Owen says many men see a doctor only during an emergency or an urgent health issue, not for preventive care. "Men traditionally don't seek help for their own health," he said. He believes fear is one of the biggest reasons.
"We're scared of either finding something that we don't want to deal with, scared of the implications for our family, scared of taking time off work, scared of the diagnosis itself and scared of doctors," Owen said.
He highlighted three cancers. "Prostate cancer is the most common cancer outside of skin cancer in men," he said. "Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in men, and testicular cancer occurs largely in younger men."
For men here, the takeaway is simple. Owen noted that testicular cancer has an extremely high cure rate when doctors catch it early, and prostate cancer is also highly treatable in its early stages. Sooner is better for booking an appointment. Women deserve some credit too, he said, since spouses, partners and female companions are often the ones most responsible for getting men into the office. "We're thankful for women doing that," he said.