At an advanced age, the risks of surgery for prostate cancer or other more radical treatments may actually be worse than the disease. In Portland Oregon, there is a three-year Oregon Health & Sciences University study; leaders hope to come up with an exercise program to benefit men dealing with prostate cancer who are on testosterone-lowering medications. Prostate cancer is characterized by ‘grade’ and ‘stage’; grade is given to indicate how quickly a cancer is growing – the higher the grade, the more likely it is that the cancer will grow and spread rapidly and the size and extent of the tumor will determine its stage.
About one man in six will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime, but only one man in 34 will die of the disease. It’s estimated that approximately 234,460 men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year, and approximately 27,350 will die of the disease. The main job of the prostate gland is to make seminal fluid, the milky substance that transports sperm.
If cancer is caught at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms. The need to urinate frequently, especially at night is another symptom. One prostate cancer symptom is difficulty starting urination or holding back urine.
Other symptoms might include unintentional weight loss and lethargy. Weak or interrupted flow of urine and painful or burning urination can be symptoms to watch out for. Some men will experience symptoms that might indicate the presence of prostate cancer.
Your doctor may use either one or two of the most common tests for prostate cancer detection. A prostate gland biopsy usually confirms the diagnosis. There are several potential downsides to PSA testing; for example a high PSA does not always mean a patient has prostate cancer.
A bone scan can indicate whether the cancer has spread or not. There is a newer test called AMACR that is more sensitive than the PSA test for determining the presence of prostate cancer. The decision about whether to pursue a PSA test should be based on a discussion between you and your doctor.
If chemotherapy is decided upon after the first round of chemotherapy, most men receive further doses on an outpatient basis at a clinic or physician’s office. The conventional treatment of prostate cancer is often controversial. Anyone considering surgery should be aware of the benefits, risks and the extent of the procedure.
Urinary incontinence can be one of the possible complications of surgery. In the early stages, surgery and radiation may be used to remove or attempt to kill the cancer cells or shrink the tumor. Radiation therapy is used primarily to treat prostate cancers classified as stages A, B, or C.
An oncologist, a cancer specialist, will usually recommend treating with a single drug or a combination of drugs. Surgery, radiation, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy all have significant side effects; know fully what they are before you proceed. Prostate cancer that has spread (metastasized) may be treated conventionally with drugs to reduce testosterone levels, surgery to remove the testes, chemotherapy or nothing at all.
Treatment options can vary based on the stage of the tumor. Radiation therapy to the prostate gland is either external or internal, both of which use high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Since prostate tumors require testosterone to grow, reducing the testosterone level is used to prevent further growth and spread of the cancer.
Consider taking cod liver oil or fish oil supplements every day. A good dietary, natural treatment approach is to avoid all acidic inflammatory foods; those are foods that aren’t alive. Drink freshly made carrot juice every day that you make in a juicer or juice extractor.
Buy lacinato kale and juice it in your juicer with sweet carrots. Drink plenty of pure filtered water, a minimum of a quart a day. Make highly nutritious raw applesauce using a food processor and put in 3-4 cored pesticide-free apples, with the skin on, and mix for a minute; so much better for you than canned highly processed applesauce and add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon or two tablespoons of freshly ground flaxseed for another boost.
Some foods and beverages to avoid that are inflammatory are: caffeine, salt, sugar, meat, dairy products, additives, soft drinks, white flour, white rice, alcoholic beverages, fast food, processed vegetable oils, and refined, packaged and processed food. For snacks, choose raw nuts without salt instead of lifeless roasted nuts. Eat a lot of fruits and veggies every day, not just a token banana or apple.
The outcome of prostate cancer varies greatly; mostly because the disease is found in older men who may have a variety of other complicating diseases or conditions, such as cardiac or respiratory disease, or disabilities that immobilize or greatly decrease their activities. Because prostate cancer is a slow-growing disease, many men with this disease will die from other causes before they die from prostate cancer. Evidence indicates that many patients detect cancer at an earlier stage because of annual screening, so make sure to get a good exam.