Worried About Having A Dre
Its natural to feel worried or embarrassed about having tests, but some men find the idea of having a DRE upsetting. For example, if youve been sexually abused as a child or an adult, you might feel very upset about having this test. Theres no right or wrong way to feel about this, and it is your choice whether or not you have tests for prostate cancer.
It might be helpful to talk to a counsellor about your experience, thoughts and fears. Or you could contact a charity for people whove been sexually abused, such as the National Association for People Abused in Childhood or SurvivorsUK. If you do decide to have a DRE, explain your situation to your doctor as they can talk through the test with you and help to reassure you.
When I had the DRE I thought, For a few seconds of discomfort, I can live with it. Yeah its uncomfortable, but it could save your life. A personal experience
When Prostate Cancer Symptoms Are Not Related To Voiding
Only when prostate cancer metastasizes to the bones and other organs do secondary and systemic symptoms of bone pain, weight loss and fatigue develop.
It is important to remember that the majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will die with itnot from it.
Yet early detection and appropriate management will help to achieve the best outcome and quality of life for each individual.
If you are a man of African descent or have a family history of prostate cancer, you should discuss with your physician about the option of screening starting at age 40, explains Dr. Lutz.
- Frequent urge to pass urine, especially at night
- Weak or interrupted urine stream
- Pain or burning when passing urine
- Blood in the urine or semen
- Painful ejaculation
- Nagging pain in the back, hips, or pelvis
Prostate cancer can spread to the lymph nodes of the pelvis. Or it may spread throughout the body. It tends to spread to the bones. So bone pain, especially in the back, can be a symptom of advanced prostate cancer.
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At the start, prostate cancer does not cause symptoms. As the cancer grows, you may have trouble urinating. Some men need to urinate often, especially at night. Others have pain or burning during urination, blood in the urine or semen, pain in the back, hips, or pelvis, and painful ejaculation.
To find out if these symptoms are caused by prostate cancer, your doctor will ask about your past medical problems and your family’s medical history. He or she will perform a physical exam. During the exam, your doctor will put a gloved finger into your rectum to feel your prostate for hard or lumpy areas.
Your doctor may also do a blood test to check the prostate-specific antigen level. PSA levels can be high in men with an enlarged prostate gland or with prostate cancer. You may also need an ultrasound exam that takes computer pictures of the prostate.
If tests show that you might have cancer, your doctor will want to confirm this with a biopsy. He or she will take out tiny pieces of the prostate to look for cancer cells. Your doctor may want to do a biopsy again to re-check the results.
Treatment for prostate cancer depends on whether cancer is in part or all of the prostate or if it has spread to other parts of the body. It also depends on your age and overall health. Talk with your doctor about the best treatment choice for you. You may want to ask another doctor for a second opinion.
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Are Prostate Problems Always A Sign Of Prostate Cancer
Not all growths in the prostate are cancerous, and not all prostate problems indicate cancer. Other conditions that cause similar prostate cancer symptoms include:
- Benign prostatic hyperplasia : At some point, almost every man will develop benign prostatic hyperplasia . This condition enlarges the prostate gland but doesnt increase cancer risk. The swollen gland squeezes the urethra and blocks the flow of semen and urine. Medications, and sometimes surgery, can help.
- Prostatitis: Men younger than 50 are more prone to prostatitis, inflammation and swelling of the prostate gland. Bacterial infections are often the cause. Treatments include antibiotics or other medications.
What About Other Treatments I Hear About
When you have cancer you might hear about other ways to treat the cancer or treat your symptoms. These may not always be standard medical treatments. These treatments may be vitamins, herbs, special diets, and other things. You may wonder about these treatments.
Some of these are known to help, but many have not been tested. Some have been shown not to help. A few have even been found to be harmful. Talk to your doctor about anything youre thinking about using, whether its a vitamin, a diet, or anything else.
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What Is The Prostate
The prostate is a small gland in men that helps make semen. Located just below the bladder in front of the rectum, it wraps around the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body. It tends to grow larger as you get older. If your prostate gets too large, it can cause a number of health issues.
Do I Have An Enlarged Prostate
If youre having trouble urinating, you may have an enlarged prostate. Known as benign prostatic hyperplasia , an enlarged prostate commonly affects men as they age.
