Peter Kafka’s latest thoughts on men, risk and clinical trials!
I was reading the other day about the challenges of getting an adequate number of men to subscribe and participate in certain clinical trials for prostate treatment. It had to do with “risk”. In general, men are bigger risk takers than women. In my career with the National Park Service I was always dealing with the seeming dichotomy between safety and risk. Working under three successive female superintendents I was at times admonished for not putting “safety first”. But without a certain amount of risk, nothing gets accomplished.
I am not certain where I am going with this thought, but I believe that the willingness of men to take risks has been a great benefit to the advancement of medical science on many fronts. Prostate cancer detection and treatment is very different than it was even five years ago and a lot of this has to do with the willingness of men to take risks. Even the great numbers of men today who choose to follow the path of “active surveillance” rather than having their prostate surgically removed or radiated is indicative of a willingness to “risk” living with cancer.
I know for myself that I am going to be faced with some treatment decisions in the coming year. The decision tree is always a challenge to climb. Which limb is sturdy enough to hold my weight? I think that this is one of the reasons I so enjoy working and listening to others in our support community. Sharing our individual experiences on this journey is enlightening. There are not many rights and wrongs, but there are plenty of rights and lefts. And what is a right move for you might well be a left move for me.