oneworldtalk

Little Egret · Joined: 19 Jun 2007 Posts: 500

Prostate cancer is a disease affecting only men just as cervical cancer affects only women.

In Malaysia it is the 6th most frequently occurring male cancer and in Singapore it is the 3rd. The risks increase rapidly after age 50. And 3 in every 4 prostate cancers diagnosed are in males aged 65 and above.

Male populations of industrialised Western countries are most at risk, with lower incidence in Asia and South America.

More information about the subject can be found in this article, first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times on July 23, 2008.

orange blossom · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 1052 Location: Australia

Some information that patients going for prostate surgery should be aware of :

Post-surgery complications include :

Incontinence after of prostate surgery of benign or a malignant disease.

This is because removing the prostate through surgery or radiation disrupts the way your bladder holds urine and can result in urine leakage and involuntary urination. The prostate contributes a great deal to continence in males, as it contains a large amount of smooth muscle that helps control urinary flow. Often the incontinence is transient.

http://www.elderstore.com/male-incontinence-from-prostate-surgery_p10.aspx

On the other hand, some patients may experience difficulty of letting go of urine after surgery. This causes bloating and pain in the bladder.

In the USA, "1 percent to 7 percent of men end up incontinent; and 20 percent to 80 percent impotent. As a rule, men in their 50s do much better than those in their late 60s or 70s; and those with high blood pressure do worse than those with normal blood pressure."

Impotence

"To spare a man's potency, the doctor must separate from the prostate two webbed bundles of nerves that are critical for erection without leaving any prostate tissue behind. Specialists say that doing it well, and reliably, takes training and lots of practice. Many surgeons don't do it often enough to predict their outcomes."

http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20030225hprostate4.asp

Other possible post-surgery side effects following a Radical Prostatectomy include :

- Infertility
- Blood Loss
- Rectal Injury
- Bladder Neck Contracture (narrowing)

For details of procedures of prostate surgery, please refer to : http://www.stvincents.ie/Departments/Urology_Department/Patients_Guide_to_Radical_Prostatectomy.htm

It is therefore important that patients research and try to find highly skilled and experienced urology surgeon as prostate surgery, taking into consideration they could afford to pay and the waiting time.

However, there is no absolute certainty that post-surgery complications do not occur if you go for a well known surgeon. I could testify that a small number of prostate surgeries done by the eminent professors at the best public hospital in Singapore/Malaysia/USA/Australia, etc, do suffer from complications.

Patients who encounter any of these post-surgery problems should not accept this as a matter of fact but to seek the surgeon's help to review their cases promptly, to get pain relief and treatment.

Kebau · Joined: 23 Mar 2007 Posts: 415 Location: Canada

Little Egret has brought to our attention a disease that afflicts men by virtue of the fact of the presence of the Y chromosome. Prostate cancer is a killer if not arrested in the early phase and is a common killer of Afro American men. Prostate becomes cancerous for many still unknown reasons, and the tumor can spread to many organs including the bones. In many early cases, the rise in the level of PSA (prostate specific antigen) is a good marker for concern. A biopsy is a good confirmatory test. However, the prostate can often hypertrophy become enlarged but not spread as in the case of BPH (benign prostate hyperplasia).

Men especially above 45 years old, in particular, do not care to have yearly physical checkups for fear of digital exams of the prostate. Hopefully, once they understand the need for such exams, they will overcome the embarrassment.

orange blossom · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 1052 Location: Australia

Half of all men have BPH identifiable histologically at age 60 years, and by 85 years the prevalence is about 90%. In the USA about 25% of men will be treated for BPH by age 80, and over 300,000 surgical procedures are performed each year for BPH (mostly transurethral resection of the prostate, TURP). This makes TURP the second most common surgical procedure, second only to cataract surgery - at a cost estimated at $2 billion per year.

BPH Treatment Options

Watchful waiting: A strategy of management in which the patient is monitored but receives no active treatment.

Alpha blocker therapy: Treatment using alpha-1-adrenergic receptor blockers that inhibit contraction of prostatic smooth muscle.

Finasteride therapy: Treatment using finasteride, an enzyme inhibitor that lowers prostatic androgen levels and can result in some decrease of prostate size.

Balloon dilation: A catheter with a balloon at the end is inserted through the urethra and into the prostatic urethra. The balloon is then inflated to stretch the urethra where narrowed by the prostate.

Transurethral incision of the prostate (TUIP): An endoscopic surgical procedure in which patients with smaller prostates (<30 g) have an instrument inserted through the urethra to make one or two cuts in the prostate and reduce the constriction on the urethra.

Transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP): Surgical removal of the prostate's inner portion by endoscopic approach through the urethra. This is the most common active treatment.

Open prostatectomy: Surgical removal of the prostate via an incision in the lower abdomen. It usually requires a longer hospital stay.

***

About half the patients treated with placebo or watchful waiting reported symptom improvement, compared with about 90% for TURP. The proportion reporting worse symptoms is small (usually less than 5%) except for watchful waiting where it can be as high as 25%.

http://www.medicine.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/band11/b11-3.html

orange blossom · Joined: 20 Mar 2007 Posts: 1052 Location: Australia

Nutrition and alternative medicine

http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/nutrition_and_prostate_health

Zinc and selenium are two dietary intake markers that have been strongly associated with BPH prevention and diagnosis.

The herb saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) has been used for centuries to treat prostate-related issues. Recent clinical trials have suggested the efficacy of saw palmetto for treating lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) due to BPH. Another herb that has demonstrated great efficacy for treating LUTS is pygeum (Pygeum africanum) bark extract.

A study conducted by the Kinesiology Department at the University of Calgary found that moderate and strenuous exercise can significantly improve chronic fatigue and quality of life for patients diagnosed with prostate-related health issues.

Avoiding bladder irritants such as caffeine, alcohol and spicy food will help to alleviate certain BPH symptoms (2).

While complete prevention of benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer may not attainable, strong evidence suggests that dietary changes and supplementation with a variety of nutrients can reduce the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer.