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| Prostate Cancer What Do You Need To Know |
has the ability to spread throughout your body.
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States. But survival rates are improving for many
types of cancer, thanks to improvements in cancer screening and cancer treatment.
types of cancer, thanks to improvements in cancer screening and cancer treatment.
Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in the prostate gland (cancer of the prostate gland).
The prostate is a small, walnut-sized structure that makes up part of a man's reproductive system.
It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body.
What is prostate gland?
Only men have prostate gland and it is part
of the male genital system. It feels like a rubbery mass on rectal examination
and is like the size of a large marble. The prostate gland lies on the floor of
the pelvis and positions itself between the penis and the bladder.
Prostate cancer is a disease which only affects men.
Cancer begins to grow in the prostate - a gland in the male reproductive system. The word "prostate" comes from Medieval Latin prostate and Medieval French prostate. The ancient Greek word prostatesmeans "one standing in front", from proistanai meaning "set before". The prostate is so called because of its position - it is at the base of the bladder.
The prostate is a gland found only in males. It is located in front of the rectum and below the urinary bladder. The size of the prostate varies with age. In younger men, it is about the size of a walnut, but it can be much larger in older men. The prostate's job is to make some of the fluid that protects and nourishes sperm cells in semen, making the semen more liquid. Just behind the prostate are glands called seminal vesicles that make most of the fluid for semen. Theurethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, goes through the center of the prostate...read more>>
During a digital rectal exam a physician feels the prostate—a small gland that produces seminal fluid—for abnormalities. Annual DRE screenings for males over the age of 50 helps to indicate the sign of prostate cancer.
Prostate Cancer Prevention
You can reduce your risk of prostate cancer if you:
Choose a healthy diet full
of fruits and vegetables.
Choose healthy foods over
supplements.
Exercise most days of the
week.
Maintain a healthy weight.
Talk to your doctor about
increased risk of prostate cancer.
Take note that sex is good for you in ways you may never imagined
and that the health benefits extend well beyond the bedroom.
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| Prostate Cancer Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment |
Sperm
is produced in the testicles and travels through two tubes to the prostate.
There, the tubes connect with the urethra, the
channel through which urine flows from the bladder and out of the body. The
fluid secreted by the prostate mixes with the sperm. This fluid nourishes the
sperm and helps transport it from the body through the urethra.
Abnormal
enlargement of the prostate, a condition called hyperplasia
of the prostate or benign enlargement of the prostate, is
common among men over 50 years of age. An enlarged prostate can press on the
urethra. Such pressure can make the passing of urine from the body difficult
and may result in bladder infection or kidney damage. In many cases, treatment
includes the surgical removal of part or all of the prostate.
Cancer
of the prostate may also strike older men. In most cases, it spreads from the
prostate to other parts of the body before being detected. The cancer is stimulated
by the male hormone testosterone, which
is produced by the testicles. If the cancer has spread widely, doctors treat
it with female hormones or by castration (removing
the testicles surgically). If the cancer has not spread beyond the prostate,
the diseased tissue is removed. See also Reproduction (diagram: Human reproduction).
Prostate cancer prevention
You can reduce
your risk of prostate cancer if you:
Choose a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables. Avoid
high-fat foods and instead focus on choosing a variety of fruits, vegetables
and whole grains. Fruits and vegetables contain many vitamins and nutrients
that can contribute to your health. One nutrient that is consistently linked to
prostate cancer prevention is lycopene, which can be found in raw or cooked
tomatoes.
Whether you can
prevent prostate cancer through diet has yet to be conclusively proved. But
eating a healthy diet with a variety of fruits and vegetables can improve your
overall health.
Choose healthy foods over supplements. No
studies have shown that supplements play a role in reducing your risk of
prostate cancer. While there has been some interest in vitamins and minerals,
such as vitamin E and selenium, to lower prostate cancer risk, studies haven't
found a benefit to taking supplements to create high levels of these nutrients
in your body. Instead, choose foods that are rich in vitamins and minerals so
that you can maintain healthy levels of vitamins in your body.
Exercise most days of the week. Exercise
improves your overall health, helps you maintain your weight and improves your
mood. There is some evidence that the men who get the most exercise have a
lower incidence of prostate cancer when compared with men who get little or no
exercise.
Try to exercise
most days of the week. If you're new to exercise, start slow and work your way
up to more exercise time each day.
Maintain a healthy weight. If your current weight is
healthy, work to maintain it by exercising most days of the week. If you need
to lose weight, add more exercise and reduce the number of calories you eat
each day. Ask your doctor for help creating a plan for healthy weight loss.
Talk to your doctor about increased risk of prostate cancer. Men with
a high risk of prostate cancer may consider medications or other treatments to
reduce their risk. Some studies suggest that taking 5-alpha reductase
inhibitors, including finasteride (Propecia, Proscar) and dutasteride
(Avodart), may reduce the overall risk of developing prostate cancer. These
drugs are used to control prostate gland enlargement and hair loss in men.
