Fitness model and American Health & Fitness host Clark Bartram is a well-known fitness influencer, especially for older lifters, helping athletes retain muscle mass into their 70s. Bartram recently opened up about a formidable challenge on the Oct. 6, 2023, episode of The Mike O’Hearn Show: his prostate cancer diagnosis. Watch O’Hearn and Bartram’s long-form discussion in the video below, courtesy of Generation Iron‘s YouTube channel:
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Clark Bartram’s Cancer Diagnosis
“I’ve recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” Bartram said with a steady voice. “Hearing those words…from a health professional…rattles your cage.” At first, Bartram was treating his prostate check as an opportunity for content. However, the harsh reality sank in when his doctor said more tests were needed and ultimately found abnormalities in his prostate.
Once discovering the tumor was malignant and hadn’t metastasized anywhere else, Bartram decided on allopathic and natural medicine interventions. Bartram’s cancer is considered intermediate-aggressive, so allopathic professionals can take various approaches, including radiation and hormone treatment.
Bartram has spent much of his career touting natural ways of boosting testosterone naturally through middle age. However, radiation and hormone treatment like Androgen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) could reduce his testosterone levels significantly. A 2022 study in Cureus found that testosterone in “eight percent of men remained at castrate level” even after 24 months off of ADT treatment. (1)
“I’m not going to immediately go through some form of treat because it’s worked for a thousand other men before me.” expresses Bartram. Instead, Bartram intends to undergo a complete diagnostic of his health to ensure he makes accurate decisions for his lifestyle and body, including diet considerations and supplement choices.
Don’t let anxiety dictate your treatment.
When treated like an individual, Bartram feels more at ease with those coming to his care. He’s willing to forego certain treatments to live a quality of life without suffering from potential side effects.
O’Hearn acknowledged Bartram’s level-headedness despite the troubling diagnosis. Bartram mentioned his excitement to tighten his diet further. He feels the urge to reach out to others enduring similar cancer diagnoses who want to combat it the way he does.
Bartram believes treatment starts with mindset and remains optimistic. Bartram wants to prove the resilience of humanity and intends to conquer his cancer battle as “another magazine cover on the wall.”
References
- Delgado, J., Ory, J., Loloi, J., Deebel, N. A., Bernstein, A., Nackeeran, S., Zucker, I., & Ramasamy, R. (2022). Persistent Testosterone Suppression After Cessation of Androgen Deprivation Therapy for Prostate Cancer. Cureus, 14(12), e32699. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.32699
Featured image: @clarkbartram on Instagram
