Stuart Gizzi from Intatec provides his insight into the importance of acting early to identify health issues.
Now a few months ago, Movember (where men grow moustaches to highlight health issues and raise vital funds) rightly shines a light on a range of men’s health issues, from mental health to testicular cancer and prostate cancer. I can only speak with authority about one of them. I did not die from prostate cancer, diagnosed 20 years ago.
We work in a male-dominated industry where many people make their living fixing things that break. What we sometimes forget is that we also make money from maintenance. That applies to our bodies as much as our systems.
At Intatec, we have spent decades designing and supplying devices you never notice because they have done their job. Quiet safety measures, built in early, because waiting for harm to happen is never acceptable.
I am 77 now. In my late 50s, a simple PSA blood test showed I had prostate cancer. Back then, luck played a bigger part than it should have in whether you were screened. Mine was caught early and treated successfully with radiotherapy.
Early action gives you options. It is the difference between something manageable and months, sometimes years, of consequences.
Clive Reeves from our PR team also had prostate cancer, diagnosed at 57, and treated early after a PSA test was included in blood tests investigating constant fatigue. Like me, he chose radiotherapy. He says the main side effect has been fatigue. Four years on, he says he is full of life again… although, looking at him, it’s difficult to tell!
What matters is this. A PSA test is a blood test. It is not invasive. It is not automatic. It starts with a conversation with your GP, and you decide what happens next.
Avoid delay
Many men still avoid talking about intimate health unless something forces the issue, delay becomes the default. I have seen too many sensible men use uncertainty as a reason to do nothing.
Clive and I are both alive because of early testing.
At Inta, we give people time off to attend GP appointments because we know an hour at the GP is worth more than a week of worry. And if you are self-employed, as many plumbers and installers are, you need to make that time yourself.
After Movember, and all the campaigning that comes with it, the new year feels like the right moment to stop talking and do one simple thing. Ask the question. Get the test.
NHS advice on PSA Tests can be found here.
If the idea of going straight to your GP feels like a big step, Prostate Cancer UK has clear, practical information and a confidential specialist nurse helpline where you can talk things through first. Either way, do not put it off.
We all start a new year with plans to do more and earn more. None of it matters if you are not well enough to enjoy it.
There is a lot to look forward to in 2026. Make sure you are around, and fit enough, to be part of it.
Image: Stuart Gizzi, Intatec