An overgrowth of cells in the prostate, a walnut-sized organ that is part of the male reproductive system, can cause it to become enlarged. Because the prostate gland surrounds the urethra, an enlarged prostate can constrict the flow of urine through the urethra.
Almost all men will experience an enlarged prostate as they age. Between the ages of 51 and 60, nearly 50% of men develop an enlarged prostate, with the percentage increasing each year. By age 80, 90 percent of men are likely to experience problems urinating because of an enlarged prostate.
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Risk Factors For Prostate Cancer
Some risk factors have been linked to prostate cancer. A risk factor is something that can raise your chance of developing a disease. Having one or more risk factors doesn’t mean that you will get prostate cancer. It just means that your risk of the disease is greater.
- Age. Men who are 50 or older have a higher risk of prostate cancer.
- Race. African-American men have the highest risk of prostate cancerâthe disease tends to start at younger ages and grows faster than in men of other races. After African-American men, prostate cancer is most common among white men, followed by Hispanic and Native American men. Asian-American men have the lowest rates of prostate cancer.
- Family history. Men whose fathers or brothers have had prostate cancer have a 2 to 3 times higher risk of prostate cancer than men who do not have a family history of the disease. A man who has 3 immediate family members with prostate cancer has about 10 times the risk of a man who does not have a family history of prostate cancer. The younger a man’s relatives are when they have prostate cancer, the greater his risk for developing the disease. Prostate cancer risk also appears to be slightly higher for men from families with a history of breast cancer.
- Diet. The risk of prostate cancer may be higher for men who eat high-fat diets.
Signs Of An Enlarged Prostate
Nearly half of all men in their 50s have an enlarged prostate, and this number rises with age, as 90% of men in the United States over the age of 80 have the problem. The good news is that an enlarged prostate usually doesnt present any serious medical concerns. The bad news is that it can lead to quality-of-life issues thanks to the side effects.
To determine whether your prostate may be enlarged, which is also called benign prostatic hyperplasia , Dr. Robert Cornell and our team pulled together five telltale signs.
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See Your Doctor If You Have Symptoms
If you cant urinate at all, you should get medical help right away. Sometimes this problem happens suddenly to men after they take certain cold or allergy medicines.
You should see your doctor if you have one or more of these symptoms:
- a weak urine stream
- unable to empty your bladder completely
- urinating eight or more times a day
- urine that has an unusual color or smell
- waking often to urinate when you sleep
What Questions Should I Ask My Healthcare Provider
If you have prostate cancer, you may want to ask your healthcare provider:
- Why did I get prostate cancer?
- What is my Gleason score? What is my Grade Group? What do these numbers mean for me?
- Has the cancer spread outside of the prostate gland?
- What is the best treatment for the stage of prostate cancer I have?
- If I choose active surveillance, what can I expect? What signs of cancer should I look out for?
- What are the treatment risks and side effects?
- Is my family at risk for developing prostate cancer? If so, should we get genetic tests?
- Am I at risk for other types of cancer?
- What type of follow-up care do I need after treatment?
- Should I look out for signs of complications?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Prostate cancer is a common cancer that affects males. Most prostate cancers grow slowly and remain in the prostate gland. For a small number, the disease can be aggressive and spread quickly to other parts of the body. Men with slow-growing prostate cancers may choose active surveillance. With this approach, you can postpone, and sometimes completely forego, treatments. Your healthcare provider can discuss the best treatment option for you based on your Gleason score and Group Grade.
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Prostate Cancer Screening Tests
Prostate cancer screening tests are preventive health screenings you can get through your doctor or at community screenings. These medical screenings are important because early detection by way of preventive screening of cancer can significantly increase your chances of survival. Additionally, prostate cancer does not always have early warning signs, making the screenings even more important.
The PSA Test checks the amount of prostate-specific antigen in your blood. It also appears in semen. The PSA test can detect whether the amount of the protein is high but other things such as enlarged prostate, without cancer, can also lead to a high PSA. This means that physical exam and possibly biopsy must be done before a diagnosis can be made. It is important to talk to your doctor about your PSA test in relation to your risk factors and overall health.
Roughly one of out nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point during their lifetime. If you notice any of these signs and symptoms listed above, or even if you don’t, it’s time to think about prostate cancer screening tests. Talk to your doctor about your risk.
Boron And Prostate Cancer
The research shows that consuming adequate boron levels are associated with a 64% reduced risk of prostate cancer.
