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Today, we had a great time at Croydon Tabernacle raising awareness of prostate cancer. This event was part of Prostate Cancer UK’s Engagement and Empowerment pilot which aims to reach black men with the key messages about prostate cancer and prostate conditions.
The event took the format of a presentation followed by a Q&A. Abi Begho delivered the presentation covering: what is the prostate; prostate conditions; symptoms; risk factors; and know your rights
Attendees learnt that prostate cancer is the most common cancer affecting men in the UK with 43,000 cases diagnosed every year and 1 in 8 men expected to develop prostate cancer. We also covered the three main prostate conditions that affect men – an enlarged prostate, prostatitis and prostate cancer. It was stressed that an enlarged prostate and prostatitis are not linked to prostate cancer and do not increase a person’s risk of developing prostate cancer.
We then moved on to what symptoms men should look out for and these included:
- Needing to pee more often, especially at night
- Difficulty starting to pee
- Straining or taking a long time to finish peeing
- A weak flow
- A feeling that your bladder has not emptied properly
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Dribbling urine
It was stressed that these symptoms are associated with non-serious prostate conditions as well as prostate cancer so if men do experience any of these symptoms it could be due to a number of reasons.
Furthermore, we gave an overview of the risk factors for prostate cancer, which are:
- Increasing age (prostate cancer is more common in men over the age of 50),
- Ethnicity (black men are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer than other men)
- Family history (men with father or a brother with prostate cancer are 2.5 times more likely to develop prostate cancer compared to men who don’t have a family history)
We explained that if attendees ever experience any symptoms they should visit their GP who will conduct a series of tests to determine if there is a prostate problem. These tests will include a urine test, a PSA blood test and a digital rectal examination.
We finished the presentation by informing attendees that they have the right to more information if they are concerned and they have the right to have a PSA test if they are 50 and over.
The Q&A after the presentation led to discussions on prevention, differentiating serious symptoms from non-serious symptoms, the PSA test, diet and prostate cancer and why prostate cancer is more common in black men.
After some mingling and refreshments the presentation was repeated in a more informal format for late comers – more of a roundtable discussion.
We had a great day, the audience was very receptive and engaged and we’d like to say a big thank you to Croydon Tabernacle and Prostate Cancer UK for their help in making this event a reality.
