Movember 2011
- Published: Tuesday, 11 October 2011 14:22
During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in the UK and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.
For the month of November, Abbey Dental’s Dentist, Mark Hepworth and his Dad Peter will be growing moustaches and premier Isle of Man barber Ron Smith will be joining them. Ron has kindly agreed to shave off the moustaches at the end of the month, much to their wifes' delight!
While the most common cancer in women is breast cancer, the most common cancer in men is prostate cancer with 1 in 9 men being diagnosed with it in their lifetime.
Let’s face it; men are known to be more indifferent towards their health, especially when compared to the efforts of women, who proactively and publicly address their health issues in a way not traditionally seen with men. As a result, today the levels of awareness, understanding and funding for support of male health issues, like prostate cancer, lag significantly behind causes such as breast cancer.
Mark and Tracie Hepworth became more aware of the devastating effects of prostate cancer when close family friend Ted Gould, from Ramsey, was diagnosed 6.5 years ago. Ted died earlier this year and Abbey Dental would like to raise awareness for prostate cancer in his memory.
As well as growing moustaches to raise awareness, Abbey Dental has pledged £1 for any patient who attends the Ballasalla dental surgery in November who grows a moustache. Abbey Dental, in conjunction with Ellan Vannin Laboratories would also like to raise significant funds by offering reduced price custom-made gum shields to sports teams on the Island. The gum shields are usually £65, but for November Abbey Dental will be offering them at £55, with £5 per shield going to the ‘Movember’ campaign. A short appointment will be required for an impression and the gum shield will be ready one week later. The shields will be blue in colour. Please contact Abbey Dental on 823040, or email abbeydental@manx.net to arrange appointment(s).
Movember aims to change the face of men’s health and reverse this way of thinking by putting a fun twist on this serious issue. Using the moustache as a catalyst, we want to bring about change and give men the opportunity and confidence to talk about their health more openly.
Movember's primary campaign objective is to raise awareness of men's health issues, specifically cancers affecting men. We want everyone to know that most cancers are highly curable if caught in the early stages - including prostate and testicular cancer. Movember aims to increase early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment, as this will ultimately reduce the number of deaths from cancer.
What to look out for: Risk of prostate cancer increases over the age of 50, and in men whose father or brother had prostate cancer. Early symptoms include an increased need to urinate more frequently, and problems with starting and stopping urination. If any of these symptoms concern you book an appointment with your GP today.