Prostate Cancer Caregiver Podcast Series
We are proud to announce a new podcast series geared toward helping give support, hope and guidance to prostate cancer caregivers. The goal of this Prostate Cancer Caregiver Podcast Series is to help others connect with a diverse group of people who have felt the impact of prostate cancer in their lives and empower them on their journey.
Prostate Cancer: A Guide For Aging Men
Prostate cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed cancers in the world, despite it only being diagnosed in males . In fact, more than 70 percent of men over the age of 80 have some quantity of cancer cells in their prostate.
Its so common that it sometimes doesnt go diagnosed until autopsies are performed, though that doesnt mean the cancer is the cause of death. On the contrary, the overall prognosis for men diagnosed with prostate cancer is as positive as you can get when talking about the dreaded c word. The five-year survival rates for the disease are close to 100 percent, especially when talking about prostate cancer that is caught early on in the processbefore it spreads.
The five-year survival rates for the disease are close to 100 percent, especially when talking about prostate cancer that is caught early on in the processbefore it spreads.
Nevertheless, prostate cancer is serious business, and the best way to handle a diagnosis is to be informed. Lets take a look at the frequency at which its diagnosed, how youre tested for it, how it can affect your daily life, and what we can do to try and prevent the disease.
Average Age of Prostate Cancer Diagnosis
Do Women Have A Prostate
The fact is that prostate is not so common in every woman. Studies reveal that the gland that use to surround urthera use to be present in almost 14 to 25 women. There are so many interesting and useful details to know about female prostate issues. Go through the article below to collect complete information about your health related to prostate.
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How Is Prostate Cancer Treated
Your treatment will depend on what kind of cancer cells you have, how far they have spread, your age and general health, and your preferences.
You and your doctor may decide to manage your cancer with active surveillance or to treat it with surgery or radiation.
If you are over age 80 or have other serious health problems, like heart disease, you may choose not to have treatments to cure your cancer. Instead, you can just have treatments to manage your symptoms. This is called watchful waiting.
Choosing treatment for prostate cancer can be confusing. Talk with your doctor to choose the treatment thatâs best for you.
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Prostate Exams: Do You Really Need One
Prostate cancer, although the second most common cancer in men in the United States, is extremely treatable when it is detected in its early stages.
Recently, there has been debates in the medical community about whether or not the benefits of a prostate exam outweigh the risks. We asked Jeffery Spencer, MD, a Urologist at Finger Lakes Urology Institute for his expert opinion on prostate exams and prostate cancer screenings.
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We Flirt To Get What We Want
Using sex appeal as a leg-up is a common, yet overused habit for a lot of women. Some may suggest it works best when getting pulled over, asking for a raise, or trying to get something you want. Its definitely frowned upon among many, but not always. In Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom, Catherine Hakim goes into detail about why women should use their beauty and sex appeal to get ahead in life. She says an attractive person is more likely to land a job and be promoted.
One study in Italy has shown that beauty is, in fact, a large factor in getting a job. Out of 1,000 resumes sent out, all the same with minor changes to names and addresses and a different photo women perceived as attractive received a 54 percent call-back rate, while unattractive women received a whopping 7 percent call back rate. Wow, and they say beauty is only skin deep.
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Common Treatment Options For Prostate Cancer
References:
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Purpose Of Female Prostate
Now moving further from the argument of do women have prostates we must know what the function of these prostates in the women is. These PSA due to these prostates can be the indicator of the prostate cancer and can also indicate the presence of breast cancer.
So this was all you needed to know about the women prostates.
Ladies: Check Your Prostates
Okayyou may not have one physically, but if you are married to a man or care about other males in your life, you might as well resign yourself to becoming an advocate for this small and mysterious part of the male anatomy. Men are often their own worst enemy when it comes to their healthcare, making a strong dose of feminine persistence just what the doctor ordered. Heres an introduction to the number one mens health issue that might be affecting someone you love.
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Screening And Selection Of Studies
The final list of search findings will be independently screened by two reviewers . The titles and abstracts of the selected studies will initially be screened for inclusion and exclusion in the review. Studies that are selected after the screening of the titles and abstract will undergo full-text reading by the same independent reviewers. The selection for data extraction will be done by a careful comparison of papers that successfully passed the screening stage to the established inclusion and exclusion criteria. Search findings that present disagreements between the independent reviewers , during the screening and selection stages, will be resolved through discussions with the third reviewer . Kappa coefficient of 0.6 or more would be used to establish an agreement between the two independent reviewers during the screening and selection phase . Reference management will be done by EW.
