Urology Awareness Month: Increasing Survival and Quality of Life for Urology Patients
Louise de Winter, CEO of The Urology Foundation, explains why the charity set up Urology Awareness Month.
September is Urology Awareness Month. The Urology Foundation started it in 2014 because there is a lot of stigma surrounding urology health, fuelled by a lack of public information about urological conditions. We decided it was high time to make the public familiar with their urology health, and to help them take responsibility so that they do not suffer in silence.
The overarching theme for this year’s Urology Awareness Month (UAM) is Increasing survival and quality of life for urology patients. It is also the overall mission of The Urology Foundation.
Creating awareness of urological health is not easy, as issues such as incontinence, bladder cancer, kidney disease or erectile dysfunction are rarely covered in the mainstream press, nor are they topics easily discussed over the dinner table. But given how prevalent conditions affecting the kidneys, bladder, prostate and male reproductive organs are (1 in 2 of us will suffer), and the rising cases of urological cancers, it is important to remove the associated stigma and encourage conversations that could end the suffering that severely impacts quality of life.
For weeks 1 & 2 of UAM we focused on the ‘increasing survival’ message and the signs and symptoms of urological cancers. We highlighted the red flag symptoms such as blood in pee, and also emphasised the importance of seeking help early and not to suffer in silence, even during these Covid times, as diagnosing a urology cancer early is crucial to one’s chances of survival. And the importance of establishing a routine for checking for symptoms, eg for testicular cancer, is emphasised through messages such as #TUFnutsTuesday.
Our social media posts point to further information available on our website or via our bitesize leaflets.
For the last two weeks of the month we focused on chronic urological conditions and the impact they have on mental health and wellbeing. Often referred to as ‘benign’ conditions because they are non-cancerous, they are anything but benign in nature. Diseases such as Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (affecting as many as 50% of men over 50 and 80% of men over 80), erectile dysfunction, urinary incontinence, kidney stones or urinary tract infections (UTIs) have such uncomfortable and overwhelming symptoms that it is often difficult to think of anything else. These diseases can be all consuming and affect sufferers’ ability to go about their normal daily lives.
If people opened up about ‘embarrassing’ symptoms it would help them to get the right treatment quicker. Yet, public polling has shown us that a significant proportion (circa 40%) say they would avoid or delay seeking treatment or talking to people about a urological problem. Polling also shows us that the public are more inclined to self-medicate for symptoms such as UTIs and incontinence rather than to go to a GP for a diagnosis or help. While this is understandable, we need people to realise that help and treatments are at hand to properly tackle their problem. Persistent or recurrent UTIs should be properly investigated by a GP so that the correct medication can be administered, and also to check that symptoms are not masking a more serious underlying problem such as bladder cancer. GPs can also help with exercises or medication to improve bladder function to reduce incontinence.
Early intervention is the key to saving lives but also to ensuring that people can live better and live well by managing their conditions more effectively. Now in its seventh year, Urology Awareness Month has taken on a life of its own. Throughout the month, teams of experts and patients aim to increase public awareness of our urology health and also to raise funds for The Urology Foundation for much needed research into these diseases.
So, we hope you will join us for the rest of this month, and in future Septembers, to raise awareness and remove the negative connotations and taboos around urology health. We want the public to know that help is at hand and that research undertaken by TUF has meant huge strides in outcomes and treatments, and that no one should feel they have to suffer these diseases in silence.
Find out more at www.theurologyfoundation.org/get-involved/urology-awareness-month