2008/10/14

Prostate Cancer - Are You At Risk?

By: Steff Lim

Prostate cancer is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the condition in which cells of the prostate reproduce more rapidly than in normal prostate, creating swelling or a tumour. It is not the same thing as Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH) or Prostatitis and having one of these disease won't lead to prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men after lung cancer and is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among American men. Prostate cancer is also the most common non-skin cancer in men. affecting about one in six men in the United States. In The UK, the risk of being diagnosed with prostate cancer is 1 in every 14 person.

In other parts of the world, notably Asia, Africa and Latin America, prostate cancer is rare. The exact cause of prostate cancer is unclear but for some reason, the incidence of prostate cancer is higher in African Americans (about twice that of white men), and lowest in Asian men. The cause of prostate cancer is unknown, although some studies have shown a relationship between high dietary fat intake and increased testosterone levels.

Apart from etnic background, family history of prostate cancer also increase a person's chance of having prostate cancer. A man's risk for developing prostate cancer is higher if his father or brother has had the disease. For that reason, testing is essential from when men turn 50 years of age and even 40 years of age if prostate cancer is prevalent in the family.

However, the main cause of prostate cancer is probably age. Prostate cancer is most often diagnosed in men 65 and older, although younger men can be diagnosed with it as well. Prostate cancer is largely a disease of older men and is rare below the age of 50.

Prostate cancer is typically a very slow growingtumor, often causing no symptoms until advanced stages. It is often known as a silent killer because it often lacks symptoms, so annual screening tests are recommended. If prostate cancer is caught early and before it has spread to other parts of the body, it can often be treated successfully.

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test performed in conjunction with digital rectal exam (DRE) will usually show reliable indication of prostate cancer, especially when free PSA reading in taken into consideration. If the result suggest that you might have prostate cancer, your doctor will do a prostate biopsy to find out if the disease is present.

Biopsy is a highly accurate way to tell if prostate cancer is present, provided targeting of cancer suspected cancer location is spot-on. Once a prostate cancer is diagnosed on a biopsy, additional tests are done to assess whether the cancer has spread beyond the gland.

http://www.ProstateCancerTreatmentNow.com empower prostate cancer patients and their family with informative articles and videos on diagnosis, treatments, side effects and other prostate health-related issues. Learning more about prostate cancer save lives.


0 comments:

Post a Comment

 

Site Info

Flag Counter
Feedjit Live Traffic Map
Feedjit Live Traffic Feed

Followers

The Healthy Solution Copyright © 2009 Blogger Template Designed by Bie Blogger Template