What Is The Actual Purpose Of Prostate In Female Body
Many experts believe that prostate in female body use to release some kind of fluid. This fluid appears thick, scanty and has whitish color while containing PSA. Note that, female ejaculation is actually not a part of orgasm and frequency of this has be estimated somewhere around 10 to 54 percent.
During few recent years, medical professionals have taken help from MRIs to detect the presence as well as functionality of female prostate. However, the research should be continued ahead to make ideas more clear but the basic understanding have obtained a boost with this initiative. You might be aware of the fact that prostate gland in males use to store infections inside body. Several studies around the world reveal that Skenes glands also serve the similar kind of function.
Now, it is already clear that skenes glands use to release some fluid during sexual activity and it use to be of watery in appearance. As per one detailed study published in 2007, this fluid that is excreted into the tract from Skene s Duct use to be consistent with the prostate fluid but it is not observed to have consistency with urine.
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Does Female Prostate Cancer Really Exist
Yes and no. Technically, you cannot develop prostate cancer without an actual prostate. However, the Skene glands have been known to foster cancerous growths, adversely affecting your reproductive system, urethra, and bladder.
Skene glands produce an ejaculate protein called prostate-specific antigen , which, when found at elevated levels in men, could point to the presence of cancerous cells. This explains why the PSA hormone also shows up in women diagnosed with breast cancer. Once they receive radiation therapy, their PSA levels drop. As a result, many doctors closely monitor PSA levels during cancer treatment.
Thats why the answer to Can women get prostate cancer? is somewhat contradictory. Cancer in the Skene glands can mimic prostate cancer in men. Fortunately, this disease is extremely rare and comprises only 0.003% of female genital cancers. It typically affects older, post-menopausal women and produces very small tumors. Treatment might include radiation therapy and removal of the glands.
He Can Take Steps To Reduce The Risk
Some research suggests that eating a low-fat diet, especially a diet low in animal fat, can help reduce the chances of developing prostate cancer. Cutting back on dairy might be beneficial, too. Another Harvard study found that men who ate the most milk, cheese, and yogurt each day had the highest risk. Scaling back on the booze may also be helpful: One Canadian study found that just two drinks a day could increase a man’s risk by 23%.
In case you were wondering, having lots of sex doesn’t make a man any more likely to develop prostate cancerdespite long-standing rumors to the contrary. Ditto for getting a vasectomy: A study published last September found no link between getting snipped and a man’s risk of this disease.
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Everything You Should Know But Wouldnt Ask
Men and their families should not be embarrassed if they do not know what the prostate is, where it is located, or what it does. I cannot remember my high school biology teacher, Brother Patrickor anyone elseever discussing the prostate and its function, so I wasnt too astounded when I learned that in a poll conducted by the PCF a few years ago 60 percent of women responded by saying they knew they had a prostate but couldnt identify its location. Ding! Wrong answer.
The prostate is an important part of the male reproductive and sexual anatomy. The small gland, about the size and the shape of a walnut, is tucked deep inside the lower extremities beneath the bladder, above the testicles, and in front of the rectumwhere it is clearly out of site and out of mind. Its role in life is to create protective seminal fluids that mix with sperm cells and help them along their way. Its elegantly small, simple, and unobtrusiveuntil something goes wrong.
What Types Of Treatment Are Recommended
The stage of the tumor and ones age at diagnosis may significantly guide treatment options. Because many forms of prostate cancer are slow growing, very early-stage tumors may warrant careful observation, known as active surveillance, rather than aggressive treatment.
When treatment is required, the urologist may recommend either radiation therapy or the surgical removal of the prostate, known as a radical prostatectomy. Radiation therapy can take several forms, with the most common being an external beam of radiation to target the prostate and kill cancer cells. The most common form of external radiation is image modulated radiation therapy . IMRT generally involves five treatments per week for eight weeks.
A small number of cancer centers offer another form of external radiation known as proton therapy. Proton therapy is controversial4 because its cost greatly exceeds that of IMRT, and numerous experts have argued that there is insufficient data to prove that it is more effective or less toxic.
For patients who do not want to undergo repeated treatments, referred to as fractions, brachytherapy provides a highly effective option. Brachytherapy involves a single, surgical insertion of radioactive seeds into the cancerous portions of the prostate.
