Meeting to focus on health

ALBANY, Ga. — Only heart disease ranks above cancer as a cause of death in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Prostate cancer is a more common than expected problem for men, said Albany City Commissioner Jon Howard.

“I think we should all learn about prostate cancer and its detection,” Howard said. “It is more prevalent among African-American men. All men over 40 should be tested.”

Howard has arranged for Dr. Rex Ajayi, an Albany physician, to speak on prostate cancer and its detection at 10 a.m. Saturday at the East Albany Community Center, 1721 E. Oglethorpe Blvd.

“Detection is the best way for prevention,” Ajayi said. “I will also speak about urine leakage in women. There is hope that one can live diaper free.”

According to 2006 statistics from the CDC, the most recent statistics available, more than 200,000 men contracted prostate cancer that year and more than 28,000 died.

The rate of prostate cancer for black men is 215.1 per 100,000, much greater than the 142.2 rate for white men.

Scientists do not know why there is such a disparity.

According to the website cdc.gov/cancer/prostate, “Among men in the United States, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men of all races and Hispanic-origin populations.

It is also one of the leading causes of cancer death among men of all races and Hispanic-origin populations.”

Cancers of any kind occur when cells in the body become abnormal and grow out of control, the website stated.