Health is Wealth programme 20 - 17sept2024

The Marie Keating Foundation is running a campaign for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Prostate cancer can be detected early and has a high survival rate, but often has no symptoms. It is important for men over 50 to get a PSA blood test, and those with a family history should start at 40-45. Symptoms of prostate problems include difficulty urinating, urgency, frequent urination, weak urine flow, and blood in urine or semen. The campaign uses humor to encourage men to talk about their health and get checked. Early diagnosis saves lives, and treatment options are available. The blue pin symbolizes the campaign and starts conversations about prostate health. The Marie Keating Foundation provides support and encourages people to get checked. The blue pin is available for €3. Oh Doctor, I'm in trouble. Well, goodness gracious me. For every time a certain man is standing next to me. A flash comes to my face and my pulse begins to race. It goes boom bodee boom bodee boom bodee boom bodee boom bodee boom bodee boom boom boom. Boom bodee boom bodee boom bodee boom. Well, goodness gracious me. With me is Helen Forrestal and Helen is Director of Nursing with the Marie Keating Foundation and there's a new campaign urging people to pay attention to their pee for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and we know how important that is. It's a pleasure to chat to you this morning, Helen. And to you, Pat. Thanks a million for having us on, of course. It's Blue September for the Marie Keating Foundation National. So we always remember, you know, prostate cancer, those that have been lost to it, but more those who are surviving prostate cancer in Ireland. So, yeah, we can talk a bit more about that as we go. And it's one of those cancers that's detected early and gotten early. An awful lot of people do survive prostate cancer, don't they? They do, indeed. Like, survival within prostate cancer is actually quite high. Like, the five-year survival for somebody who's diagnosed with an early prostate cancer is up to 93%, which is phenomenal, really. And not, you know, there are a lot of cancers that are not at that level or that stage. So diagnosing prostate cancer early, though, is actually really important because our campaign, you know, we have comedians involved. We've got Danny Kehoe and Carl Spain. And their front line talks to me about, you know, I suppose they're comedians, so there's a little bit of fun attached to the conversation. That's often a hook to get men listening. And they talk about, you know, prostate cancer awareness, getting checked early, and being aware of signs and symptoms of prostate cancer. But one thing I would like to say, and I'd like the audience to hear this very clearly, is that prostate cancer very often does not have any symptoms, okay? So when you reach the age of 50, it's very important that you go to your GP and have a chat about having the PSA blood test. Anyone who has a family history, so they have a father, a brother, an uncle, with prostate cancer, or a mother, a sister, or an auntie with breast cancer, will be more at risk of developing prostate cancer, particularly at a younger age. So we would suggest and recommend that people who have a family history go to their GP and ask and have a conversation about the PSA blood test from the age of 40 to 45. So that's really, really important. Because we often talk about signs and symptoms of, you know, more prostate health than prostate cancer. And David Godman is one of our urologists who is supporting our campaign this year, and he leads on the Irish Prostate Cancer Outcomes Research Study. And he would say that out of, you know, 800 or 789 patients, that 70% of them had no symptoms at all. So, you know, that's the... That's worrying. Yeah, but it's worrying in one way. But if we get our message out there loud and clear that, you know, there are symptoms associated with prostate, and they're generally associated with what we call benign prostatic hyperplasia. It's well known. It's called BPH for short. And those would be what we talk about mostly and what you'll see in the, you know, the videos that we've presented. Things like dysuria, where you've got difficulty or pain on passing urine. Urgency, like difficulty getting, you know, difficulty getting to the toilet on time. And if you don't get there on time, you might leak urine. Frequency. These are the ones that would be more common. Like going to the toilet more often during the day. Nocturia, just getting up more than twice at night time. Hesitancy, then, like going to the toilet, and actually a little delay when you're starting. And the flow is really important because the flow is often in younger men, it's fast, it's a good flow. It weakens over the years, and many people notice that. And the incomplete emptying is often because the prostate has grown and there's quite a bit of pressure in the bladder to push the urine out. And I suppose the final one that would be a worry for any condition, anywhere in your body is blood. Particularly blood in urine or blood in semen, if you're concerned about prostate health or prostate cancer. I suppose what I'd like to say there is, blind prostatic hypoplasia is a very common non-cancer condition in men, particularly over the age of 50. So, you know, it's very worthwhile going to the GP and getting checked. And, of course, most of us would do that. Anybody with a prostate with these kinds of signs and symptoms would go to their doctor and talk about it. But the key here is, and the key message is, if you don't have any symptoms, and you know you have a family history of prostate or breast cancer, please go to your GP at the age between 40 and 45. Have that conversation. If you don't have a history of prostate cancer or breast cancer in the family, go and have that conversation after your 50th birthday. Talk to your GP. And there's nothing more worthwhile than keeping a close eye on your health at that age. You know, when things do begin to creak a little bit and things change, why not go and get an MOT? Do it for your car, do it for yourself. Anytime we've spoken to people on health issues, we keep bringing that topic