Dubai: Movember, ‘the no shave month’, is here.
As more men sport beards and organise campaigns to help raise awareness about prostate cancer, doctors warn it is the leading cancer among males.
According to Dr Fariborz Bagheri, consultant urologist and head of urology at Dubai Hospital: “One in six men is likely to get prostate cancer in his lifetime. In a week, we have under our treatment at least three to four patients who are at various stages of the cancer. Invariably, a new case also comes up.”
He urged men to undergo screening for prostate cancer by getting a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. “The test is usually reconmmended once every eight years.”
Dr Bagheri said the tests are especially important to men after they cross 40 years of age.
Family history
“We recommend people undertake a test when they touch 50. Those with a family history can go in for a screening when they turn 40.”
Underlining the need for early detection, Emirati Shames Mohammad Al Hashemi, owner of fashion label LEE6, has partnered with local fashion designers and influencers to print T-shirts with special Movember messages on them. Proceeds from the T-shirt sales go to UAE-based charity Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP). “The T-shirts, priced between Dh150 and Dh220, come in 12 designs,” said Al Hashemi whose grandfather succumbed to prostate cancer.
Stigma
British expat Tamer Nahas, 41, who is sporting a duck tail for Movember this year, said: “I lost some of my relatives to prostate cancer. There is a lot of stigma attached to cancer and people are generally afraid to talk about their condition. My appeal to them is to get over this fear and get themselves regularly checked by a good specialist.”
Indian expat Clement Edward who is growing a beard said: “Movember is also a month to raise awareness about mental disorders in men which are so often ignored. Many of these mental problems go undetected,” he said.