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To Screen Or Not To Screen
Due to concerns about over treatment and raising unnecessary anxiety, there has been increased debate over the importance of annual screenings for prostate cancer using the prostate-specific antigen test and a digital rectal exam . This past March the New England Journal of Medicine published two conflicting papers on the value of screening, based on studies conducted in North America and England. Following much analysis, many medical experts agree that the larger study, conducted over a much longer time span supports the idea that early detection and treatment does indeed save lives. The PSA test, even with its limitations, remains an important tool in the diagnosis and the treatment of prostate cancer.
In a follow-up commentary, Patrick C. Walsh, MD, of Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions wrote: What is the take-home message? If you are the kind of person who doesnt wear a seatbelt nor goes regularly to the dentist or your family doctor for a
checkup and are not worried about dying from prostate cancer, do not undergo PSA testing. On the other hand, if you are a healthy man age 55 to 69 who does not want to die from prostate cancer, the European trial provides conclusive evidence that PSA testing can save your life.
Are You Seeing Prostate Cancer Becoming More Prevalent In Younger Patients
Its pretty rare. Its less common that men in their 40s have prostate cancer, but, we also are very rarely screening them. The young men who come in to be screened tend to have one of those high-risk features. They most likely had a father who had prostate cancer, so theyre nervous about it. Or theyre African-American, and theyve been flagged by their health care providers.
If youre young, your quality of life is even more important to you right now. We know that, if diagnosed with low-grade prostate cancer, a person will need treatment at some time in life. If we can delay treatmentwhich could negatively impact urinary or sexual functionby several years, then we should do that and obviously discuss that there is a low but possible chance of metastasis developing during that time.
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Active Surveillance Or Watchful Waiting
Active surveillance means that you will be watched closely by your doctor. If the cancer starts to grow more quickly, you will need to have other treatment, such as surgery. Your regular checkups may include digital rectal exams, PSA tests, and biopsies.
Watchful waiting also means that you will be closely watched by your doctor. But the goal of watchful waiting is to treat symptoms that cause problems rather than to cure the cancer. Men who are older and men who have other serious health problems, like heart disease, and arenât well enough to have surgery or radiation often choose watchful waiting.
The Role Of The Prostate:
- Secretion of prostate fluid is an important component of semen, why sperm activity and physiological functions play an important role in fertility.
- It is rich in 5 reductase, which can convert testosterone into more active dihydrotestosterone and maintain normal physiological functions of men.
- The prostate surrounds the male urethra and participates in the formation of the urethral sphincter, which can help men control normal urination and hold back urine.
- There are urethra and 2 ejaculatory ducts in the prostate parenchyma. When the muscles of the prostate and seminal vesicle glands contract, the substances in the vas deferens and seminal vesicle glands can enter the posterior urethra through the ejaculatory ducts to maintain the normal ejaculation function of men.
- There are clusters of nerves and blood vessels around the prostate, which can control the erection of the penis. However, if the nerves around the prostate are damaged due to diseases, it will cause erectile dysfunction in men.
In young men, acute and chronic prostatitis are prone to occur. According to statistics, about 50% of young men suffer from prostatitis.
For elderly men, although the incidence of prostatitis has decreased, 50% of prostate hyperplasia and prostate cancer occur.
Cancer occurs because of the abnormal and disorderly growth of cells. When cancer cells lose the mutual restraint between normal cells, they no longer have the functions of normal cells.
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When To Get A Prostate Cancer Screening
A prostate screening can help your doctor find prostate cancer early, but youll need to decide if the benefits of the exam outweigh the risks. Have a discussion with your doctor about prostate cancer screenings.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that men ages 55 to 69 decide for themselves whether to undergo a prostate-specific antigen screening test, after talking it over with their doctor.
They recommend against screening for men at or above the age of 70.
The American Cancer Society strongly recommends that no one be screened without discussion of the uncertainties, risks, and potential benefits of prostate cancer screening.
They give these specific recommendations for the date at which these discussions with a healthcare provider should take place:
- Age 50 for men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and are expected to live at least 10 more years.
- Age 45 for men at high risk of developing prostate cancer. This includes African Americans and men who have a first-degree relative diagnosed with prostate cancer at an early age .
- Age 40 for men at even higher risk .
You should also speak with your doctor about a prostate exam if youre experiencing symptoms of a prostate problem, such as frequent or painful urination or blood in your urine.
After this discussion, if you decide to get a prostate cancer screening, the ACS and the American Urologic Association recommend getting a prostate-specific antigen blood test.