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education Let your dad know you care about his health this Father’s Day Thinking of a good gift for your dad this Father’s Day? The American Cancer Society has wonderful ways to let the men in your life know you care about their health by encouraging them to do what’s needed to prevent, detect, and reduce their cancer risk during National Men’s Health Week (June 9-15). 
While an incredible amount of progress has been made in cancer research, we still don’t understand exactly what causes most cancers. However, we do know of many factors that can place us at higher risk for different cancers. It is important for men to know that some factors put them at more risk, and some actions may lower their risk. The American Cancer Society recommends that all men get cancer-related checkups as part of their general health visits after age 20. This checkup should include health counseling and depending on a man’s age might include looking for cancers of the skin, thyroid, mouth, lymph nodes, and testes, as well as for diseases other than cancer.There are a couple of ways to encourage the men in your lives to take action. You can encourage them to adopt or maintain healthy, preventative lifestyle behaviors, and you can also encourage them to get all the necessary screenings a man needs to detect cancer early, when it is most easily treated. You can also provide them with the Society’s Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Worksheet for Men, available at www.cancer.org/menshealth. This worksheet provides a helpful page-by-page guide of the cancers that commonly affect men. A checklist shows what can increase cancer risks for each type of cancer, and a second checklist shows the behaviors and factors that can lower these cancer risks.There is also an early detection column presenting ways a man can detect cancer early, and the final column allows for a man to develop and personalize his own action plan for the prevention or detection of these cancers. ACS recommends that men take the worksheet to their doctor to discuss any risk factors they may have, and get the early detection tests they haven’t already. The American Cancer Society also created a series of e-cards to "let your dad know you care" this Father’s Day by reminding him to get a health checkup and get tested for prostate cancer. To send one today, visit www.cancer.org/ecards, where you will also find less personal e-cards to remind those over 50 to get regular checkups for colorectal cancer and to encourage someone you love to quit smoking. During National Men’s Health Week, the Society’s Cancer Prevention and Early Detection Worksheet for Men is a great stepping stone for men to get encouraged to take action against their own cancer risks, and the e-cards are a great way of nudging the men you love to get the cancer-related checkups they need. For more information on the cancers that most commonly affect men, call your American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345. | |
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