Prostrate cancer is mostly observed in males who are over and above the age of 45. The virus can take years to activate inside the human body. Once activated, the virus begins to multiply rapidly and is a threat to the survival of the person, if its growth is not checked upon time. The fact that it has got no known symptoms makes it more difficult to treat the cancer on time, and hence makes the disease deadlier than ever.

Obesity as the cause of prostrate cancer:

The symptoms of advanced prostrate cancer are majorly observed in individuals who:

• Are obese.
• Consume diets rich in Carcinogen (meat cooked at high temperature).
• Consume a lot of fat especially from non-vegetarian diets.

High amounts of fat increases the chances of catching the disease. The voluminous Fat present in the body increases the production of testosterone in the body which in turn is responsible for activating the cancer cells.

Genetic Causes:

• Those men who are related to people suffering from prostrate cancer also have a very high chance of catching the disease.
• Those men who are related to women suffering from breast cancer also have a slight chance of getting infected.

Other Causes:

African-American men and African-Caribbean men have the highest chances of developing the disease than men of other ethnicity. The reason for this is not known, but if you are an African reading this, you should get checked by a doctor as soon as possible.

Common misconceptions about prostrate cancer:

Activities like smoking, drinking, circumcision, infertility, masturbation, an active sex life, use of tobacco etc. and diseases like prostrate infection, inflammation of the prostrate gland etc. have no scientific link with prostrate cancer. It is a serious misconception among people who treat them as one of the causes of the cancer.
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Prostate cancer is initially suspected when a PSA blood test shows abnormal results or when a hard lump is felt on the prostate gland during a routine digital rectal examination. A biopsy of your prostate gland is then done and the diagnosis of prostate cancer is made when cancerous prostatic cells are identified in the biopsy tissue.

Prostate Cancer Warning Signs

If the cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. At later stages, the following warning signs may be present:

• Frequent urge to urinate, especially at night
• Frequent urination in small amounts
• Incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Dribbling of urine
• Difficulty starting urination
• Reduced force of the urine stream
• Pain during urination
• Pain during sex
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs

Detection and Prevention

If you detect the cancer early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes. Therefore, beginning at age 40, all men should possible undergo yearly screening for prostate cancer.

Although your family history and hereditary factors increase your chances of getting prostate cancer, a lot of it depends on your life style habits like smoking, exposure to heavy metals like Cadmium, and eating habits. You need to avoid smoking, minimize or avoid the intake of foods such as red meat and saturated fats, and increase the intake of vegetables, fruits, soybean products, tomato products, and Vitamin E to have a healthy prostate.

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Treatment Options

The treatment methods that have been traditionally used include Watchful waiting (without any treatment), Surgery (radical prostatectomy), and External beam therapy (EBT). However, there are modern treatment methods developed and used in the last 10-15 years. These newer methods are more effective, and minimize the unpleasant side effects you may face with the traditional therapies.

One of these methods, Radiation Therapy is often used to treat pancreatic cancer, mostly in advanced cases and older patients (to avoid surgery).There are several different forms of radiation therapy, such as external beam, brachytherapy or seed implantation, high dose interstitial radiation, and several forms of combined therapy.

Seed Implantation or Brachytheraphy

In seed implantation or Brachytheraphy, radiation oncologists place (under anesthesia) small radioactive seeds, about the size of a grain of rice, into your prostate. This is done by inserting needles containing the seeds, using ultrasound guidance, through the skin of your perineum (the area between the scrotum and anus). These seeds irradiate and kill the cancer cells, and remain in your prostate for a number of months. Either radioactive Iodine (I -125) or palladium (Pd-103) is used for the radioactive seeds.

Seed implantation is an effective treatment when the cancer is localized to the prostate, requires no surgical incision, and requires a short recovery time. It can be an outpatient procedure and most men go home the same day. Also, you can return to your normal activities a few days after treatment. The biggest advantage is that two to three times as much radiation can given to you compared to external beam therapy, with very less radiation affecting the surrounding tissues. The success rate is often very high because of these reasons.

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Thousands of new cases are diagnosed across the world every year. Prostate cancer, like other prostate problems, commonly occurs in men aged 50 and older. Sometimes men may feel the symptoms themselves or sometimes their doctors detect prostate problems during routine examinations. Urologists, who are experts in diseases of the urinary tract, diagnose and treat prostate related problems.

Typically, prostate cancer does not give off any obvious warning signs. Another confusing aspect is that most of the possible warning signs are very similar to the signs for other prostate health problems that are non-cancerous in nature. Also, prostate cancer warning signs are greatly affected by ageing. As you grow older, the prostate continues to grow bigger until it became troublesome. Normally you face problems during urination as an enlarged prostate prevents the proper flow of urine.

Prostate Cancer Warning Signs

The following are some common prostate cancer warning signs:

• Frequent urge to urinate, especially at night
• Incomplete emptying of the bladder
• Dribbling of urine
• Difficulty starting urination
• Reduced force of the urine stream
• Frequent urination in small amounts
• Pain during urination
• Pain during sex
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs

Treatment and Prevention

If you detect the cancer early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes.

