“At every stage of life, men are encouraged to consider three equally important aspects of their health—physical health, mental health and social connection. Men’s Health Month in the United States is observed every June. This month aims to raise awareness of the same health concerns of Men’s Health Week but lasts the whole month. It is different from November, which is held in November and focuses on men’s mental health as well as prostate cancer. During the month of June, men are encouraged to set goals for their own health and wellness and begin to create a roadmap for achieving those goals.  This is for men to address medical or health problems that may be starting or already there or hopefully cleared as healthy and to continue yearly to make sure its cleared healthy or if not address before the issue gets severe.”

Lifespan / Miriam Hospital (https://www.lifespan.org/lifespan-living/importance-mens-health-month)

“Cataracts affect more than 20.5 million Americans age 40 and older, and 6.1 million Americans have had cataract surgery.  Prevalence of Age Related Macular Degeneration-AMD increases with age. For people age 80 and older, approximately 3 in 10 Americans have early AMD and 1 in 10 have late AMD.”

American Academy of Ophthalmology (https://www.aao.org/newsroom/eye-health-statistics)

“June is Cataracts Awareness Month. As the year nears its midpoint, aging adults are advised to pause and learn more about a vision-worsening condition that occurs around age 40 when proteins in the eye lens begin to break down, clump and form a cloudy area over time. Cataracts affect 70 percent of adults by age 75, and recent CDC data* indicate more than 17% of adults above age 40 have a cataract in one or both eyes.

Risk factors linked to early development and quicker progression of cataracts include excessive sunlight exposure, smoking, and long-term use of steroid medication. Medical conditions linked to higher risk include diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and prior eye surgery or eye injuries. Aging adults should discuss their health behaviors and history with their eye specialist to evaluate risk for developing cataracts and other age-related eye diseases to prevent blindness.”

UNC school of medicine / school of medicine ophthalmology (https://www.med.unc.edu/ophth/2023/06/june-is-cataracts-awareness-month/)

“Actinic Keratosis a rough, scaly patches of skin that are considered precancerous and are due to sun exposure. Prevention is to cut sun exposure and wear sunscreen. Treatments include performing cryosurgery (freezing with liquid nitrogen), cutting the keratoses away, burning them, putting 5-fluorouracil on them, and using photodynamic therapy (injecting into the bloodstream a chemical that collects in actinic keratoses and makes them more sensitive to destruction by a specialized form of light).

Keratoacanthoma this is a harmless, hard nodule that appears on the skin, most commonly on the face or arm of elderly people. The nodule may grow to up to 2 centimeters in diameter over about 8 weeks before gradually disappearing. However, the unsightly nodule is often surgically removed. The cause of keratoacanthoma is unknown, although exposure to sunlight appears to be a factor.”

Medicine Net (https://www.medicinenet.com/image-collection/actinic_keratosis_solar_keratosis_picture/picture.htm)

“Most of the cells on the skin’s surface are flat, scale-like squamous cells. Squamous cell carcinomas are the second most common type of skin cancer, accounting for about 20 percent of all diagnoses. These cancers also are slowing growing, but squamous cell carcinomas can spread to lymph nodes and even internal organs. Research indicates that the metastasis rate of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin is less than 10 percent within two years of diagnosis.

More than 150 years ago, a German scientist named Friedrich Merkel documented what he identified as tastzellen, German for “touch cells.” They would later be named Merkel cells. These cells are found below the epidermis, where they interact with nerve cells and help the skin feel light touch, textures and fine details.

Merkel cell carcinomas may appear as bumps or nodules—often red in color—on sun-exposed skin. This is a rare cancer, but it is often aggressive and may metastasize.  About 2,000 to 3,000 cases of Merkel cell carcinoma are diagnosed in the United States every year, according to the American Cancer Society, and the numbers are on the rise. The disease is rarely diagnosed in patients under 50 years old and is mostly found in white men older than 70.”

Cancer Center/ City of Hope (https://www.cancercenter.com/community/blog/2023/10/skin-cells-merkel-basal-squamous#Q2)

“Your skin has three layers that house your sweat and oil glands, hair follicles, melanocytes, and blood vessels.

Skin cancer — the abnormal growth of skin cells — most often develops on skin exposed to the sun. But this common form of cancer can also occur on areas of your skin not ordinarily exposed to sunlight.

There are three major types of skin cancer — basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma.

Basal cell carcinoma is a type of skin cancer. Basal cell carcinoma begins in the basal cells — a type of cell within the skin that produces new skin cells as old ones die off.

Melanoma is a kind of skin cancer that starts in the melanocytes. Melanocytes are cells that make the pigment that gives skin its color. The pigment is called melanin.”

MAYO CLINIC (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/skin-cancer/symptoms-causes/syc-20377605)

“National data from this program reveal that about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 50 men respond “yes,” that they experienced MST, when screened by their VA provider. Although rates of MST are higher among women, because there are many more men than women in the military, there are actually significant numbers of women and men seen in VA who have experienced MST. In fact, over 1 of every 3 Veterans who tell a provider they experienced MST are men.

