The problems that men face vary according to age and lifestyle, but it is never too early to start making checks on yourself and to take prompt action where it is needed.

Some of the common ailments that men face are prostate cancer, bladder cancer, testicular cancer, Melanomas, as well as heart related conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart attacks and strokes. You will find some information about some of these conditions below, and further information can be found by following the links at the foot of this article.  If you do have concerns about your health, it is important that you see your GP as soon as possible so that he/she can investigate any symptoms you may have.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancers risks are higher in older men, or those with a family history of the disease.  The cancer will vary among different men and some tumours will react fast, whereas others will be slow, but there are no measures that can be taken to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.

Symptoms include:

·         Difficulty in passing urine;

·         frequent need to urinate, especially at night;

·         difficult in starting to urinate, or straining or lengthy urination;

·         lower back pain or pain in the hips or pelvis;

·         pain when urinating or ejaculating;

·         problems with erections;

These symptoms may relate to other illnesses, so it is important that you see you GP for further investigations and early diagnosis.

Bladder cancer

Bladder cancers usually occur in people over 50 and are three times more common in men than women. They are also more common in smokers than non-smokers.  In order to reduce your risk you need to give up smoking.

The most common indicator of bladder cancer is blood in the urine, but this could also be related to infection, so an early appointment with your GP is necessary, especially if you are a male smoker over 50.

You may actually see the blood. It usually looks bright red but, rarely, may be dark brown.  It might be there in such small amounts that you can't see it, but a urine test will show if blood is present.  The blood may not be there all the time and it can come and go. If you ever see blood in your urine, you should go to see your GP.

The bleeding is not usually painful. But it can help your doctor to diagnose you if you can say whether you had any pain when you passed the urine with the blood in it. It can also help if you know whether there is blood only when you start to pass urine or whether the blood is mixed with all the urine you pass.

Other symptoms

There can be other symptoms of bladder cancer. These are

·    Frequency - needing to pass urine very often

·     Urgency - needing to pass urine very suddenly

·      Pain when passing urine

If you have these symptoms you will not necessarily have cancer. You are more likely to have a urine infection, particularly if you do not have blood in your urine. In men the symptoms could be caused by an enlarged prostate gland. But you should always tell your doctor straight away if you have these symptoms. If you have an infection, then it can usually be cleared up with antibiotics very quickly. If it is cancer, then the sooner it is diagnosed, the easier it will be to treat.

Testicular Cancer

Symptoms

The most common symptom of a testicular cancer is a lump or swelling in part of one testicle. But most testicular lumps are NOT cancer.

A lump that is cancer can be as small as a pea, or may be much larger. It is not usually painful, but some men have a dull ache in the affected testicle, or in their lower abdomen. Your scrotum may feel heavy.

Sometimes testicular cancer cells can spread into the lymph glands at the back of the abdomen, and this can cause backache.

The cells can also spread to the lymph nodes in the centre of your chest, between the lungs. This could cause a cough, difficulty in breathing or swallowing, and a swelling in your chest. If testicular cancer has spread, there may be lumps in other parts of the body, around the collarbone, or in the neck for example. These lumps mean that the lymph glands are affected.

Testicular cancer can also spread to other organs in the body. If it has spread to the lungs you may have a cough or feel breathless. It is not very common for testicular cancer to spread to other organs apart from the lungs.

Melanomas

Melanoma symptoms

There are definite signs that indicate when a mole is cancerous and should be seen by a doctor - so if you have a mole that is:

·         Getting bigger;

·         Changing shape, particularly getting an irregular edge;

·         Changing colour - getting darker, becoming patchy or multi-shaded;

·         Itching or painful;

·         Bleeding or becoming crusty;

·         Looks inflamed,

you should go to the doctor straight away. Moles with 3 or more different shades of brown or black are particularly likely to be melanoma. Melanomas are most common on the back in men and the legs in women.

Pre-cancerous moles can usually be removed under local anaesthetic. An early melanoma can be cured in this way. But if you leave them, they can become very difficult to treat.

Further advice/information

www.cancerresearchuk.org

http://www.nhs.uk/planners/nhshealthcheck/pages/nhshealthcheck.aspx - this website helps you assess the risk of you acquiring heart disease, kidney problems etc.

www.menshealthforum.org.uk – provides a lot of health information, advice, events,  up to date news and much more, for  men.

www.direct.gov.uk – for health information and other government related advice.

Prostate cancer Charity’s helpline – 0845 300 8383 or

CancerBACUP’s freephone helpline 0808 800 1234

FURTHER INFORMATION ON A RANGE OF MALE HEALTH ISSUES IS AVAILABLE FROM THE OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH WAITING ROOM