Awareness: Black Men’s Health

By Dianne Anderson Decades of hard statistics show how little things have changed for Black men with prostate cancer, and it’s still mind-blowing for Cornelious “CJ” Page Jr., who tries to hit the community with the truth. He hopes for a shock effect. But changing people’s minds about taking their health into their own hands, learning the latest treatments available, finding the right doctors to help them, avoiding fried foods, high carb and flour products, processed meats – is not easy. June is men’s health awareness month, and Page has hosted several health events for what’s ailing Black men, including high blood pressure, and heart disease, ending his series last week with prostate cancer. “Each year, 1.6 million [globally] have been diagnosed with prostate and 366,000 have died from it. We’re going to learn to know what the numbers mean, know exactly about PSA tests,” said Page, founder and Executive Director of Community Health Action Network (CHAN) in Victorville. The National Institute of Health reports a threefold difference in incidence rates of prostate cancer among different racial groups in the United States. The highest is among Black men, with deaths from prostate cancer running 2.4 times greater than white men....