However, obtaining protective levels of boron from food alone is difficult.
Nutritional research shows that the western diet is low in boron. This means that supplementation with low-cost boron could be an effective way for men to lower their risk of prostate cancer.
A 2001 study on the diet of prostate cancer patients that compared the diets of seventy-six prostate cancer patients with those of 7,651 men without prostate cancer.
The study found that the men who ingested the greatest amount of boron from their diets were 64% less likely to develop prostate cancer than those who consumed the least.
There have been further studies that have confirmed similar results. One such study compared the dietary intake of boron in ninety-five prostate cancer patients with that of 8,720 healthy male controls. That study was controlled for many other factors.
They too, found, that men with the highest boron consumption showed a 54% lower risk of prostate cancer compared to those with the lowest intake. This seems to confirm that a decrease in prostate cancer risk is directly proportional to the amount of boron that you consume.
Research into whether or not boron supplements affect prostate cancer found that oral administration of boron-containing supplements substantially decreased tumor size. It also lowered levels of prostate-specific antigen.
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Signs You Might Have Prostate Cancer And What You Should Do
Life Line Screening
Prostate cancer is a serious disease that affects men typically over the age of 50. It’s important to be able to recognize the signs of this potentially deadly cancer so you can take the necessary steps to monitor and treat it. Here are some of the common warning signs of prostate cancer.
The top three:
My Psa Has Almost Doubled To A 38 In A Few Years Should I Be Worried
Dr. Samadi: I say no and Ill tell you why. Assuming that your prostate exam is normal, the digital rectal doesnt surface any bumps, any ridges, I wouldnt worry, because the magic number is 4. The slight increase youre seeing is equal to getting a little bit older and your prostates getting a little bit bigger. But if youre below four, I can tell you theres an 85% chance that you do not have prostate cancer. This is why keeping a track on your PSA can be reassuring.
People should get their PSA at the age of 40 especially if they have a family history of prostate cancer. They should know ahead of time. If its over 1.5 at the age of 40, thats a big red flag. The number 4 is not always the benchmark. A major factor is how big your prostate is, because you may have an 80 gram prostate and thats why your PSA would be higher than someone whose prostate would be 60 grams. The size of your prostate has something to do with the PSA as well. Have you had any infections recently, do you have any inflammations or prostatitis? These are all extremely important and the bottom line is, if youre diagnosed with prostate cancer there are some low-risk ones that we can just observe, as long as its contained.
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What Does A Prostate Nodule Feel Like
Dr. Samadi: Your prostate typically would feel very soft and smooth like the palm of your hand. If it feels like a knuckle and its firm, thats a problem. We will get an MRI fusion biopsy in our center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York and ensure a precise diagnosis of prostate cancer, if that is the case.
Prostate Cancer Stages Based On Standard Scores
After calculating the TNM categories, your doctors will combine your TNM score, Gleason score and PSA levels to assign of a specific stage to your prostate cancer. Keep in mind that every case is different, and statistics and other recommendations are purely general guidelines.
| Stage 1 |
| 10 years | 15 years |
*Percentages factor in all stages of prostate cancer. Relative survival rate means the percentage of patients who live x number of years after their initial diagnoses, not after stoppage of treatment.
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When To Seek Medical Care
A person may have urinary symptoms unrelated to prostatitis that are caused by bladder problems, UTIs, or benign prostatic hyperplasia. Symptoms of prostatitis also can signal more serious conditions, including prostate cancer.
Men with symptoms of prostatitis should see a health care provider.
Men with the following symptoms should seek immediate medical care:
- complete inability to urinate
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Using Medication To Reduce Symptoms
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Signs And Symptoms Of Prostate Cancer
Most prostate cancers are found early, through screening. Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms. More advanced prostate cancers can sometimes cause symptoms, such as:
- Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night
- Blood in the urine or semen
- Trouble getting an erection
- Pain in the hips, back , chest , or other areas from cancer that has spread to bones
- Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet, or even loss of bladder or bowel control from cancer pressing on the spinal cord
Most of these problems are more likely to be caused by something other than prostate cancer. For example, trouble urinating is much more often caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia , a non-cancerous growth of the prostate. Still, its important to tell your health care provider if you have any of these symptoms so that the cause can be found and treated, if needed. Some men might need more tests to check for prostate cancer.