However, some
evidence indicates that men taking these medications may have an increased risk
of getting a more serious form of prostate cancer (high-grade prostate cancer).
If you're concerned about your risk of developing prostate cancer, talk with
your doctor.
What does the prostate
gland do?
It
secrets a protein-like mixture rich in albumin for the sperms to live on and it
also acts as a transport medium for the sperms. Semen is a mixture of sperms
and a collection of fluids secreted by the seminal vesicles, bulbo-urethral
glands and the prostate gland.
Cancer of the Prostate
Gland
It is
the most common cancer in men worldwide (21%), followed by lung cancer (19%)
and bowel cancer (15%). Every year it is the second most common cause of cancer
death in men (12%) behind lung cancer (34%) and ahead of bowel cancer (11%).
Treatment depends on the staging of the cancer and may comprise a combination
of surgery, radiotherapy and hormone therapy.
Screening and early
detection of prostate cancer
There
is a protein in the blood called Prostate Specific Antigen, PSA. It is produced
by cells in the prostate gland and is thought to play a role in preventing
semen form coagulating.
According
to certain researchs, 60% of men with early stage prostate cancer already have
an elevated PSA level above the highest value found in the normal population (4 ng/mL). Therefore, the blood
test of PSA can be used to screen for the presence of this cancer.
PSA
levels usually begin to rise 2-3 years before prostate cancer begin to invade
the surrounding tissue. Therefore annual tests allow early detection of most
cancers while it's still confined within the prostate gland.
Infection
and benign enlargement of the prostate may also cause elevated PSA levels in
the blood. The level of PSA in benign hypertrophy of the prostate is relatively
stable or rise slowly. The PSA level in prostate cancer is 10 times higher for
any given gland size that when no cancer is present.
The
symptoms of prostatitis will be recognised by your doctor and the PSA levels
will fall to normal after treatment.
Take note
A few
men with prostate cancer may have normal PSA levels. Thus, the test should be
used in combination with rectal examination and rectal ultrasound examination.
Monitoring of prostate
cancer
PSA
and Prostatic Acid Phosphatase blood levels may be used to monitor the
treatment of prostate cancer.
A
fall in both markers suggest a good response to treatment. A stable level shows
control has been achieved. Rising levels will detect recurrence after
treatment. However, a small proportion (10%) of usually advanced cancer will
stop producing PSA. The standard marker Acid Phosphatase is then available for
assessment.
Prostate enlargement
Married
men experience prostate enlargement more than single men.
A
history of prostate enlargement in your family also increases the odds that you
too will experience the problem.
Protecting your prostate
The
prostate gland is located just below a male's bladder and surrounds the top
portion of the tube that drains urine from the bladder (urethra). The gland's
primary function is to produce most of the fluids in semen, the fluid that
nourishes and transports sperm.
Causes
As
you get older the male hormone testosterone is converted to a metabolic
byproduct called dihydrotestosterone. This reaction is facilitated by an enzyme
called 5-alpha reductase.
Dihydrotestosterone
is proposed as one of the causes of prostate enlargement.
Diagnosis
of enlarged prostate Test may include:
Digital
rectal exam: To feel for prostate enlargement.
Urine
test: To eliminate other diseases with similar symptoms.
Blood
Test: To detect high levels of PSA (prostate specific antigen)
Ultrasound:
To estimate the size of your prostate gland.
Signs and symptoms
Only
about half the men with prostate enlargement experience signs and symptoms that
become noticeable. These signs and symptoms may include:
Weak
urine stream
Urgent
need to urinate
Difficulty
starting urination
Not
being able to completely empty the bladder
Dribbling
at the end of urination
Blood
in the urine (hematuria)
Frequent
need to urinate
Urinary
tract infection
Increased
frequency of urination at night (nocturia)
Avoid
A
lifestyle high in saturated fat such as meat, milk and butter, excessive
alcohol consumption and stress.
Increase
The
consumption of soy products, pumpkin seeds and the lignans found in flaxseed
oil. Zinc found in oysters, sunflower seeds and wholegrains has been shown to
inhibit the activity of 5-alpha reductase.
Alternative Medicine
Extract
from the berries of Saw Palmetto has been studied in large about its effect on
reducing the activitiy of 5-alpha reductase and inhibit prostate tissue growth.
Making some lifestyle changes can often help to control
the activity of 5-alpha reductase and inhibit enlargement of the prostate.
Prostate
enlargement - Mayo Clinic.
Saw
Palmetto for prostate enlargement. Scientific Research Institute of Urology,
Moscow, Russia, Advances in Therapy,2002.
5-alpha-Reductase
Inhibitors Prevent the Progression of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Rev Urol.
2003;5 Suppl 5:S12-21
Healthcare
group (Diseases)
Digital rectal exam
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