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Medical Video: Prostate Cancer Myths
According to one study, men are at higher risk of developing cancer and dying of it than women. Leukemia and cancer of the colon and rectum, pancreas, and liver cancer kill Adam about about 1.5 to 2 times more than women in the US for the past 30 years. Plus, lung cancer kills nearly two and a half times more men during this time period.
The American Cancer Society estimates that men have a chance of about 1: 2 to develop cancer at some point in their lives, compared to women who have 1 chance on 3 occasions.
What is the reason?
Why is the risk of death of men due to cancer greater than women?
Although it has been known for years that overall cases of men dying from cancer are more common, a new study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention in 2011 found that cases of male death from cancer were much higher.
During the study, 2.31 men died of lung cancer for every one woman who died of lung cancer, and as many as 1.42 men died of colon cancer for every one woman who died from the same case.
For leukemia, the male-female ratio is 1.75 compared to 1, and for liver cancer and the intrahepatic bile duct the ratio is 2.23: 1 for men. In fact, of the 36 types of cancer studied, women have a higher mortality rate in only three types of cancer: gallbladder cancer, anal cancer, and cancer of the stomach lining (peritoneum, omentum, and mesentery). All three forms of cancer are very rare cancers.
When a specific type of cancer occurs in one gender is excluded, such as prostate cancer, breast cancer, testicles, and cervical and ovarian cancer, the gap in risk of death between genders increases dramatically. Men have a 67% chance of dying from their cancer, compared to women. Lip and throat cancer kills around five men for every woman who dies of the same disease. Four times more men die of esophageal cancer than women, and bladder cancer kills more than three times more men than women.
It is not clear why this difference seems so drastic, but health experts suspect two of the most likely explanations. First, lifestyle factors. Men are more likely to drink alcohol regularly and develop excess weight. Men are also more likely to have chronic smoking. All of these are known as important risk factors for certain types of cancer. If you look at the list of cancers with the highest mortality ratio above, you can see that head and neck cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer are the three main actors. This is all related to lifestyle.
In addition, men can be exposed to more carcinogens in their work environment, have different levels of hormones or metabolism, or have less protection from antioxidants than women. But, on the other hand, it does not rule out the possibility that women also develop the same unhealthy lifestyle as men, so lifestyle is not the whole factor.
Men are more indifferent to health checks and tend to get a diagnosis late
Secondly, experts argue that the increase in the incidence and death from cancer in men refers to one social problem related to the image of men - that men must be strong - so that there is a tendency of unconsciousness in the minds of men to hide concerns about their health problems. This makes men less likely to see a doctor if they have complaints related to early symptoms of cancer, such as persistent stones, changes in bowel habits, or problems urinating (which are the initial symptoms of lung, intestinal and prostate cancer). Delay in diagnosis is one of the main risk factors in developing cancer.
Throughout their lives, women tend to get frequent consultation and routine appointments related to their health care professionals - for example, when using contraceptives or during pregnancy, birth, and raising children. More routine access to health services provides them with a greater opportunity to discuss every alarming symptom, and to get information about cancer prevention and its symptoms.
Women are also more encouraged to actively carry out breast cancer screening and cervical cancer, which increasingly opens up opportunities to seek information and discuss their health. In addition, thanks to advances in the treatment of breast cancer, the mortality rate of women due to cancer can also be controlled.
Plus, women's magazines are packed full of messages about cancer health and awareness. And even though there are a number of publications aimed at men's health and fitness, the health message for men does not seem to deeply penetrate the awareness of the targets as to what has been achieved in the women's media market.
Health experts from various parts of the world constantly emphasize the importance of knowing and being aware of the early symptoms of cancer and conducting cancer screening, not only for women but also men, and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
