Visits for prostate cancer symptoms advice on the NHS website rose by 672% following Sir Chris Hoy’s announcement about his terminal prognosis.
New figures from NHS England show that in the 48 hours after the six-time Olympic champion revealed his cancer was incurable, there were 14,478 visits to the page on prostate cancer symptoms. That is nearly 8 times as many as over the same period the previous week, when there were 1,876 visits.
Visits to the page peaked on Sunday with 8,816 visits, which is the equivalent to 1 visit every 10 seconds.
The NHS website includes information on different forms of cancer, spotting early signs and types of treatment.
NHS England’s National Clinical Director for Cancer Professor Peter Johnson said: “We’re very sorry to hear about Chris’s prognosis, but his decision to speak so openly about it could save lives by encouraging people to come forward sooner with their symptoms.
“Thanks to his bravery, we have seen a significant spike in people accessing vital information on our website about the signs and symptoms of cancer.
“1 in 2 people will develop some form of cancer in their lifetime and detecting the disease early gives the best chance of successful treatment.
“So, I would urge anyone who’s noticed unusual or worrying symptoms to please contact their GP practice”.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Wes Streeting said: “I am in awe of Chris’ courage. He’s done the country such an enormous service by being as open and as positive as he has been.
“From my own experience with cancer, I know how crucial it is to catch it as early as possible, so it is truly encouraging to see more people educating themselves about the symptoms of this awful disease.
“We are investing in research to find better ways of testing for prostate cancer, so that we can give people the best chances of survival”.
Symptoms of prostate cancer can include:
- needing to pee more frequently, often during the night
- needing to rush to the toilet
- difficulty in starting to pee (hesitancy)
- straining or taking a long time while peeing
- weak flow
- feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully
- blood in urine or blood in semen
These symptoms do not always mean you have prostate cancer. Many men’s prostates get larger as they get older because of a non-cancerous condition called benign prostate enlargement.
In many cases symptoms will be caused by another condition, but if it is cancer, finding it at an early stage means a better chance of survival.
The NHS is seeing and treating record numbers of people for cancer, with almost 3 million people receiving potentially lifesaving cancer checks in the past year.
Making some simple changes to your lifestyle – such as healthy eating, taking regular exercise and not smoking – can also significantly reduce your risk of developing cancer.
The NHS website is the UK’s biggest health website and receives an average of 2 million visits each day from people seeking information and advice. It includes over 4,000 pages and provides information about 990 medical conditions.
