Prostate

Pass It On!

Last weekend, I gave some presentations at a church and the speaker before me was presenting on men’s health. Boy did he give some good information I want to pass on. Now, if you are a woman, please keep reading because women can really influence men’s lives when it comes to health. This is definitely one area that a little influence from a woman wouldn’t hurt.  I am talking about the prostate. (Please be aware that is organ is usually mispronounced “prostrate”, but the correct way to pronounce it is with no “r” sound.)

As most of you know, I firmly believe in lifestyle as the best prevention, but once you do cross over the line to sickness, the best thing to do is to detect it early. Many of us weren’t aware that our lifestyles had any impact on our health so it is very important to get our regular checkups. Yes, for men this means that little test for the prostate gland since the projected risk for a 50 year old male being diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime is about 10%.

Some of the interesting facts I learned that I think you should all be aware of are that the day before your test, do not in any way disturb this gland. Do not participate in heavy activities of any sort, yes, this does include sex of any type. If there is any activity of the prostate gland, a false positive can be reported on the test. That would not be fun at all to go through. Also, when you have the test, be certain that the test is two-fold, a blood test and a digital rectal exam (DRE). Another very important way to avoid a false positive is to make certain the doctor gets the blood test first. The prostate is stimulated during the DRE and if the blood test is done afterward, it will pick up that activity and a false positive can be noted.

Also, when you get the results, ask your doctor what the numbers are, don’t just rely on your doctor’s word that they are fine. For African-American males the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) number should be less than 2.0 and for all other males the PSA number should be less than 4.0. If you have any other questions about prostate tests or want more information, please call your primary care physician.

Symptoms of prostate cancer may include…

s Frequent urination (especially at night)

s Weak urinary stream

s Inability to urinate

s Interruption of urinary stream (stopping and starting)

s Pain or burning on urination

s Blood in the urine

s Pain in the lower back, pelvis, or upper thighs

By all means, please don’t wait to get checked until you have any of these symptoms. Prostate cancer spreads easily to the bones and once it does so it is very difficult to control and life expectancy is significantly shortened. Before prostate cancer metastasizes to the bone, it can be treated with a much better recovery.

Prostate exams should begin in men aged 50 and older and those over 45 who are in high-risk group, such as African-Americans.