Prostate Cancer -The Real Down Low Disease

As we get older in life, I think, the hope is that our experiences and lessons learned instills in us wisdom so we can make better decisions in the future; and don’t repeat the same mistakes twice. Nevertheless, the truth is that most of us continue to make the same mistakes over and over and over; especially in relationships. Regardless if the relationships are with family members, a spouse or with friends. We find ourselves in what Shakespeare calls “a suspended animation of disbelief.” The disbelief of repeating yourself and making that dreaded statement at the end when you realize your mistake and you say to yourself “I did it again”; and that is a hard “pill” to swallow. Unfortunately, this lack of wisdom not only effects our choices in relationships but it overlaps and permeates in other areas of our lives; more specifically health care.
Black men apprehension in seeking medical health care in 2008 has not changed in over 40 years. Now, scholars and researchers will say that we cannot determine if Black men attitudes to seek health care has improved because there is a lack of research to support my hypothesis. The disheartening fact is that there is a lack of evidence to refute my hypothesis due to the fact that Black is classified as a race and not a cultural ethnicity. You can research the attitudes of Latinos-Americans, Asians-Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders; but not Blacks. Subsequently, data for Black men becomes infused in the other cultural ethnicity and Black men attitudes are not reflected.
Let’s take a closer look at this and try to comprehend the impact that prostate cancer has on Black men. A couple of years ago I received a frantic call from my friend telling me that his father has Prostate cancer. My first impulse was to conduct research. So the researcher in me shifted into high gear. I signed onto the Internet and began book marking information on the Prostate cancer, state of the art treatment and where the best hospitals in his area were. I explained to him that Prostate cancer leads all of other types of cancer diagnosis in Black men in the United States. In addition, Black men have the highest rate of Prostate cancer of any other groups in the United States. I presented my friend with a wealth of information and for just one second I thought I did something important. What I failed to do was educate him on the devastating impact that Prostate cancer is having on Black men. More importantly, how early screening and early detection can result in early treatment. However, the real problem is Black men. Black men do not engage in preventative medical procedures. Black men seek medical care as a last resort and it’s usually as an emergency or what is called episodic care. Black men distrust the health care system because of historical trauma. Now in defense of my friend’s dad and other Black men, there are also barriers that prevent Black men from accessing health care. The lack of insurance or being under insured, quality of care/inadequate health care providers in urban and rural areas, communication, and gender specific services.
So now it is time to use wisdom. I am going to tell you what I should have explained to my friend two years ago. The Prostate is one of the male sex glands, located just below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The normal prostate is about the size of a walnut and it surrounds part of the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the outside of the body). Prostate cancer is a slow growing cancer. According to the American Cancer Society it is highly recommended that men at high-risk (i.e., family history, Black) should begin early detection with the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test and the digital rectal examination (DRE) at 40 years of age. Either procedure can be requested through your primary care physician or public health service provider. Lastly, please visit www.ustoo.org to find out more information on symptoms, diagnosis and treatment. Now, you know not to make the same mistake I made, go tell a friend….my friend.
Peace and Blessings.

Hypertension-High Blood Pressure “Silent But Deadly”

As I take a retrospective look at my life growing up in Harlem, there are an abundance of positive childhood memories that surface. One memory that stands out is my mother’s cooking. As I reminisce, I can vividly see, smell, and taste what my mother was cooking by standing outside of our apartment door. I could smell from the outside door and tell you to the “T” what my mother was preparing for us on any given evening. The memories of this time past put a huge smile on my face however; the sad reality is it comes with a bitter sweet reminder. The way in which we prepared food was a recipe for destruction, and a daily reminder because of our necessity to have it. As in most African American homes in the 80’s, everything was fried. I retain memories of fried chicken, fried fish, fried pork chops, fried bacon, fried egg, fried, fried and more fried. Now in defense of my parents (especially my mother who was a home- maker), they were only doing what they knew best; and they provided for me and my 10 siblings and anyone else in the community that would stop in to eat. Now that’s a tall order!

Unfortunately, we now know that our diet plays such a great impact on our over-all health. Fried foods with high sodium content are primary contributors to high blood pressure or hypertension. African American men develop high blood pressure at a younger age and a higher rate than any other groups in the United States. This is alarming and grim to say the least because hypertension is linked to so many diseases that increase the morbidity and mortality rate for African American men. Problematic health conditions like stoke, kidney disease (failure), blindness, dementia and heart disease can directly result from hypertension.

Hypertension in African American men is considered the silent killer because by the time you are diagnosed, the disease has already caused systemic damage to other organs in your body. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The proverbial light is simply in the method that we screen for hypertension. Traditional doctors screen for hypertension by measuring bronchial blood pressure that can appear normal. Bronchial blood pressure is measure at the point of your arms or extremities. However, recent preliminary studies conducted with groups of young African American men indicate early detection of hypertension can be determined by measuring aortic blood pressure or central blood pressure. Studies reveal higher pressure and vascular stiffness is found in aortic blood vessels in African American men while normal conditions appear at the bronchial vascular region. This all means that African American men can have high blood pressure and don’t know it because of the method in which they are being screened. Therefore, African American men MUST speak to their physician about the level of their central blood pressure.

Lastly, what are some of the risk factors in developing hypertension?

● Diet

● Excessive weight gain

● Family history

● Lack of physical activity

Now the next steps are to get tested, monitor your sodium (salt) intake, eliminate fried foods and put that remote down and exercise.

Peace and Blessings

Men of Color

Over the next several weeks, I will focus on providing and sharing information that men and their families will benefit from overall. Personally, I have seen the first hand effects on how poor health can traumatically breakdown a family. At the young age of 16, I watched my father have a stroke and pass away shortly after. I then watched my family's spirit and unit die shortly after my father's death. As I became older, I realized that my father's premature death was directly impacted by poor diet and lack of information. I vowed that I would do my very best in life to inform people on how to improve their health condition and live healthy lives. I constantly "preach" to my friends on having healthy habits.

Feel free to also offer tips on how to improve Men's Health during this series. Also, you can visit our website at www.ebonihouse.org to see some of the work that we are doing in the Washington-Baltimore Metropolitan area. Series begin: November 17, 2008