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The prostate is a round cluster of
glands located at the bottom of the
bladder, about midway between the
rectum and the base of the penis.
The prostate encircles the urethra,
the tube that expels urine from the
bladder by way of the penis. The
ping pong ball sized gland produces
most of the fluid in semen.
Contraction of the muscles in the
prostate squirt fluid from into the
urethra tract during ejaculation.
This fluid makes up the majority of
the ejaculate and transports and
nourishes the sperm.
Prostate cancer is the leading cause
of cancer related death for American
men who don’t smoke. It is primarily
a disease of aging. Men in their
thirties and forties rarely develop
prostate cancer, but the incidence
grow steadily after the age of
fifty-five.
About 80 percent of all
prostate cancer cases occur in men
over the age of sixty-five. By the
age of eighty, 4 out of 5 men have
some degree of prostate cancer. Many
experts feel that all men will
eventually develop prostate cancer
if they live long enough.
The three
most common prostate problems are prostatitis or inflection, prostate
enlargement, and prostate cancer.
Medical professionals recommend that
men have annual rectal exams as part
of a health checkup from ages 40 to
70, and those with high risk and all
men 50 and over should add a PSA
(prostate-specific antigen) blood
test every year as well.
When
prostate cancer is detected early
and treated it has a high cure rate.
Men are encouraged to discuss the
options with their doctor. Based on
past screenings doctors have
observed that in men ages 50 to 59,
the prostate cancer detection rate
was basically the same whether men
were screened every year or every
two years. Therefore normal-risk men
in their 50s can to be safely
screened every other year.
Since
there is no cure for advanced
prostate cancer, early diagnosis and
treatment are essential. Since early
prostate cancer normally doesn’t
have any symptoms, it is extremely
difficult to detect without testing.
Screenings using both PSA and DRE
tests have proven to be the best and
only reliable method of identifying
the disease when it can be still be
cured easily.
Almost fifty-eight
percent of all cases are discovered
while the cancer is still isolated
and at its most treatable stage. A
doctor can detect prostate cancer by
digital rectal examination and by a PSA (prostate-specific antigen)
blood test.
For more information visit:
Prostacet |
