Wheeling Hospital Doctor Says Exercise, Healthy Eating Key to Men’s Health

Urologic oncologist Dr. Gregory Merrick believes exercise, healthy eating and preventive screenings are key to ensuring men's good health.

Merrick spoke on that topic Thursday at Wheeling Hospital in observance of National Men's Health Month. He is director of the hospital's Schiffler Cancer Center, Men's Health Center and Urologic Research Institute.

"Taking care of yourself is really very basic," he said.

The physician advocates walking 30 minutes a day to improve physical and emotional health. He said a person can lose five to 15 pounds by maintaining this daily routine for three months. Exercising for two and a half hours per week can reduce the incidence of 13 types of cancer, he said.

Urging people to avoid smoking or using smokeless tobacco, he said, "Thirty-five percent of all malignancies would eventually go away if people stop smoking."

Advances in treatment of prostate cancer are "improving survival and improving quality of life," Merrick said, adding that preventive care is important.

"We need to do screenings," he said. He recommended that men visit their primary care physicians regularly and undergo screenings for prostate and colon cancer.

Merrick is a firm believer that men should have a baseline prostate-specific antigen test at age 40 and a colonoscopy at age 50. He said, "The PSA test is a strong predictor of who is at risk for prostate cancer down the road."