Showing posts with label Prostate Cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prostate Cancer. Show all posts

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Prostate Cancer - What is it and Why Should I Care?

The Basics:

The prostate is a walnut sized sex gland located just beneath the bladder in males. It surrounds as portion of the urethra and is just above the pelvic wall muscles. The primary function of the prostate is to provide some of the fluid which accompanies ejaculation. Prostate cancer generally occurs in men over 50, but early screening from 40 on is recommended in particular because during the early stages of the disease there are usually no symptoms. African American men are disproportionately affected by prostate cancer for many socioeconomic reasons and are 2.5 times more likely to die from prostate cancer than white men.

If there are symptoms present related to the disease they can include: frequent urination at night; difficulty starting or stopping urine; blood in the urine or painful urination; and/or sexual dysfunction. The primary treatments for the disease are surgery or radiation therapy and, if caught in time, usually the cancer can be removed and/or is not fatal.

What You May Not Know:

  • Over the past 20 years the survival rate for prostate cancer has gone up from 67% to 97%
  • The rate of prostate cancer is higher for African American men than any other ethnic group
  • Prostate Cancer is the most common form of cancer, other than skin cancer, among men in the United States, and it is second only to lung cancer as a cause of cancer-related death among men.
  • Screening for the disease involves a simple blood test and physical examination and can be done in about 10 minutes

What You Need to Know:

1. One in four Black Men is at Lifetime risk of prostate cancer.
It is the single most diagnosed non-skin cancer among Black Men. 30,770 will be diagnosed this year alone.

2. Cancer of the prostate is the second-leading cause of death in Black men.
An estimated 5,505 will die from prostate cancer this year.

3. Black men have the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world: 1 in 4 men.
Black men also are 2.5 times most likely to die from the disease than Caucasian men. Rates in the U.S. are 60% higher among African American men, and the mortality rate is 2.5 times that of white men. Studies are being done on potential differences in physiology, diet, and access to health care. Rates of prostate cancer in the U.S. are 60% higher among African American men, and the mortality rate is 2.45 times that of white men. Studies are currently being done on potential differences in physiology, diet, and access to health care.

4. The changes of getting prostate cancer are 1 in 3 if you have just one close relative with the disease (father, brother).
The risk is 83% with two close relatives. With three, it is almost (97%).

5. There are no noticeable symptoms of the disease while it is still in the early stages.
This is why screening is so critical.

6. Obesity and high cholesterol levels are strongly associated with advanced stages of the disease.
Men with a body mass index over 32.5 have about 1/3 greater risk of dying from the disease.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Prostate and Cancer - Fundamental Things You Should Know Immediately About the Cancer

The prostate gland lies just under the bladder and surrounds the urethra. Prostate produce semen fluid that nourishes sperm. In young men, gland prostate sized like Walnut, then the gland would enlarge with age. Three common disorder affect the prostate are: benign prostatic, prostate cancer, and prostatitis.

What exactly Prostate Cancer Is?

it is more accurately described as a cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. This occurs when prostate cells mutate and begin to grow out of control. These cells may spread from the prostate to other body parts, especially bones and lymph nodes.

Prostate cancer has become one of the most frequent types of cancer in male. Commonly, this cancer found in elder men because the risk of the disease are increased by age.

Large number of this cancer are diagnosed in men aged fifty or above. Since the disease usually grows very slow and could take decades to produce symptoms, many men with prostate cancer die without ever knowing that the cancer was present.

What Causes the disease?

The exact cause of prostate cancer remains a mystery. Scientists and researchers estimated this cancer occurs due to a combination of several factors, such as derivatives, ethnicity, hormones,diet or food and environment.

Signs and Symptoms

In early stage, prostate cancer usually cause no symptoms. These symptoms do not developed until the cancer grows large then compress urethra to partially block the flow of urine. It will cause pain and difficulty urinating, erectile dysfunction and other symptoms. Worse, in advance stage it may cause bloody urine or sudden inability to urinate.

Indah Amisani is a dentist which has been interested in writing articles about cancer since her neighbor died because of cancer and also her grandfather was diagnosed with the disease. She read medical text book a lot, do searching, browsing and then wrap it in several articles.

Foods That Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

When asked what they fear about getting older most men agree that heart disease and prostate cancer are the top two.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men. A quarter of a million cases are diagnosed each year. And it causes over 40,000 deaths annually.

If men would like to live into their eighties and beyond they must protect themselves form this cancer. In the case of prostate cancer the best defense is a good offense.

Despite the high number of diagnosed cases and deaths from this cancer, there is good news. And that news centers around two powerful cancer prevention and fighting foods, tomato paste and green tea.

Tomatoes and Lycopenes

The numbers are impressive! Research shows men who frequently eat foods containing tomatoes tomato paste are as much as one third less likely to develop prostate cancer. Men who eat tomato product at least ten times a week have a 34 percent reduction in severe metastatic prostate cancer.

Why?

It appears a substance in tomatoes, lycopene is a very powerful antioxidant that helps retard or reverse cells in the prostate that promote cancer.

It appears geographical location has little to do with the likelihood of a man developing the caner of the prostate. However, the areas of the world with the lowest of severe or metastatic prostate cancer are Mediterranean countries, in particular Greece and Italy. In these two countries tomato based foods occupy a high percentage of their diet.

Green Tea

Studies have shown that men who's diets include large amounts of green tea appear to have lower rates of cancer. The active component in green tea that retard cancer is the hydroxy 8 molecule. Scientists agree this molecule is the most powerful antioxidant discovered, even more powerful than vitamin E or C.

One of the problems with the hydroxy 8 molecule is it is highly unstable. For a man to receive full benefits he would need to drink up to 50 cups of tea per day. Most supplements on the market subject the molecule to freezing and dehydration which compromises its effectiveness.

Bottom Line

#1 - Add tomato and tomato paste products to your diet.

#2 - Drink green tea. Also, be very careful what marketing literature your believe form supplement manufactures about their green tea supplements.

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