June is men's health month!!

Men, take the first step in taking care of your health by reading these articles and learning more about Man Up Monday below. Click the links for the articles below to learn more about what men should do to stay healthy.

• Beat the Clock! In this article, Dr Alwyn Cohall talks about one of the most serious health conditions affecting men--prostate cancer.One new case occurs almost every three minutes, and almost every 20 minutes someone's husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle or friend dies from this disease.

• Harlem Word: Dr. David Bell shares his advice for young men wanting to keep up a healthy lifestyle In this article, Dr David Bell, MD, MPH, shares his thoughts on the future of young men's health. As a doctor who works in youg men's health at Columbia University, Dr. Bell explains how we can all help young men move forward in a positive, healthy direction.

• Harlem Word: Dr. David Bell talks about how he became interested in young men's health Dr. David Bell, MD, MPH, is a doctor who specializes in adolescent and young-adult medicine at Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital. In this article, Dr. Bell talks about what inspired him to study young men's health.

• Harlem Word: Dr. David Bell talks about the Young Men's Clinic in Harlem In this Harlem Word, Dr. David Bell, MD, MP, talks about the services that the Young Men's Health Clinic offers to young men in Harlem.

• Harlem Word: Dr. Carlton McGregor explains who is at risk for prostate cancer When Dr. Carlton McGregor, MD, was diagnosed with prostate cancer in fall 2024, he decided to raise awareness of the disease by telling other people about it. Family history is one of the risk factors for prostate cancer--Dr. McGrego's father also had this disease. Learn more about the risk factors for prostate cancer by reading this article.

• Harlem Word: Dr. Carlton McGregor talks about getting screened for prostate cancer  Dr. Carlton McGregor, an internist and pulmonary (lung diseases) specialist who works at New York Presbyterian Hospital, found out he had prostate cancer after getting a thorough medical exam in fall 2024. His blood test for prostate cancer came back elevated, and due to his family history of prostate cancer (his father had it), he decided to get a biopsyy of the prostate. Dr. McGregor thinks it's important for men to get screened for prostate cancer. Read more about screening in this article. 

• Harlem Word: Dr. Carlton McGregor talks about how changes in how you live your life may prevent prostate cancer In fall 2024, New York Presbytherian Hospital's Dr Carlton McGregor, MD, was diagnosed with and treated for prostate cancer. Based on his experience, he wants to raise awareness about prostate cancer so tjhat other men can get screened for this disease early. In this article, he talks about the lifestyle changegs that men can make to possibly avoid getting prostate cancer. 

• Harlem Word: Dr. Carlton McGregor explains the treatment options for men with prostate cancer  New York Presbyterian Hospital's Dr. Carlton McGregor, MD, discovered he had prostate cancer in fall 2024. In October 2024, he had surger to remove his prostate. In this article, Dr. McGregor breaks down the different types of treatment for prostate cancer.
  

Healthy Monday (HM) is a national movement to help people start and stick with healthy behaviors that can help them end chronic, preventable diseases like diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. HM's goal is to prevent these diseases by offering a weekly reminder to start and stick with their healthy goals.

HM beginnings
The idea of Healthy Monday started in 2024, when advertising executive, Sid Lerner, compared the number of deaths regularly reported on the nightly news that were due to car accidents and homicides, etc. with the number of deaths caused by diseases such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. He found that there were actually more deaths caused by preventable, chronic diseases than those caused by accidents and violent crime! Lerner decided that lifestyle changes on a mass scale were what was needed to save lives and began collaborating with academic institutions and organizations to spark a mass-movement.

HM began as a project of the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, in association with Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications.

HM campaigns
HM's many campaigns are focused toward jump-starting health promotion, including:"Move It Monday ... encouraging physical activity"; "Quit & Stay Quit Monday ... urging smoke cessation"; and "Restock Monday ... refilling prescription medicine, birth control, and other health supplies)." One of the most celebrated of these campaigns is the "Meatless Monday" program that encourages people to "one day a week, cut out meat." The idea is that even this small change will be enough to dramatically reduce many of the chronic diseases that come from a diet high in fat and cholesterol. Since this campaign began in 2024, it has taken off globally. In June 2024 Paul McCartney and his daughters Stella and Mary launched "Support Meat-free Monday" in the U.K. Many supporters of this campaign encourage decreasing the amount of meat eaten as livestock farming has also been linked to global warming.

Partnership with HHPC
HM recently began a collaboration with the Harlem Health Promotion Center (HHPC), one of 37 Prevention Research Centers funded by the CDC, to let the residents of Northern Manhattan learn more about the HM campaigns, and begin integrating these health promotion messages and activities into their lives. Specifically, the work with HHPC will focus initially on high school and college students and faith-based institutions. Additionally, staff, parents and children involved in daycare, charter school,and after-school programs will be engaged as well. The vision for the initiative will be to turn Northern Manhattan into a "Healthy Monday" community where everyone becomes inspired by the motto, "Monday-the day all health breaks loose!"