{"id":3289,"date":"2020-09-01T12:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-09-01T16:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/menshealth\/?p=3289"},"modified":"2025-10-17T13:12:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T17:12:37","slug":"eric-wallen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Eric Wallen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Eric Wallen, UNC Urologist, Men&#8217;s Health Champion<\/p>\n<div class=\"large-quote\"><p>If you really want to take your health seriously and live a long, healthy life, you have to start making changes now\u2014things like losing weight, eating better, and staying active.\"<br\/>-Dr. Eric Wallen<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"349\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/C0XH2oCt-0E?html5=1\" title=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<h2>Video Transcript<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Michael Washington:<\/strong><br \/>\nWe connected a little while ago about the Men\u2019s Health Program. I\u2019d love to talk a bit about it \u2014 what inspired you to get involved, and why do you think so many men aren\u2019t going to the doctor regularly?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Eric Wallen:<\/strong><br \/>\nIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve thought about a lot. You look at men in their mid-life \u2014 let\u2019s say around 50 \u2014 and many are dealing with conditions like type 2 diabetes, which are often tied to lifestyle. Those diseases are actually far more deadly than prostate cancer in most cases.<\/p>\n<p>About ten or fifteen years ago, we began to understand that many prostate cancers could safely be watched instead of treated right away. We started using active surveillance \u2014 monitoring men carefully and intervening only if needed. But the real wake-up call is that if you truly want to take your health seriously and live a long, healthy life, you have to start making changes now \u2014 things like losing weight, eating better, and staying active.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Washington:<\/strong><br \/>\nYou and I talked before about the \u201cSuperman myth\u201d \u2014 that idea men often have that they\u2019re invincible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Wallen:<\/strong><br \/>\nExactly. There\u2019s this mindset that \u201cI\u2019m fine, I\u2019m taking care of my family, nothing\u2019s going to stop me.\u201d But by the time men finally go see a doctor, it can be too late. What I tell them is: I\u2019m glad you feel great, but step one is to get a doctor \u2014 someone you can trust, someone who understands you and your background.<\/p>\n<p>Once you have that relationship, talk openly about your family history. If your doctor says, \u201cYou look healthy,\u201d you still need to say, \u201cHere\u2019s what runs in my family.\u201d Maybe that\u2019s breast cancer, prostate cancer, or heart disease. Believe it or not, there\u2019s actually a genetic connection between breast cancer and prostate cancer, and sometimes other cancers as well.<\/p>\n<p>If heart disease runs in your family \u2014 that\u2019s a big one \u2014 get on it early. My own father had a major stroke about five years ago, and I don\u2019t want that to happen to me. These things start developing earlier than most people think \u2014 often in your twenties or thirties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Michael Washington:<\/strong><br \/>\nSo awareness and prevention have to start early.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dr. Wallen:<\/strong><br \/>\nAbsolutely. It\u2019s about self-awareness and taking ownership of your health. You need to prove to yourself \u2014 and to your family \u2014 that you care about your health as much as you care about their health. Take the same care for yourself that you would for your parents, your spouse, and your kids.<\/p>\n<p>And the encouraging part is that there really is a way to make a difference. You don\u2019t have to do anything radical \u2014 just adjust your habits a little at a time. Eat a bit healthier, move more, find better balance. Even small changes can make a big impact on your long-term health.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-primary btn-lg btn-dark oscitas-bootstrap-container\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/outreach\/champions\/#champions\">Other Champions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dr. Eric Wallen, UNC Urologist, Men&#8217;s Health Champion Video Transcript Michael Washington: We connected a little while ago about the Men\u2019s Health Program. I\u2019d love to talk a bit about it \u2014 what inspired you to get involved, and why do you think so many men aren\u2019t going to the doctor regularly? Dr. Eric Wallen: &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Dr. Eric Wallen\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79967,"featured_media":2927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mens-health-champion","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Eric Wallen, UNC Urologist, Men&#8217;s Health Champion Video Transcript Michael Washington: We connected a little while ago about the Men\u2019s Health Program. I\u2019d love to talk a bit about it \u2014 what inspired you to get involved, and why do you think so many men aren\u2019t going to the doctor regularly? Dr. Eric Wallen: &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"UNC Men\u2019s Health Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1496\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"748\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bradley Olson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bradley Olson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bradley Olson\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f\"},\"headline\":\"Dr. Eric Wallen\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\"},\"wordCount\":549,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Men's Health Champion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\",\"name\":\"Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg\",\"width\":1496,\"height\":748,\"caption\":\"Dr. Eric Wallen - UNC Urologist, Mens Health Champion\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dr. Eric Wallen\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Men\u2019s Health Program\",\"description\":\"UNC Department of Urology\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f\",\"name\":\"Bradley Olson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9632c35625fbd3e4c346c7cca5ad3a72657f98b0ba00c4ac2f697191f4eddd38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9632c35625fbd3e4c346c7cca5ad3a72657f98b0ba00c4ac2f697191f4eddd38?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bradley Olson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/author\/bradley-olson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program","og_description":"Dr. Eric Wallen, UNC Urologist, Men&#8217;s Health Champion Video Transcript Michael Washington: We connected a little while ago about the Men\u2019s Health Program. I\u2019d love to talk a bit about it \u2014 what inspired you to get involved, and why do you think so many men aren\u2019t going to the doctor regularly? Dr. Eric Wallen: &hellip; Read more","og_url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/","og_site_name":"UNC Men\u2019s Health Program","article_published_time":"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1496,"height":748,"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bradley Olson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bradley Olson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/"},"author":{"name":"Bradley Olson","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f"},"headline":"Dr. Eric Wallen","datePublished":"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/"},"wordCount":549,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","articleSection":["Men's Health Champion"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/","name":"Dr. Eric Wallen | UNC Men\u2019s Health Program","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","datePublished":"2020-09-01T16:00:50+00:00","dateModified":"2025-10-17T17:12:37+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","width":1496,"height":748,"caption":"Dr. Eric Wallen - UNC Urologist, Mens Health Champion"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/2020\/09\/eric-wallen\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Dr. Eric Wallen"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/","name":"UNC Men\u2019s Health Program","description":"UNC Department of Urology","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/e181406b46f5e69f26f8c788b9eb227f","name":"Bradley Olson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9632c35625fbd3e4c346c7cca5ad3a72657f98b0ba00c4ac2f697191f4eddd38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9632c35625fbd3e4c346c7cca5ad3a72657f98b0ba00c4ac2f697191f4eddd38?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bradley Olson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/author\/bradley-olson\/"}]}},"featured_image":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738.jpg","featured_image_medium":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738-300x150.jpg","featured_image_medium_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738-768x384.jpg","featured_image_large":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738-1024x512.jpg","featured_image_thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/935\/2019\/02\/Dr_wallen_coverfull-e1570193502738-150x150.jpg","featured_image_alt":"Dr. Eric Wallen - UNC Urologist, Mens Health Champion","category_details":[{"name":"Men's Health Champion","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/category\/mens-health-champion\/"}],"tag_details":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79967"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3289"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4744,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3289\/revisions\/4744"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/urology\/mens-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}