The social media site Reddit may have a bad rap for offensive content and trolls, but in among the jailbait photos there are gems of important knowledge — and even information that can save a life.
When Reddit user CappnPoopdeck posted a rage comic earlier this week on the experiences of his male friend, who had jokingly taken a pregnancy test his ex-girlfriend left in his medicine cabinet and gotten a positive result, he intended the post as entertainment for the Internet masses. Instead, various commenters alerted him the test could be an indication of cancer. The most popular response read, “If this is true, you should check yourself for testicular cancer. Seriously. Google it.”
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User goxilo was no troll. Pregnancy tests produce a positive result upon the detection of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin, which is produced not only by pregnancy in women but also by testicular tumors in men. CappnPoopdeck’s friend visited the doctor and found a small tumor in his right testicle, according to a follow-up comic.
CappnPoopdeck expressed a number of conflicting feelings in his update, he wrote that early detection enabled the tumor to be treated immediately and thanked Redditors for their advice.
“I’m sad he might lose a nut, while I’m also amazed a preg test picked up a f—ing tumor and happy it was caught early, all at the same time,” CappnPoopdeck wrote in his second comic. “So both of us want to say thank you, and in all seriousness, if you are male check yourself for testicular cancer regularly. If you’re a girl, test yourself for breast cancer regularly.”
This isn’t the first time Reddit has clued individuals into medical problems. In March, WebProNews reported that a Wailuku, Hawaii man stumbled upon a submission on the site that allowed him to diagnose and treat his chronic sickness. Following the discovery, he announced that he wanted to write a book about the path to his diagnosis.
The male pregnancy test story has received considerable attention in the media, meanwhile — so much so that the original poster added a new comment on Reddit stating that he and his friend had grown pretty tired of calls from journalists. “There’s already a zillion articles on the internet about it, that is ENOUGH,” the poster wrote. So we’ll just end this here.