Although there is most likely a hereditary factor to your chances of getting prostate cancer, a lot of it depends on your life style-related habits like smoking, exposure to heavy metals like Cadmium, and eating habits. You need to avoid smoking, minimize or avoid the intake of foods such as red meat and saturated fats, and take more of vegetables and fruits to have a healthy prostate.

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Symptoms

Prostatitis typically occurs when you are between the ages of 30-50 but can occur when you are older. The symptoms are usually severe and sudden, and can include the following:

• Frequent urination, especially at night
• Painful urination
• Weak flow of urine
• Muscle and joint pain
• Pain between the penis and the rectum
• Pain during sex
• Fever and chills
• Lower back pain

Types of Prostatitis

1. Acute Bacterial Prostatitis

This condition develops suddenly with severe symptoms and is caused due to a bacterial infection of the prostate. You need to seek urgent medical attention in case of any symptoms. Your doctor can prescribe medications that can cure the problem.

2. Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis

This is a chronic but rare condition that develops gradually and is caused by a bacterial infection of the urinary tract. You doctor will advise you to take antibiotics for a long time for the situation to improve. However, this infection may recur again and is normally difficult to treat.

3. Chronic Abacterial Prostatitis

This condition is also known as Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS). You may have no infection but have extensive pain in the pelvic region for many months. This situation also develops gradually and is hard to treat. It mostly requires a combination of treatment methods.

4. Prostatodynia (pain in the prostate gland)

In this type of inflammation of the prostate, bacteria is again not the cause as in case of CPPS. It is a very painful condition, in which the symptoms go away from your body only to recur again without warning. The urine and the fluid from the prostate usually don’t reveal any known infecting agent. Doctors may prescribe you antibiotics and certain other drugs that relax the muscles of the prostate but the success rate is generally very low.

Long Term Effects

Acute bacterial prostatitis can result in the spread of bacteria into your blood stream, which can in turn result in septic shock. Septic shock is dangerously low blood pressure that occurs as a result of full-body infection. Puss or abscess can also form in your prostate as a long-term result of infection.

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Symptoms

The most common symptoms of prostate cancer are the following:

• Difficulty and pain while urinating
• Passing urine often, particularly at night
• Blood in the urine
• Pain in the lower back, hips, and thighs
• Bone pain in the spine, pelvis, or ribs
• Problems in sexual intercourse

Advanced Prostate Cancer

If the cancer is detected early, it is easy to treat and can be cured. However, in the advanced stages treatment is difficult, and it is incurable if the disease has spread to organs such as bones and lymph nodes. When the cancer reaches the end stages, the person may suffer weight loss, pain in various parts of the body such as lower back, hips, and thighs. Treatment in the advanced stage aims generally at reducing pain and improving the quality of life.

Treatment Options

A multidisciplinary team of doctors, which includes a urologist, radiotherapy specialist, hormone therapy specialist, chemotherapy specialist, surgeons, and oncologists help you in deciding the course of your treatment. Before deciding on the type of treatment, various factors related to the patient have to be taken into consideration, which include:

• Your Age
• Overall health
• The extent of spread of the cancer
• The symptoms that are visible
• Possible side effects of the treatment

Hormonal therapy is the preferred method of treatment in advanced prostate cancer. Chemotherapy may be used if hormone therapy is not effective in controlling the disease. Surgery to remove the prostate gland is not a viable option in case of advanced cases. However, a trans-urethral resection of the prostate can relieve problems with passing urine in advanced cases. Painkillers may be given in some cases and Radio therapy may be used to relieve bone pain in others.

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It differs from most other cancers in the body in that small areas of cancer within the prostate may not grow or cause any problems or syptoms for many years. As a result, prostate cancer in your body may be detected only after the cancer has spread to the other organs.

However, the survival rate of prostate cancer can be very high if the disease is caught in its early stages. But it is very difficult to diagnose prostate cancer in time as the tumors have to be big enough to be noticeable. Therefore, you might not be able to catch prostate cancer at Stage 1. But if you pay attention to your body, your doctor may be able to detect it as it goes into Stage 2.

Early symptoms

The five early symptoms of prostate cancer that will help you detect the disease are explained below:/

1. Urinary Difficulties

The first symptoms of prostate cancer are urinary difficulties. This is because as the tumor grows it presses against your urethra. When this happens, a man will experience a frequent urge to urinate, trouble urinating despite the frequent urge, and a very low urine flow.

2. The Presence of Blood

If there is presence of blood in your urine or semen, it needs to be taken seriously. It is a definite indication of a serious problem.

3. Erectile Dysfunction

As the prostate gland is a sexual organ, erectile dysfunction may indicate prostate cancer though not necessarily so. If you are experiencing erectile dysfunction, discuss it with your doctor to make sure prostate cancer can be fully ruled out.

4. Swelling in the Legs

Swelling in the legs is an early symptom of prostate cancer. This is because when the disease starts to spread from one part of the body to another, it will spread into the lymph nodes. As a result, the unhealthy lymph nodes will start to accumulate in your legs and cause swelling.

