By Dianne Anderson
Decades of hard statistics show how little things have changed for Black men with prostate cancer, and it’s still mind-blowing for Cornelious “CJ” Page Jr., who tries to hit the community with the truth.
He hopes for a shock effect.
But changing people’s minds about taking their health into their own hands, learning the latest treatments available, finding the right doctors to help them, avoiding fried foods, high carb and flour products, processed meats – is not easy.
June is men’s health awareness month, and Page has hosted several health events for what’s ailing Black men, including high blood pressure, and heart disease, ending his series last week with prostate cancer.
“Each year, 1.6 million [globally] have been diagnosed with prostate and 366,000 have died from it. We’re going to learn to know what the numbers mean, know exactly about PSA tests,” said Page, founder and Executive Director of Community Health Action Network (CHAN) in Victorville.
The National Institute of Health reports a threefold difference in incidence rates of prostate cancer among different racial groups in the United States. The highest is among Black men, with deaths from prostate cancer running 2.4 times greater than white men.
In workshops, Page feels that the men are opening up, asking more questions about why Black men are dying over twice as much as white men from prostate cancer in America.
Still, despite the outrageous numbers, Black men need a little coaxing to get tested.
“A lot of men really don’t like to go unless they’re forced by the Mrs. or significant other,” he said. “A lot of them come in with wives. It takes the wife to say, hey you need to get checked out.”
Educating the community on the research that is already out there in abundance is his main focus. He said he doesn’t want medication to become an option for living.
Getting checked out could start with a simple PSA blood test with screenings that can easily detect the prostate-specific antigen in the blood. Sometimes, it’s more accurate than the dreaded digital exam.
Early detection means better survival.
He gets the word out by going into churches or organizations to talk about available insurance coverage for those without insurance. Support groups also have men discussing personal health concerns and seeking solutions, not just for prostate, but across the board.
He said the community is aware of the statistics, and they say the death rate shouldn’t be so high in the Black community for all the top diseases, heart, diabetes and prostate. There should be another way to stay healthy.
“But we don’t have the time, we’re too busy people. For me, I make time, I want to catch the signs,” he said. “You need to educate yourself on that. It’s your pancreas, how much is it running?”
The pancreas makes insulin to break down carbs, sugar and fats, but with diabetes, it’s a slippery slope. It can lead to kidney failure and dialysis.
Over time, Page brought his cholesterol levels down to better than normal by watching his food intake, walking consistently, upper body work and cardio twice weekly.
Unfortunately, there are times when churches and organizations want him to partner on hosting health events. He turns them down in good conscience.
“It gets to be sad in my world, you have to talk about partner up, but they say we can partner up and have hot dogs. Sodium nitrites? I’m not going to do it,” he said.
Sodium nitrites in many processed foods and meats are linked to cancer. If it’s in the meat, including sliced turkey or bacon, it must be printed on the label. Some people buy “uncured” with no nitrites, but it is more expensive, or instead they buy whole unprocessed meat.
Fried foods also increase the risk of some cancers, including fried in canola or vegetable oil that reaches a smoke point, and becomes carcinogenic. Extra virgin pure olive oil has a higher smoke point for frying that is more stable. Or better, using an air fryer.
“People don’t read the label,” he said. “When I challenge them in class, they say I didn’t know.”
Aside from personal health responsibility, he feels it’s important to understand and know what to ask for, to be aware of the recent research and get tested.
After all, the link to racism in the healthcare system is well documented.
Late last year, UCLA researchers found that Black men were 24% less likely to receive or be prescribed one of the novel hormonal therapy agents as compared to white men.
Researchers looked into how doctors treated advanced prostate cancer from 2011 to 2017. Most had metastatic prostate cancer, but only 36 percent were given novel hormone therapy.
White men, at 27%, got the best treatment, while Hispanic patients at 25% and other racial/ethnic groups at 23%. Black patients had the lowest rate at 20%. That treatment with racial disparity lasted for five years or more.
“Even though we know hormonal therapies have significant clinical benefits in men with more advanced stages of prostate cancer, there is not much information available about how often people in the general population use these drugs – particularly in the context of equitable access to these medications across different race and ethnicity groups,” said Dr. Michael Xiang, assistant clinical professor in radiation oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and co-senior author of the study.
“Our findings raise critical questions regarding the reasons behind this inequality, suggesting possible obstacles to healthcare, financial burdens, and unconscious biases within the healthcare system,” said Dr. Xiang.
To see the JAMA UCLA Prostate Race Disparity study, see
https://bit.ly/3z3Syy4
For CHAN health help and services, see https://chanhd.com