Men 'turn blind eye to sickness'

Symptoms of prostate cancer include painful urination

More than half of London men perceive illness to be a character weakness, a survey has found.

And 35% of men polled said they would rather "sit it out" than visit a doctor no matter how ill they became.

In contrast, only 11% of women would rule out a trip to their surgery while 85% disagreed that ill health had anything to do with character flaws.

The survey was carried out on 500 men and 500 women aged between 20 and 40 as part of prostate cancer awareness week.

Sharing worries

Other findings showed only one in five men would talk about health concerns with a male friend, while 86% of women were happy to share their worries.

Even discussing problems with the opposite sex was unpopular, with only 33% of men turning to them for support.

The poll was commissioned by natural health supplement company Lyc-o-Mato after an earlier survey found the majority of men over 45 are unaware they even have a prostate gland.

Prostate cancer can be difficult to diagnose because some men do not develop symptoms until the cancer has spread.

However, some symptoms are frequent urination, particularly at night, pain when urinating, lower back pain and blood in the urine.