Steve Cardownie: Early diagnosis can help beat prostate cancer – get it checked
It was sad to hear that the former Sky News anchor, Dermot Murnaghan died last Saturday “following a period of illness with prostate cancer”, his family said.
He spent 15 years with Sky and presented news bulletins for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 during his long journalistic career. He was unfortunately diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer last year and succumbed to the disease at the relatively young age of 68.
His good friend, Sir Chris Hoy, led the tributes to Murnaghan, describing him as a “kind gracious man” who had been a “big part of this current chapter of my life.”
As we know, Sir Chris was also diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 2023 and speaking of Murnaghan he said, “I can’t believe he’s gone, just like that. This is a cruel disease and one Dermot campaigned tirelessly to raise funds and awareness for.”
It is to Sir Chris’s credit that he thought of his friend’s sad passing at a time when he has his own health issues to deal with. Having been told that his life expectancy has been severely curtailed to a few years, he was right to label it as a “cruel disease” and, of all people, he should know.
I am lucky in that my prostate cancer was caught early and after successful brachytherapy treatment it looks like I am on the mend. A friend of mine thankfully recommended that I should ask my GP for a Prostate Specific Antigen test which, if it records a higher-than-normal level, could indicate that a cancerous tumour was growing in the prostate gland. Mine did and treatment followed.
I was lucky but sadly Sir Chris Hoy and Dermont Murnaghan were not. Their diagnosis came too late for effective treatment and was more confined to managing the disease rather than curing it.
More than 5000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year in Scotland with around 1000 deaths attributable to it.
Don’t leave it too late- get it checked!