Sep. 17--DECATUR -- This month, men and women across the country are wearing light blue ribbons to raise awareness of a disease that is claiming the lives of men at an alarming rate.
According to a recent Illinois Department of Public Health news release, American Cancer Society statistics reveal that more than 180,000 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year and close to 29,000 of them will die from it.
Of the men diagnosed with prostate cancer, about 8,300 will be Illinois residents, according to the release and the Illinois State Cancer Registry. Roughly 15 percent of them will die. Prostate cancer is second only to lung cancer in its ability to claim the lives of men in the United States, the release stated.
"It's real," Decatur prostate cancer survivor Bob Jelks said. "Prostate cancer will take you out of here. I've lost too many friends."
According to its Web site, at www.ustoo.org, the Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network advises African-American men and those who have a family history of the disease to get checked for prostate cancer annually starting at age 40. They can do this by having a prostate specific antigen, or PSA, blood test and a digital rectal exam. All others should start getting checked by age 45, the organization advises.
Jelks encouraged men who don't have insurance or can't afford to get tested to take advantage of free screenings offered locally.
In honor of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, St. Mary's Hospital is giving free prostate screenings from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Wednesday in September through Lake Shore Urology, 1750 E. Lake Shore Drive, Suite 202. To register, call 464-1220.
The Macon County Health Department recently received a state grant for $23,000 to continue its work screening underserved men at its men's health clinics. For more information on those screenings, call 423-6988.
"Don't neglect," Jelks said. "Get checked."
agetsinger@herald-review.com|421-6968 To see more of Herald & Review, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.herald-review.com Copyright (c) 2008, Herald & Review, Decatur, Ill. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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