5. Pelvic Discomfort

Pelvic discomfort is an important symptom of prostate cancer. This is because, when the disease affects the lymph nodes, it can cause them to press up against the nerves in your pelvis, resulting in pain.

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The various risk factors are explained in the followin section:

1. Age

If you are 50 years or older, you are at a greater risk of being affected by prostate cancer. More than 70 percent of the cancer has been diagnosed in men over the age of 65.

2. Genetic Factors

5 percent to 10 percent of all prostate cancers can be attributed to an inherited DNA change, such as the cancer susceptibility gene. This may be a reason for a higher risk of inherited prostate cancer in Afro-American men than in Caucasian men.

3. Family History of Prostate Cancer

Having a father or brother, or several relatives who had this cancer at a young age increases your chances of being affected by prostate cancer to a great extent.

4. Race

Prostate cancer is widely found among men in the United States, is quite widespread in Europe, and the least found in South and East Asia. Also, it is more prevalent among the African Americans than the Africans and the Caucasian- American men. Japanese and Chinese men, who are one of the least affected, are greatly affected by the cancer when they migrate to the US due to change in life style and food habits.

5. Diet

The more red meat and high-fat diet you consume, the more susceptible you are to developing prostate cancer. Foods rich in fiber content, soy proteins, and Vitamin A from plant sources reduces the risk while Vitamin A from animal sources increases the risk of the cancer. Obesity also increases the chances of developing hormone-dependant tumors like the prostate.

6. Exposure to Substances

To a small extent, Cadmium is suspected to be a risk when it interacts with Zinc, which is found in the prostate. People who work in the welding industry, make batteries etc. are exposed to Cadmium. Cigarette smoking may also increase your chances of developing this cancer.

7. STD and Vasectomy

Having had a vasectomy or a sexually transmitted disease can pose a small risk to you developing prostate cancer though this is still not established.

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Smoking may help the progress of prostate cancer in several ways in your body. Smoking influences the progression of prostate cancer through a process that affects certain genes in the body and is also likely to alter your hormonal balance by creating an environment conducive to tumor growth. It can increase the amount of steroid hormones called androgens, which can fuel the growth of malignant prostate cells in your body. Also, tobacco is a source of cadmium, a heavy metal that interacts with zinc found in the prostate, which leads to prostate cancer. This human carcinogenic metal inhibits DNA repair in your body, which allows cancer cells to mutate and multiply.

Several research have shown that men under age 65 those who smoke a pack of cigarettes a day for 40 years face a 100 percent increased risk of developing the more aggressive forms of prostate cancer as compared to nonsmokers. Also, compared to nonsmokers, current smokers face a 40 percent increase in the risk of prostate cancer.

In addition, smoking cigarettes could lead to severe side-effects in your body when undergoing treatment for prostate cancer, just as in case of cancers of the head and neck, cervix, lung and breast.. Patients who smoke during treatment normally develop acute gastrointestinal side-effects such as diarrhea, much more severe than nonsmokers. This highlights the importance of quitting smoking before starting radiation therapy.

However, on the positive side smoking doesn’t appear to impact long-term side effects on your gastrointestinal system or on your urogenital system. Research has shown that while the risk of developing prostate cancer increases with the number of packs of cigarettes and the number of years you have smoked, this risk reduces to near that of nonsmokers within about 10 years of your quitting smoking.

Here is a great article on Smoking and Prostate Cancer.

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These problems are diagnosed and treated by a trained Urologist. Increasing the intake of fruits and vegetables and reducing the consumption of red meat and saturated fats can prevent prostate problems to a great extent.

Non-Cancerous Prostate Problems

The following are some of the most common non-cancerous prostate problems, their symptoms, and treatment options:

1. Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

This problem occurs when the prostate gets enlarged. The prostate then blocks the urethra making it difficult to urinate. It causes a person to have a frequent urge to urinate and may cause urine to dribble. You need to see a doctor who will then conduct a rectal examination to diagnose the problem.

If your condition is not causing any problems, the doctor may advise annual checkups only. Treatment will be prescribed only if your situation gets worse later on. There are medications that can cause you prostate to shrink or can relax the muscles near the prostate. However, these medicines can cause side effects such as sexual problems, headaches, dizziness, or fatigue.

Surgery is usually advised only when the medications are not effective. Radio waves, Microwaves, and Lasers are used to treat BPH-related problems.

2. Acute Prostatitis

This condition is caused due to a bacterial infection of the prostate. It causes fever, chills, pain in the lower back, pain between legs, or pain while urinating. A host of medications are available to treat Prostatitis, but hey will be prescribed by your doctor. Do not take over the counter drugs.

3. Chronic Bacterial Prostatitis

This is a chronic condition caused by a bacterial infection. You may need to take antibiotics for a long time for the situation to improve. Even then, this infection may recur again and a recurrence is usually quite difficult to treat.

4. Chronic Abacterial Prostatitis

This condition is also known as Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome (CPPS). It causes pain in the lower back, at the tip of the penis, or between the legs. You may also have pain during sex or may need to urinate frequently. This situation is also hard to treat and may require more than one form of treatment.

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