It is estimated that approximately 350,000 people over the age of 40 are affected by bladder weakness in Ireland, with about 10% of men suffering from some form of urinary incontinence.

Patients, in particular men, do not often discuss urinary incontinence or seek out advice from their healthcare professional. In pharmacy, we offer an informal and approachable environment and we are freely available to discreetly discuss options to help improve the condition and its symptoms.

Seeking advice and support

Causes of urinary incontinence in men may vary but they can include illnesses such as diabetes or an enlarged prostate. Because of this, it’s important to consult your doctor or pharmacist if you notice any new symptoms.

The less drips, the less absorbent and the more drips, the higher the absorption.

It may not always be necessary to use medications to treat urinary leakage. Lifestyle measures such as spacing your fluid intake, restricting your caffeine or alcohol intake and use of lifestyle products can give control, confidence and independence back to your day.

The important message for patients who suffer from urinary leakage of any sort is to speak with your pharmacist or healthcare professional to find the best support for you.

Lifestyle products for daily management

When using lifestyle interventions, It is important to find the right product for you and your needs. Your pharmacist can help here, but as the patient is the centre of their care I like to ensure that they are educated in all aspects of their health. One product that can help is using Tena Men.

The most important feature is the depth of the pad, as this will determine how well the product meets their individual needs. Each pack of Tena Men contains a guidance level on the outside of the pack, which ranges from light to medium and high absorbency based on the number of drips. The less, drips the less absorbent and the more drips, the higher the absorption.

Once you have chosen the correct level, you can rest assured as the individually wrapped, high absorbency core which is dermatologically tested and equipped with unique odour control will ensure a comfortable fit enabling you to live full and free during daily activities.

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In a world where many are still grappling with the difference between sex versus gender, men’s mental health is a hot topic, particularly around masculinity and mental health.

The key issues that impact a man’s mental health are around perception and connection. Men are plagued by how they are ‘’supposed’’ to act, look and feel. They are far less likely to seek advice and support, be that friendly or formal and these attribute to the stark reality that men are three times more likely to die from suicide than women. 

In Ireland 437 people died by suicide in 2018 – 327 men (75%) and 110 women (25%). The male suicide rate was 14.3 per 100,000 at the time, compared to the female suicide rate of 4.6 per 100,000.

Mental health promotion is more valuable than ever to help young men from an early age to learn about protecting and improving their mental health.

Promoting importance of mental health support

Equally, a lot has improved in recent years as there were 340 recorded suicides last year – a rate of 6.8 per 100,000 people, which is a significant decrease on previous years. Initiatives such as Men’s Sheds and the Men’s Mental Health forum, both fantastic initiatives, have been advocating for men and tirelessly working towards better mental health for all.

Mental health promotion is more valuable than ever to help young men from an early age to learn about protecting and improving their mental health.

One of Mental Health Ireland’s programmes to support education is the Five Ways to Wellbeing, which are proven to improve and maintain positive mental health:

1. Connect with others
2. Keep learning 
3. Take notice 
4. Give to others
5. Be active 

Maintaining a healthy diet, connecting with others and being active are of high value. It is proven that men involved with sports, clubs and groups are less likely to suffer mental health challenges.

Mental health is something everyone has, it is volatile for both men and women and its state depends heavily on internal and external factors for each individual.We advise those with mental health challenges to first seek help with their GP, look into local supports in your area and look at ways to manage and maintain good mental health using the five ways to wellbeing model. 

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Globally, men die on average five years earlier than women and for reasons that are largely preventable. It doesn’t have to be that way: we can all take action to live happier, healthier and longer lives.

Early on, when we first began to address men’s health issues in 2003, we started with prostate cancer. It immediately became obvious that while there was a clear need to advance medicine, it was imperative to address men’s behaviour when it came to their health.

Broadly, men are less likely to go to their doctor than their female counterparts and tend to ignore early warning signs and symptoms of larger issues. When we consider this in the context of a prostate or testicular cancer diagnosis, where early detection can save your life, it’s clear why this is such a pivotal and integral piece of the puzzle.

Broadly, men are less likely to go to their doctor than their female counterparts and tend to ignore early warning signs and symptoms of larger issues.

Addressing mental health challenges 

This lack of help seeking behaviour reaches far beyond cancer. As the world’s leading men’s health organisation, we could no longer ignore the fact that suicide is becoming a largely male issue, with men accounting for three in four suicides globally, over 500,000 men every year.

