Movember is here and while the month has historically been associated with prostate cancer awareness, it has gradually evolved to encompass various men's health issues.

Noting that women tend to outlive men, on average, by at least five years, NWT acting chief public health officer Dr. Andre Corriveau said there are many significant health problems men can experience, especially as they get older. However, by being open about their health and getting regular medical advice, they can avoid many of them.

Corriveau said the three deadliest cancers for men in the NWT are prostate, colorectal and lung cancer. Heart disease and diabetes are also responsible for a lot of deaths in aging men.

"As they age, men don't tend to avail themselves as much as women with preventative healthcare," he said. "They tend to wait until they have more acute symptoms. They don't talk about it or won't even mention it until it's quite advanced, so they tend to be diagnosed later. So their outcomes are not as good. If you think about cancer or diabetes, the sooner it's diagnosed, the more successful intervention will be."

He advises men of all ages to quit smoking if they currently engage in the habit and limit themselves to a maximum of two drinks per week. He noted there is a growing body of evidence linking excessive drinking to the risk of cancer, but he added that consuming more than two drinks per week starts to increase the risk of life-altering injuries and mental issues, particularly in the North.

Keeping active as one gets older is also an effective way to reduce health risks.

"We have bodies that need to move," he said. "It's very tempting in this day and age, and worse probably in the last decades with the internet SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” we're spending a lot of time sitting down, which is super-unhealthy for bodies in general.

"That's when people start to gain weight and their cardiovascular status decreases quite a bit if you don't get the heart rate stimulated. In traditional societies, people spend a lot of time on the land where they have to walk and canoe and they're exercising their bodies on an ongoing basis."

Men should also keep stock of their family's medical history. Having a relative who had a cancer does not guarantee you will also develop the same cancer, but it does put you at a higher risk. Corriveau said men should begin getting prostate exams every second year starting at age 50 but should speak to their doctors if their family has a history of the disease.

"If you have a brother or father who had prostate cancer, your risk is at least double the average person," he said. "So you would probably want to start thinking about this and getting screened earlier SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” same with colorectal cancer and breast cancer in women."

He noted the often feared rectal examination is not the first step in this either SA¹ú¼ÊÓ°ÊÓ´«Ã½” you are actually able to request a kit to collect a stool sample of yours and send that in for testing. Corriveau said the test looks for the enzyme prostate specific antigen, which is only produced in the prostate but in the event of cancers and other prostate issues, can spread to other parts of the body.

Corriveau emphasized that a positive test on a stool sample does not automatically mean a cancer diagnosis, but warrants further investigation. Other signs you might want to take to a doctor are blood in your stool sample or even your semen, which can be indicative of prostate cancer.

"The thing with cancer, the sooner you detect it, the easier it is to cure," he said. "The longer you wait, the more risk it spreads to the lymph nodes and other parts of the body and becomes very difficult to treat.

Mental health ties heavily into physical health as well. Corriveau said it's important for men to not bottle up their emotions, worries or concerns like many have been taught to do.

In the North, going on the land is a popular activity that is often associated with mental and spiritual healing. Corriveau said getting out in nature and engaging in activities such as hunting, trapping, gathering or building a cabin are excellent ways to help the mind work through problems, but lastly advised people to not go out on the land alone or at least make sure others are aware of where they are, as accidents can and do happen in the wild.