Prostate Cancer… Could it b Overdiagnosed?

According to some doctors, it is possible that prostate cancer is being over diagnosed. What does that really mean? Either you have cncer or you don’t not , right? True , but it is the stage ay which the cancer is detected that counts here. The wisdom is that oftentimes when prostate cancer is diagnosed the tumor is so small and the cancer grows at such a slow pace that the odds are the individual would die of something else before they would die from prostate cancer.

Research is currently being conducted to determine at what point a prostate cancer diagnosis actually make a patient’s life better. Dr. Len Lchtenfeild of the American Cancer Society says that the newly released study by researchers in the Netherlands and released by the Journal of the national Cancer Institute, reinforces the message that we are over diagnosing prostate cancer. The newly released study found out if the ten tumors that were found in patients involved in the study were so small and slow growing that the odds are, the tumors would have never caused a patient any problems. Dr. Lichtenfield says these estimates may even be low for the number of patients that are over diagnosed. Some doctors are raising the questions as to when do you diagnose the cancer and when do you just let nature run its course.

The newly released study followed prostate cancer diagnosed in men ages 54 to 80 between1985 and 2000, in the US. The study followed three different models developed by cancer centers at attempt at more accurately estimating over diagnosis of prostate cancer. The team led by researchers at Erasmus University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, found from 23 to 42 percent of patients who were diagnosed through PSA tests, a blood test that measures prostate specific antigen where elevated levels may indicate problems, would have had their prostate cancer go undetected through their lifetime, it is had not been for the PSA test.
The study tried to determine , at what point PSA tests are necessary and at what point bypassing the test would be better. Many doctors believe because of over diagnosis, many men undergo unnecessary tests or take medications that do not really extend their lives. The recently released study conducted many PSA test diagnose prostate cancer too often because though the patient many really have the cancer, the tumors are so small and growing slowly that old age or some other factor would lead to death before the prostate cancer.
While the American Cancer Society does not recommend routine testing or prostate cancer, they do recommend doctors offer testing to patients annually, beginning at age 50.

Sex After Prostate Cancer - a Wife's Sensual Secrets Revealed About Touch

Talking about relationships and sensuality isn't easy. Talking to people who have been through traumatic physical experiences and who are struggling with partner relationships is important.

My husband has had multiple health challenges, so I've had to take my own advice lately. I haven't shared with enough of you how we've been able to get through it all. We have had our arguments and yet we've found a way to have fun along the way. Sensuality can be a part of your life if you want to feel good or make someone you love feel good.

Let's agree that different people have different physical capabilities. Sensuality is about gratifying your senses. We have five senses to gratify. You can gratify senses without intercourse. You can find satisfaction in many ways. Consider the possibilities. What would you enjoy touching, seeing, hearing, tasting, or smelling? Do something for your senses. When we seek to enhance our touching experiences we can consider our soap, our body lotions, massage oils, pillows, and even lingerie.

Let's talk about the sense of touch. We can touch with fingers, hands, feet, toes, tongue, and nose to name a few possibilities. When we touch we can either help ourselves feel good or someone we love feel good. My husband told me that when his body parts didn't want to cooperate he was often frustrated, angry, and depressed.

Depression is not my specialty. I'm not a doctor. I don't take any medications. My husband thinks I should take something for menopause. I exercise... I don't smoke and I rarely drink any alcohol. When your partner has physical issues, it effects you too.

When you touch someone you have an opportunity to share love, express how much you care, and to display your feelings on a physical level. It is possible to feel good helping someone you love feel good, better, or great.

If you are going to touch someone you can choose to have products which enhance the touching sensations. As we travel around the world we look for products to recommend. We experiment with new sensations as much as possible.

We found products such as pure coconut oil and pure cocoa butter are lubricating and silky, smooth to touch. One coconut-pineapple massage oil from Fiji smelled so strong that the room retained the coconut-pineapple scent for three days.

If you would like to participate in the sensuality survey online to help us serve your needs and answer more of your questions, please let us know.