up, you know, to go and get your bloods done. Just mark it in once a year. I've always said it, but around Valentine's is my go-to time. Because I kind of always leave it until after Christmas and all the bad stuff you think has gone out of your system that you poison yourself with during Christmas. But always, Valentine's Day is a great indicator to say that's the time to get the bloods done. And like, it's so simple. It's just a blood test. There's six or seven little vials taken and you're out the door in a couple of minutes. And they do all the tests across the whole range of different things. But the prostate as well is definitely one of them once you reach a certain age. And it's, you know, it's pain-free. It's pain-free. I mean, we're all afraid of needles, but it's so, most of them are absolutely fantastic at taking blood. And I suppose, Pat, like, it is a simple blood test, but I suppose the consequences can create some fear in people, you know. And one of our, I suppose, objectives in the work we do is to make cancer less frightening by enlightening. So that encouragement is there to go and have the test. There will be, there's always an element of worry and anxiety when you've had a test as to what the result is. But, you know, early diagnosis saves lives. And that's what's really important. And particularly with prostate cancer, you know, if you kind of, if cancer is found early by your urologist, the treatment options are very readily available. Surgery and radiotherapy, generally speaking, are often active surveillance if somebody is of the mindset where, you know, where the PSA is checked, possibly biopsies are checked on a, you know, on an annual basis or whatever is suitable for that person, that individual with that prostate cancer. So the treatment options are there. I suppose what's really important in this campaign is actually to come back to the humor and getting the conversation going in the first place. I've got a lot of, you know, experience working with men and men often take the wrath down there for not talking about their health and getting checked. But, you know, I suppose, I believe that they are becoming much better at talking about their health. But sometimes, you know, the little pin, the blue pin, stands up your prostate that we have as part of this campaign. That's been really very symbolic. If you wear it, it actually starts and creates a conversation very easily where people might just say to you, like, what's that? Yeah, yeah. And I'd love to see the blue pin, you know, take the same sort of symbolic emblem as actually the pink ribbon does for breast cancer. You know, that would be, I think it's getting there. We've been running this campaign now, it's in its eighth year. And we're very grateful for sponsorship from Astellas in association with MSD and Novartis. You know, without their support, we can't get these campaigns out there into the public domain. So really, really important that that blue pin is part of our campaign and it starts a conversation, you know, because how do you start a conversation about prostate and health? Yeah, that's right. Sometimes it can be easier to keep it in a sport, you know, in the sports changing room or while you're having a pint. But if these videos are out there readily available, a little bit of comedy around them, it eases the conversation and actually, you know, empowers people to, I suppose, talk about their own prostate cancer if they've had that journey. And I have to say, I was very reassured. I was sitting out in a place called Regna Manor with my mum one Sunday morning and there were three men sitting beside us. And they were all talking about their PSAs and their prostates. So I thought that was really nice, you know, that they were kind of open conversations about their health. Fantastic, yeah. Regna Manor, that's where my mum is from. Oh, really? It's a lovely part of the country. Yeah, so it really and truly is important. And, of course, the little blue man pin is available for just €3. I mean, in all fairness, you wouldn't get a packet of sweets for it anymore. But it's so important. And, of course, the work that the Marie Keating Foundation does throughout the whole country is fantastic. So we'd encourage people, certainly, you know, or even not even to kind of leave it until February. If you want to do it in September as part of the new September month, certainly it would be a great time. And you'll always remember it, you know, coming around. Because if we put a scratch on our car or if the car needed a drop of oil or whatever, we'd certainly get it done straight away, wouldn't we? Yeah, you'd be on to it, you know. And I suppose the other thing to say is it is a very common cancer, you know. It is the second most common cancer in Ireland. Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer. There's nearly 4,000 men diagnosed in Ireland every year with prostate cancer. 1.5 million diagnosed in the world, you know. So it's a very common cancer. And, yeah, let's get it checked, you know. There's the early detection that stays alive. And we're trying to reduce the fear of cancer by talking about it and allowing people to understand more about it. And always coming back to prostate cancer may have no symptoms at all. So please don't wait for symptoms. Just go and talk to your GP. You're going after Valentine's Day, Pat. And, you know, it's always recommended that when men reach the age of 50, their 50th birthday, that they might treat themselves to their own MCT or MOC, you know. Oh, that's a good idea. As you said, when the creaks and cracks start kicking in. It happens to us all. It certainly does. There's one thing we cannot stop is age. But anyway, it's been one of those things. We should do it. We're stubborn. Especially men, we're stubborn creatures. But anyway, Helen, thanks a million for taking time out to talk to us. And, of course, the Marie Keating website is there if anybody wanted to check it out as well. And we have to say well done for the work you do. It's fantastic, both for men and women throughout the country. So thanks, Helen, for taking time to chat. Thanks so much, Pat. Lovely to talk to you. Please do visit our website. Well, goodness gracious me.