,” says the 32-year-old communications and marketing officer for The Toronto Community Foundation.
Salem is participating in Movember, a men’s health initiative that originated in Australia seven years ago and is now global. (Mo is Australian slang for moustache and November is prostate cancer awareness month – hence, Movember.) Last year, the Movember movement raised $42 million; since its inception, over $100 million has been raised, along with awareness of a potentially dangerous men’s cancer.
As new treatments emerge and more and more men come forward to put a face on the disease (think the NDP’s Jack Layton, golfer Arnold Palmer, new York’s former mayor Rudy Giuliani, and former U.S. secretary of state Colin Powell), prostate cancer is becoming better known. But there’s still a lack of awareness, and even denial among men. Research has shown that men are 40% more likely than women to die from cancer, in part because they put off visiting the doctor. As one prostate cancer survivor told me, “if you’re waiting for actual symptoms to appear, you’re waiting too late.”
Those who’ve had to live with prostate cancer are quick to tell other men to have their annual checkups, including the dreaded finger up the rear exam. they should talk to their doctors about the possibility of having a PSA test. although a physical exam or the harmless blood test for prostate-specific antigen may save a man’s life, only half the men over the age of 50 get tested. Check out Prostatecancer.ca for more on cancer assessment.
But what exactly is the prostate, many men still ask. The prostate is a walnut-sized gland located at the base of the penis in front of the rectum, just below the bladder. it produces part of the fluid that carries sperm. Rates of prostate cancer in men are comparable to breast cancer rates in women, with a man being diagnosed with the disease every 2.7 minutes. in 2010, approximately 246,000 men will be diagnosed and 4,300 will die. it is the most common cancer to affect Canadian men.
But there is good news on the horizon. Death rates have been dropping since the mid-1990s: Earlier detection saves lives and today’s better treatments prolong lives. more accurate interpretations of test results mean that, today, some men’s prostate cancer – particularly ones that are very slow-growing and considered less dangerous – are monitored rather than aggressively treated.
But men have to take charge, learn more, and have their own health evaluated on a regular basis. As for awareness, prostate cancer is following in the footsteps of breast cancer: You can’t think pink today without thinking breast cancer. Blue striped ties and scarves are associated with prostate cancer awareness, and now, so is upper lip facial hair.
Mic Salem knows people among his family and friends who were diagnosed with the disease. his moustache will again raise awareness, he says. and growing it is kind of fun for someone in their 30s: “There’s a creep factor about them, but that also makes them kind of cool. Beards today are commonplace, but moustaches draw attention. I had a hard time taking myself seriously, though, when I grew it a few years ago. At work, they had a good laugh but it encouraged them all to talk about prostate cancer and to donate.”
Grow Your Mo
Will yours look like the mos sported by Hulk Hogan, Tom Selleck, Stevie wonder, or Howie Mandel? Will you be like Dr. Phil or Prince? Take November and give it a try – and raise funds and awareness for the number one killer of men.
Mo Information
“The mos that you grown, the mos you support, the mos you caress help to take prostate cancer research further,” says Dr. Anthony Joshua, a prostate cancer researcher at Toronto’s University Health Network. Check out Movember.com, where you’ll find info on this fun initiative, plus pin-ups of the “Mo Men” of past years.
Buy Into It
Like the breast cancer awareness initiative, Movember has spawned lines of products that donate money to the cause when you purchase them. Along with video camera skins, cufflinks and t-shirts are shoes by TOMS, a company already known for its charitable initiatives (every time a pair is purchased, the company donates a new pair of shoes to a child in need). their Movember-specific design will also donate a portion of the sale to the Movember Foundation. Visit Tomsshoes.ca for more information.