What You Need To Know About Prostate Cancer

What is Prostate Cancer?

September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month 

Prostate cancer is a tumor development on the prostate. The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis of a male reproductive system between the penis and the bladder and has the function to help in the production of semen for sperm. The cancer cells grow slowly but sometimes quickly from the prostate to the surrounding body tissues and bones without initial symptoms, in most cases.

Prostate cancer can have some symptoms such as difficulties in urination, painful pelvis, or presence of blood in urine in the advanced stage. The disease lowers the levels of red blood cells in the body.

Cancer

About 100 percent of prostate cancer is experienced in people above 50 years of age and is closely related to hereditary acquisitions. It is also a relation to diets such as high intake of red meat, insufficiency of some particular vegetables, some milk products, and processed meat and gonorrhea in rare cases. Diagnosis is by carrying out a digital rectum exam (DRE), Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test, or a prostate biopsy.

Signs And Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer

In the early stages, prostate cancer shows no or little symptoms that are not easy to associate with the disease. Later stages, however, exposes the following signs and symptoms.

  1. The presence of blood in semen or urine.
  1. Weak or slow streams of urine, feeling urine more often mostly in the night.
  1. The problem is getting an erection.
  1. Loss of control of bowel and bladder when cancer starts spreading to the spinal cord.
  1. Loss of feeling in the legs (numbness).
  1. Painful spine, chest, hips, and other body parts affected by the spreading of prostate cancer.

Tests For Prostate Cancer

Cancer

No single test is absolute to diagnose prostate cancer. Patients suspected to possibly have prostate cancer go through a blood test, digital rectum examination, which is a physical examination of the prostate, and biopsy, a study of extracted tissue of the affected prostate.

The blood test such as the prostate-specific antigen does not indicate the presence of cancer in the prostate because the antigen levels may rise due to other prostate infections. The victims should discuss their family history about the disease in their bloodlines.

Causes Of Prostate Cancer

  1. Old age- cancer occurs in the ages above 50 years.
  1. Bloodlines- the majority of people living with prostate cancer are African Americans and Indians in America with a history of the disease in their bloodline. The disease is therefore assumed to be hereditary.
  1. Diet- Prostate cancer comes due to obesity and the consumption of certain animal products and foods high in calcium that affect their health.
  1. Physical exercises- men who have less physical activities have a higher risk of contracting prostate cancer according to research on health.

Treating Prostate Cancer

Cancer

There is no known immediate cure for prostate cancer as of today. Treatment of cancer would involve keeping an eye on the signs and symptoms to minimize the speed of the spread of the disease to other parts of the body. Special care includes a team of medical specialists including radiologists, a cancer surgeon, oncologist, radiographer, pathologist, and cancer a specialized nurse to caring for the treatment of prostate cancer. The team studies in detail the grade of prostate cancer, its type and size, the health of the affected, and the extent of the spread to other body parts.

Care Of The Prostate Cancer

The prostate cancer has four stages that are categorized to mark how far the tumor has grown or affected other body parts.

At stage one prostate cancer is underdeveloped and small within the affected part and it still within the prostate gland but large at stage two. Cancer has a high chance of up to 90 percent of getting disrupted, and the affected can live for more than ten years.

The prostate cancer grows out of the prostate gland at stage three but is still within the reproductive organ. The affected has about 100 percent chance of living for more than five years when put under treatment.

Twenty to thirty percent of prostate cancer diagnosis happens at stage four where the disease is full-blown, and signs show well. Cancer spreads to other body parts such as the lymph nodes, bladder a, urethra, and bones. The victim has a thirty percent chance of living for at least five years.

Medical doctors recommend the best possible ways for the treatment of prostate cancer. The decision, however, remains in the hands of the person with a health problem.

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