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Movember: Changing the face of men’s health
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - November 28, 2007)
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Prostate Cancer: more than moustaches
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Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in , affecting 1 in 6 men.
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In 2007, more than 218,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and more than 27,000 men will die from the disease.
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It is estimated that there are more than 2 million American men currently living with prostate cancer.
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Older age, African American race, and a family history of the disease can all increase the likelihood of a man being diagnosed with the disease.
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Nearly 100 percent of men diagnosed at the local or regional stage will be disease-free after five years, compared to 67 percent in the 1970s.
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Symptoms include frequent, hesitant, or burning urination; difficulty in having an erection; and pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips or upper thighs.
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Treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, hormone therapy and chemotherapy.
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The Handlebar, the Walrus, the Fu Manchu – call it what you will. In the
Republic of
Movember, no moustache moniker evokes male health issues quite like “
Mo. ”
On the heels of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Nov. 1 ushered in Movember. For 30 days each year men can throw caution, and fashion, to the wind, sprouting the facial hair they’ve secretly always dreamed of while raising awareness about a condition all too close to their hearts… err prostates.
“It’s unusual, I’ll give you that,” chuckles River Vale resident Bernie Wilker, who for the past four weeks has led his sons and employees through Mo Man’s Land.
“This is how I heard it,” explains Wilker. “Movember was started by two young guys in Australia – they call themselves blokes in Australia – sitting around a campfire. They looked around and noticed no one had moustaches anymore – in Australia they call them ‘mo’s.’ I don’t know if one of their fathers or someone they knew had prostate cancer, but they came up with Movember. Young people need to have a catch.”
Since its inception Down Under in 2003, Movember has spread from Australia to New Zealand to Europe and
North America, benefiting various men’s health organizations dealing with issues ranging from cancer to depression. This year marked the first American Movember, which benefits The Prostate Cancer Foundation. Wilker’s participation was more than just lip service.
“I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996,” says Wilker, now 64. The weeks, months and years that followed brought with them a prostatectomy and radiation, and for the past two years he has been undergoing chemotherapy.
Wilker discovered the Movember movement through one of his sons who read about it “while surfing on YouTube or Facebook or one of those things.”
A longtime facial hair fanatic, Wilker knew immediately that he wanted to get involved and set up Team AlphaGraphics, comprised of his five sons – Ari, Jared, Noah, Dov and Sid – as well as the employees at his Paramus-based visual communications firm.
“They all looked at me like I’m crazy,” he says, laughing at the memory. “They look at me like I’m crazy all the time.”
But all it took was an explanation – grow a moustache, find sponsors, spread prostate cancer facts, impress the ladies – to get the men in his life on board.
“The guys who started it were young, the guys who work with me are young and I have five young sons,” says Wilker. “They’re doing something progressive.”
The Movember group has specific rules, he explains. For example, mo’s cannot grow into goatees or beards, but a “tickler” – more commonly known as a “soul patch” in the northern hemisphere – is permitted. Most importantly, Mo Bros, as participants are called, must start the month with a fresh shaven face. That was a near deal-breaker for Wilker.
“I wasn’t going to shave my beard!” he says jovially.
So, while he couldn’t be a full-fledged Mo Bro, he became a Mo Mento, preening his team into Tom Selleck wannabes for the past 28 days. How have they fared?
“Not everyone grows a moustache at the same rate,” Wilker says kindly of the See-through Sammies his guys are sporting. Still, he notes, there is enough mo to get noticed.
“When the guys go out, people ask them why they look so dumb,” Wilker says. “My son Noah’s moustache makes him look like the character Borat. So people ask him why he looks like that. Everyone who’s doing this is reaching an exponential number of people.”
In 2006, Movember raised more than $7 million globally with the help of more than 76,000 Mo Bros, Mo Sistahs and Mo Mentas, all of whom were rewarded for their support with Gala Partés held around the world at the end of the month. The non-profit organization hopes to top those figures this year and held its inaugural “parté” this week.
Wilker isn’t sure how much money Movember will raise this year, but says that raising awareness through action and events is just as important.
“People think [prostate cancer] is an old man’s disease,” says Wilker. “But one out of six men is diagnosed with it every year. I have a feeling that prostate cancer is like breast cancer. The thing is that men don’t talk [like women do]. I think this is a great way to raise awareness.”
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