Pay Attention to your Prostate

What the heck is a prostate gland?

Only men have a prostate gland, which starts out as the size and shape of a walnut, but grows bigger as you age. It is located underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra. Its main job is to help make semen.

 

How do you get prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer occurs when some of the prostate cells reproduce far more rapidly than normal, resulting in a tumor. Prostate cancer usually grows slowly initially, and that’s why early detection is key. But if those untreated cancer cells spread and invade other parts of the body like the bones or lymph nodes, then the cancer metastasizes and at that point, the cancer becomes difficult, if not impossible, to treat.

 

How do you know if you have it?

Unfortunately, not everyone experiences symptoms. Many times, prostate cancer is first detected by a doctor during a routine check-up. However, there are some signs you can look out for, most related to urinary or sexual funtion, such as:

-A need to urinate frequently, especially at night.

-Difficulty starting urination or holding it back.

-Weak or interrupted urine flow.

-Painful or burning urination

-Difficulty having an erection.

-Painful ejaculation.

-Blood in urine or semen.

-Frequent pain or stiffness in lower back, hips, or upper thighs.

 

Some sobering stats:

-Prostate Cancer is the second most common cancer diagnosed in men in the United States, second only to skin cancer.

-If detected early, those diagnosed with prostate cancer have a 98% survival rate. If detected late, there is just a 26% survival rate beyond 5 years.

 

What you need to do and when to do it:

-When you turn 50, schedule an appointment with your MD and talk about scheduling an annual PSA screening, which is a simple blood test used to determine the amount of Protate Specific Antigen (PSA) concentration in the bloodstream.

-African-American men and men with a family history are 2.5x more likely to get prostate cancer, so you should have that conversation with your doctor earlier – at age 45 at least.

 

The moral of this story?  Pay Attention to Your Prostate!  It’s there, it’s weird, but it’s not going anywhere, so get used to it!

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Photo Credit: Image Point Fr / Shutterstock.com