It is important to keep in mind that these data speak only to the rate of MST among Veterans who have chosen to seek VA health care; they cannot be used to make an estimate of the actual rates of sexual assault and harassment experiences among all individuals serving in the U.S. Military since all do not speak out.

Like other forms of trauma, MST can be a life-changing event. However, people are often remarkably resilient after experiencing MST. MST is an experience, not a diagnosis or a mental health condition, and there are a variety of reactions that Veterans can have in response to MST. Many individuals recover without professional help. Others may generally function well in their lives but continue to experience some level of difficulties or have strong reactions in certain situations. For some Veterans, the experience of MST may continue to affect their mental and physical health in significant ways, even many years later.

Recognizing that many survivors of sexual trauma do not disclose their experiences unless asked directly, VA health care providers ask every Veteran whether they experienced MST. This is an important way of making sure Veterans know about the services available to them.”

U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/sexual_trauma_military.asp)

“All children may experience very stressful events that affect how they think and feel. Most of the time, children recover quickly and well. However, sometimes children who experience severe stress, such as from an injury, from the death or threatened death of a close family member or friend, or from violence, will be affected long-term. The child could experience this trauma directly or could witness it happening to someone else. When children develop long term symptoms (longer than one month) from such stress, which are upsetting or interfere with their relationships and activities, they may be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Because children who have experienced traumatic stress may seem restless, fidgety, or have trouble paying attention and staying organized, the symptoms of traumatic stress can be confused with symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Examples of events that could cause PTSD include

• Physical, sexual, or emotional maltreatment
• Being a victim or witness to violence or crime
• Serious illness or death of a close family member or friend
• Natural or manmade disasters
• Severe car accidents.”

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (https://www.cdc.gov/childrensmentalhealth/ptsd.html)

“When you serve in the military, you may be exposed to different traumatic events than civilians. The war you served in may also affect your risk because of the types of trauma that were common. War zone deployment, training accidents and military sexual trauma (or, MST) may lead to PTSD. Learn how many Veterans have PTSD.

When you are in the military, you may see combat. You may have been on missions that exposed you to horrible and life-threatening experiences. Or you may have experienced a serious training accident. These types of events can lead to PTSD.

PTSD is slightly more common among Veterans than civilians. At some point in their life, 7 out of every 100 Veterans (or 7%) will have PTSD. In the general population, 6 out of every 100 adults (or 6%) will have PTSD in their lifetime. PTSD is also more common among female Veterans (13 out of 100, or 13%) versus male Veterans (6 out of 100, or 6%).

Research shows that deployment increases risk of PTSD. In some studies, PTSD is 3 times more likely among Veterans who deployed compared to those who did not (of the same service era). Some factors in a combat situation may contribute to PTSD and other mental health problems, including military occupation or specialty, the politics around the war, where the war is fought, and the type of enemy faced.

Another cause of PTSD in the military can be military sexual trauma (MST). This is any sexual harassment or sexual assault that occurs while you are in the military. MST can happen to anyone and can occur during peacetime, training or war.

Not all Veterans use VA health care, and we know that PTSD is more common among those who do. One study found that among Veterans using VA care, 23 out of every 100 (or 23%) had PTSD at some point in their lives, compared to 7 out of every 100 (or 7%) of Veterans who do not use VA for health care.

An annual report from VA also offers information about PTSD in Veterans using VA care. Of the 6 million Veterans served in fiscal year 2021, about 10 out of every 100 men (or 10%) and 19 out of every 100 women (or 19%) were diagnosed with PTSD.”

U.S. Dept of Veteran Affairs (https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common_veterans.asp)

“Doctors will diagnose cancers of the brain or central nervous system in about 25,400 people in the United States in 2024, according to the National Cancer Institute. These cancers make up a portion of the more than 94,000 brain tumors (including benign tumors) that will occur in this country in 2024.

There are many types of brain and spinal cord tumors. The tumors result from the abnormal growth of cells and may be either benign or malignant. Benign brain and spinal cord tumors grow and press on nearby areas of the brain. Normally, they rarely spread into other tissues.

Malignant brain and spinal cord tumors are likely to grow quickly and spread into other brain tissue.

Unfortunately, when a tumor grows into or presses on an area of the brain, it may stop that part of the brain from functioning normally. Both benign and malignant brain tumors produce signs and symptoms and need treatment.

Tumors that start in the brain are called primary brain tumors. Primary brain tumors may spread to other parts of the brain or to the spine. But they rarely spread to other parts of the body.

Many tumors found in the brain actually started somewhere else in the body and spread to the brain later after found intially with cancer somewhere else in the body. These are called metastatic brain tumors, and they are more common than primary brain tumors. In fact, about half of metastatic brain tumors are from lung cancer. Even after these tumors spread to the brain, they are still called lung cancer, or wherever they originated.”.

American Association of Cancer Research (https://www.aacr.org/patients-caregivers/awareness-months/may-is-brain-cancer-awareness-month/)