Mental health and suicide prevention are an incredibly nuanced area to address, however, it’s clear that men’s reluctance to seek help is having a catastrophic impact. Far too many men are suffering in silence and seeking help too late, if at all. How and why suicides happen is incredibly complex. 

Making lasting change 

What we do know is that helping men establish better social connections can improve their overall wellbeing and reduce risk of suicide. In our mission to make lasting change and dramatically reduce the rate of male suicide, Movember funds community-based early intervention programmes that address mental health through a male lens. We say that the guys who grow moustaches in Movember become walking, talking billboards for men’s health. They help us to start and open up the conversation around our mental and physical health and help us to have a real and lasting impact by instigating a cultural shift where men are more conscious of, take ownership of and, most importantly, take action when it comes to their health.

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One in four men in Ireland die from heart disease and stroke and men are nearly three times more likely than women to die young from these issues.

The good news is that 80% of premature heart disease and stroke is preventable. There are many actions that men can take to reduce their risk including stopping smoking, eating a healthy diet and being physically active.

It is often thought that men don’t engage in health services, but our experience in the Irish Heart Foundation is that with a person-centred and tailored approach, men do take part in programmes.

Designing health programmes for men

We work in partnership with many national and local stakeholders including the Irish Men’s Sheds Association, Pavee Point, the HSE and the Men’s Development Network to design and deliver relevant, innovative approaches to men’s health.

Research has shown that three in four farmers in Ireland have four or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Our ground-breaking ‘Farmers Have Hearts’ programme takes a targeted approach given that research has shown that three in four farmers in Ireland have four or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The programme engages with farmers in their workplace. It aims to identify farmers cardiovascular risk, encourage them to make positive lifestyle changes and refer those at high risk to their GP. We are working with a range of partners including the National Centre for Men’s Health Research to develop a health behaviour change programme to improve farmers’ heart health.

Taking stock of your lifestyle

Our recent Reboot national awareness campaign called on men to sign up to take stock of and reboot their lifestyles by identifying what simple changes they can make now to benefit their heart health into the future.

One of the key campaign messages was that every small step you take to improve your heart health adds up. No matter what area of lifestyle you wish to address, getting into the right frame of mind is essential for change. You need to feel ready and have clear reasons for making the change.

To prepare, it can be helpful to ask such questions as: ‘How important is my heart health to me? What barriers have kept me from making changes in the past? How important is this change to me? and How confident do I feel that I can make it?’

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International collaboration is key to providing cancer trials options in Ireland.

One of the few positives of the pandemic is the increase in public understanding – and support – of clinical trials. Research Cancer Trials Ireland undertook at the end of 2020 showed that one in two Irish people (48%) were willing to take part in a clinical trial. 

That is certainly encouraging, but trials remain subject to the highest standards of ethics, regulation, design and – critically – statistical analysis. Balancing these factors, doctor-scientists (‘investigators’ as we are known within the trials community) have to ensure that enough people take part in a trial to produce a statistically robust result, or in other words, an answer we can trust. But like in so many other areas of Irish life and industry, we lack the population size to execute trials in isolation from the rest of world. So, we do what we always do – we collaborate with other countries.

Prostate cancer is a common form of cancer that affects one in seven men in Ireland in their lifetime.

International collaboration

This is true of an international prostate cancer clinical trial that I work on with colleagues all over the world (NZ, Australia, UK, and soon USA and Canada). In simple terms, we’re working together to see if the existing optimum treatment (known as ‘standard of care’) for high-risk localised prostate cancer can be improved by adding a hormonal agent. 

The ‘high-risk’ here refers to the possibility of the cancer ‘moving’ (metastasizing) to other parts of the body. In about one in seven cases (15%) of this high-risk prostate cancer, the disease does move to other areas of the body and become incurable. The DASL trial is trying to ascertain if the introduction of a new, additional hormonal agent can bring that 15% figure down. 

Eligibility criteria 

Another big plus for this trial is its relatively broad eligibility. Ordinarily, in any trial, you are trying to remove as many variables as possible. That means you have tightly defined criteria for any patient to take part in the trial. Unusually, this trial is open to patients who are being treated with radiotherapy after surgery – and also patients being treated with radiotherapy who have not had surgery.

Concerned about symptoms? 

Prostate cancer is a common form of cancer that affects one in seven men in Ireland in their lifetime. Unlike other forms of cancer (breast and lung), screening is less cut and dried, but if you think you are experiencing symptoms, go to the Irish Cancer Society website and take the prostate health quiz. Thereafter, talk to your GP about PSA testing.

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