Catch Prostate Cancer Early
By Kevin Harvick, National Prostate Cancer Coalition spokesperson

Word Count: 470

(ARA) - Often times the difference between winning and losing is in the preparation. That’s also true in my profession as a stock car driver. My NASCAR Nextel Cup team puts in a countless number of hours fine-tuning and analysis on my race car to eliminate any problems that could be obstacles to the team’s success.
As a NASCAR driver, I know all about regular check-ups and early detection to prevent problems. It makes sense to do the same with your health. For men over the age of 40, there may not be a more fatal disease than prostate cancer if gone undetected. There will be an estimated 230,000 prostate cancer cases this year -- slightly more than the capacity of Daytona International Speedway -- from which approximately 29,900 men will die from the disease.

How do I know all of this?

Because earlier this year, one of my associate sponsors, The Gillette Company, formed a partnership with the National Prostate Cancer Coalition (NPCC) to help promote prostate cancer awareness. As a member of the Gillette Young Guns, a group of six of NASCAR’s elite drivers, I’m spearheading Gillette’s campaign to help generate awareness for the NPCC.

Each week during the NASCAR season, Gillette is donating $1,000 to the NPCC in the name of the highest finishing ‘Young Gun’ at each of the 36 races.

Once I got involved and began educating myself about prostate cancer, I found the statistics alarming. According to the NPCC, men have a one in six chance of getting prostate cancer -- the risk is double if one close relative has the disease and five-fold with two close relatives. African-American men have the highest risk and are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer as other men.

I know what you might be thinking: “I’ve lost the race before I even had a chance to compete.” Not true. In fact, if detected early, your chances of survival may be 90 percent or better. But that’s up to you. If you’re over 40 or in a high-risk group, talk to your doctor and get tested. It’s two simple tests that take your doctor about 10 minutes to perform. And it could save your life!

Recently, I participated in a broadcast Public Service Announcement (PSA) that will coincide with National Prostate Cancer Awareness month in September. An important piece of information I learned was that men really have a fighting chance against this disease if prostate cancer is caught in its early stages when treatment can be most effective.

So please put the odds in your favor and commit to being screened for prostate cancer. Then, we can all celebrate in Victory Lane!

For more information about prostate cancer health or National Prostate Cancer Awareness month, log on to www.gillettecancerconnect.org or www.pcacoalition.org.

Courtesy of ARA Content