Three Common Prostate Disorders

There are three prostate problems that are commonly found in men after the age of 40.  These three disorders have different symptoms and you may not experience any symptoms.  Prostatitis means an inflamed prostate.  Any times there is fever or you just feel tired your body could be fighting an infection in the body.  Other symptoms and signs may be a burning feeling when you urinate, a frequent need to urinate, and your prostate may feel swollen and warm.  Inflammation anywhere in your body means it is fighting germs, bacteria, or trying to repair an injury.

Bacteria caused prostatitis can be detected by a microscopic examination of a urine sample.  If is determined you have bacteria prostatitis your doctor will give you a prescription for an antibiotic.  If you continue to get infections, you may have a defect in your prostate gland that allows bacteria to grow freely.  If you have a defect in your prostate gland, it can be corrected by surgery.  Many times if you have a problem in urinating the doctor won’t find bacteria and could be caused by kidney stones or cancer.
The doctor may decide you don’t have any other reasons for an inflamed prostate so could give you a diagnosis of nonbacterial prostatitis.  Unfortunately, antibiotics will not help a nonbacterial prostatitis.  Your doctor may advise you to change your diet or try taking warm baths to ease your symptoms.  An alpha-blocker may be prescribed to help relax the muscle tissue in the prostate.  Treatment may vary for each person.

BPH or enlarged prostate normally appears in men over 50.  The first signs of an enlarged prostate are a problem with starting urination.  A man’s prostate can grow and as it does it squeezes the urethra.  The urethra passes through the prostate gland and as it grows it puts pressure on the urethra causing problems with urination.  The following are common symptoms of BPH or enlarged prostate:
Getting up several times at night to urinate.
Feeling the frequent need to urinate.
Trouble starting a stream of urine even if you had to rush to a bathroom
The stream of urine is weak
Leaking or dribbling
Feeling the urge to urinate again after you have finished urinating
A small amount of blood seen in the urine

BPH is not serious by itself.  The symptoms of BPH and prostate cancer are the same.  If you are experiencing any of the symptoms of BPH you should see your doctor to be sure you are not in the early stages of prostate cancer. 

If the symptoms are making your life miserable it can be treated with medication prescribed by your doctor.  If you are not able to urinate at all, see your doctor immediately.  Being unable to urinate can occur after taking an over-the counter cold or allergy medicine.  BPH can lead to serious problems such as urinary tract infections and occasionally BPH can lead to kidney damage.  A doctor will be able to perform tests to see if you are suffering from BPH or something more serious such as prostate cancer.

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October 14th, 2008 | Posted in The Prostate | No Comments

Treatments for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the second biggest cancer related killer in males over sixty, yet many men do not look after themselves well enough and seek help when it is needed. Luckily there are many treatments available for those suffering with prostate cancer, a lot of which can totally eradicate the condition.

To show how invasive each treatment is we will go through each treatment from least invasive to most invasive.

Watchful waiting

Watchful waiting, also known as active surveillance, is a treatment where the doctors just keep and active eye on the illness to see how it is progressing and is normally chosen for only one of two reasons.

Reason one  The cancer is in its infancy and the tumor is small, confined and expected to grow very slowly

Reason two  The patient has a separate medical condition that means surgery would be worse for the patient than the current suffering.

Hormonal Therapy

Testosterone drives the male sex drive and it also stimulates prostate cancer cells, as they are hormone dependant. If the testosterone hormone can be blocked it will reduce the speed the cancerous cells can grow.

These therapies can work in three ways, one is through an oral tablet, which reduces the testosterone production in the testes, two is antiandrogen therapy to block the effects of testosterone and number three is to totally remove the testes completely.

Radiation

Using Gamma rays, the medical professionals try to kill every possible cancerous cell; this is completed in one of two ways.

One-way is to have small-radiated rod inserted into the prostate and left for a period of time to kill the cancerous cells.

The second way is to use an external radiation beam to concentrate on the area from outside the body.

Prostectomy

The procedure for prostectomy is a surgical one and involves totally removing the prostate gland; this is normally carried out early on in the cancer lifecycle, as the surgery cannot be completed if the cancer has moved to other areas of the body.

Chemotherapy

The most dangerous of all the therapies, chemotherapy, needs to be administered carefully as the drugs damage and destroy the cancerous cells, and if given in the wrong doses can kill healthy cells too.

The end product

A lot of these treatments are quite invasive and dangerous in their own way, in some cases the side affects to having these treatments can be quite drastic. It has been known for people to suffer with impotence, erectile dysfunction and loss of sexual appetite from having these different treatments.

The after affects of this can be quite devastating on an emotional level as the male takes time to get used to the after affects the treatment caused, in some cases this requires counseling to alleviate any stress, depression or anger.

What is important though is that the cancer is eradicated, once it has gone the person suffering can sleep easily knowing they have managed to escape one of the biggest killers that men have to face alone.

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October 10th, 2008 | Posted in Prostate Cancer | No Comments

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