Welcome to Throwback Thursday in November, a month that means different things to different people. There’s Election Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, National Novel Writing Month. And then there are a couple of groups that want November to be all about facial hair.
And it’s whiskers with a health care message.
One group, The Movember Foundation, encourages growing a mustache for the month to raise money for charities that focus on four health issues facing men: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. According to the foundation, since 2003, millions of participants have helped to raise $650 million through their own and others’ donations. This year, the foundation also launched the MOVE campaign, a 30-day challenge for men — and women — to increase their daily physical activity.
“It’s just a simple, fun way to make an impact,” said Jamin Brahmbhatt, M.D., co-director of the Personalized Urology & Robotics Clinic at Orlando Health’s South Lake Hospital in Clermont, Fla. “The mustache gives me an opening to bring up men’s health issues; it’s a conversation starter. It helps me to get the real message out there, which is that guys just don't take care of themselves as they should.”
Hospitals, in particular urology departments, around the nation are participating in Movember with fundraisers, informational campaigns regarding men’s health and preventive screening promotions. Brahmbhatt said that in 2014, about 1,600 people who were connected to a hospital or health network registered in donor teams that contributed $270,000.
It’s Not Just Mustaches
Another hairy cause for the month is the No-Shave November movement, which asks both men and women to forego shaving and to donate what they would have spending on shaving and grooming for educational programs on cancer prevention, research and to aid those fighting the battle. “The goal of No-Shave November is to grow awareness by embracing our hair, which many cancer patients lose, and letting it grow wild and free,” the movement’s website states.
How is all of this relevant to Throwback Thursday? Well, good causes are good causes, and really good facial hair is a sight to behold. So, we’ve gathered some of health care’s most significant beards and mustaches — sported by real people or fictional characters — in the collage above. In the comments section below, name (or guess) who’s pictured. The first reader to correctly name them all will get a shout-out in next Thursday’s H&HN Daily.
Oh, and one more thing: Growing facial hair isn’t just a way to raise money for health care, it is actually healthful. Kate Bratskeir lists “seven science-backed reasons having a beard is good for you” in this blog for The Huffington Post.
Match the names (listed alphabetically) to the faces and send us your answers via “Comments” at the bottom of the page:
------------------------------------------ Patch Adams, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ Dr. Alois Alzheimer,
------------------------------------------ Ben Carson, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ Gregory House, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ C. Everett Koop, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ Louis Pasteur,
------------------------------------------ Walter Reed, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ Dr. Hermann Rorschach,
------------------------------------------ Benjamin Spock, M.D.,
------------------------------------------ Rich Umbdenstock.
