Getting men to talk about their health

The Movember Foundation does a wonderful job each year, raising awareness of men’s health issues, while having a lot of fun by asking men to show their support by growing a moustache. Here at Saskatoon Morning we decided to do our part by expanding our knowledge, instead of growing cheesy facial hair.

Our commitment to men’s health came in the form of journalism and exploring many of the preventable killers of men, with a focus on prevention. Over the past month we’ve met some fascinating and dedicated people who shared their thoughts on how men can live healthier, fuller, longer lives.

On the Minds of Men

To understand why so many men fall prey to preventable diseases, one must spend at least some time trying to understand what’s happening in their minds.

While they may seem like a difficult task, Saskatoon Morning turned to Timothy Caulfield for some help. Caulfield carries many titles, including the Public Health Research Director in the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. He’s also the author of “The Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness.”

Caulfield told Saskatoon Morning’s Leisha Grebinski that men are not very good at taking care of themselves.   

“We drink more, we smoke more, we are more obese,” Caulfield said.

Caulfield said men suffer from optimistic bias.

Saskatoon Morning0:19Diana Ng on Testing for Prostate Cancer

Diana Ng joins Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski in a series of interviews on men’s health.

Caulfield has a new book out in the New Year, “Is Gwyneth Paltrow Wrong about Everything?”

To PSA or not to PSA

The Movember movement is really identified with men’s cancers. The campaign this year, however began with a troubling study suggesting that the blood test used to screen for prostate cancer might actually do more harm than good.

And yet, according to the Canadian Cancer Society, almost 24,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in Canada this year. It will kill 4,000.

So what’s a man to do?

For some answers, we turned to Diana Ng, the Cancer Control Co-ordinator with the Canadian Cancer Society in Saskatoon.

“Have a conversation with your doctor,” Ng said.

She told Saskatoon Morning that having a good long talk with a doctor can help me understand their risk and whether the PSA test is appropriate.

Saskatoon Morning0:31Kevin Vinding on How a Close Call Changed His Life

Kevin Vinding joins Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski in a series of interviews on men’s health.

The Canadian Cancer Society has an excellent interactive website to help you reduce your risk of cancer. It can be found here.

A Survivor’s Story

Consider this fact, courtesy of the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Every seven minutes in Canada someone dies from heart disease or stroke.

Kevin Vinding came very close to being one of those people.

Vinding was a weekend warrior. He didn’t really pay attention to his health, but gave his all out on the ice playing hockey on the weekend.

When Vinding was 44 years old, his unhealthy life style fought back, clutching his heart and squeezing it into cardiac arrest.  He fell down and lay face first on the ice.

Luck was on the ice that night. A nurse and firefighter happened to be close by and they were able to shock his heart with a portable defibrillator. He lived to tell his story.

“You need to recognize the symptoms and the pains,” Vinding said.

And, as he told Saskatoon Morning, you have to change your lifestyle.

Saskatoon Morning0:35Elliot Field on Men Talking to Men

Elliot Field joins Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski in a series of interviews on men’s health.

Kevin Vinding now works tirelessly with the Heart and Stroke Foundation promoting the need for portable defibrillators to be placed in work environments and other public places.

Click here for more information on heart disease and stroke.

The Macho Code and Mental Health

Sadly, suicide is among the top preventable killers of men. But it may not be surprising when you learn that, according to the Movember Foundation, that 1 in 5 Canadians experience mental health problems each year.

Men unfortunately, are not known for openly discussing mental health.

Saskatoon Morning welcomed front line social worker Elliott Field to Studio YXE to talk about the way mental health issues impact men in our community. Field works in Mental Health and Addiction serves, and at the tender age of 24, he’s already lost clients to suicide.

Field told Saskatoon Morning host Leisha Grebinski that there are a lot of pressures on men to ignore their state of mental health.

“We have an issue within our society. Men feel like they don’t want to burden other people. You should be able to face it, right?”

Field suggested that code can be broken if men reach out to friends they see struggling.

Field also stresses that men who need help can get it quickly by contacting the health region.

You can find more information on mental health issues here.

Saskatoon Morning can be heard weekdays on CBC Radio One on 94.1 FM from 5:57 a.m. to 8:37 a.m. CST.