Lori Wilk is an internationally known speaker, author, and multi-media producer of programming and special events.

Find out more about events, products, and program at http://www.lvpublicity.com and http://www.blogtalkradio.com/successipes

c.2009 Lori Wilk. All rights reserved.

You may reprint this article as long as you give author credit, do not alter it in any way, keep all links active and follow the publisher guidelines of EzineArticles.

Prostate Cancer - Early Diagnosis is Key

FACT: More than one in six men will get Prostate Cancer in his lifetime. In the state of South Carolina alone, more than 3,300 men were diagnosed with this disease in 2007. Studies also show that African-American men are more than twice as likely as any other ethnic group to die from cancer of the prostate. Experts believe that this is due to African American men being diagnosed with a more developed stage of the disease.

Dr. Augustine M. Boateng, board certified urologist explains that today, cancer of the prostate is the most common cancer in men over 50. Dr. Boateng further states that "fortunately, we have seen an increase in early prostate cancer diagnosis ever since the development of the PSA blood test. And listen guys, early detection is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT.

The PSA is a blood test that measures the level of prostate-specific antigen (this is a prostate-produced chemical in your blood). Dr. Boateng explains that while it is normal to have a certain level of PSA in your bloodstream, elevated levels could indicate a prostate infection, enlargement of the prostate or cancer. If you do have unusually high PSA levels, your physician will perform certain other diagnostic exams to identify the cause.

SYMPTOMS

POINT ~ Early in the disease there are no specific symptoms; many men are often unaware of their condition.

REMEMBER ~ A PSA screening can detect the disease before symptoms appear; early detection is essential for successful treatment.

Symptoms may include the following:

* Urinary difficulty

* Reduced or interrupted urine flow

* Erectile dysfunction

* Frequent pain in the lower back, hips or upper thighs

* Frequent urination, especially at night

* Pain or burning with urination

* Blood in urine or semen

These symptoms may indicate other conditions as well as a benign (non-cancerous) enlargement of the prostate. Contact your doctor immediately if you should experience any of these symptoms.

Prostate Problem Symptoms - Want to Know Some?

A lot of men consult prostate cancer question and answer forums to clear their presumptions or even to know the prostate problem symptoms. Let us first know the background of prostate cancer and the parts of the body that will be affected if one has prostate cancer. This is actually a disease affecting the prostate. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system. When one gets prostate cancer, there is prostate mutation.

When this happens prostate multiply uncontrollably. These cells which have multiplied will spread from the prostate to the other parts of the body. In most case, the cells spread to the bones and lymph nodes. Usually, when a man is affected by this the symptoms are that he will experience difficulty in urinating and worse is there is erectile dysfunction. What is difficult with this type of cancer is that there are no early signs of prostate cancer in men.

Commonly, people will consult a doctor when the disease is already severe. This is a bad practice. There should be a regular check up in order for one to know his health condition. As stated earlier, there are no early symptoms. The following are experienced when cancer cells have spread beyond the prostate: during night time, the persons urinates frequently; while urinating, there is difficulty in starting or stopping the urinary stream; weak or interrupted urinary stream; painful sensation during urination or ejaculation; and there is blood in urine or semen. However, research tells us that these are not symptoms of the cancer itself. They are only the symptoms of the blockage from the cancer growth within the prostate and surrounding tissues.

Signs of prostate cancer in men are evident when it is advanced already. The symptoms include: dull, incessant deep pain or stiffness in the pelvis, lower back, ribs or upper thighs; arthritic pain in the bones of those areas; loss of weight and appetite, fatigue, nausea, or vomiting.

Generally, prostate cancer develops in men over the age of fifty. This is the most common cancer in men. Since there are no early symptoms, prevention is the best antidote. There are two main factors affecting the prostate, these are genetics and diet. The former runs in the blood but the latter can be adjusted or maintained. Eating the right kind and the right amount of food still leads to good health. Hence, proper diet aids people to have minimal ailments.

On the other hand, to detect this, physical examination, PSA, or biopsy are recommended. If one is diagnosed with it, he has to undergo further tests like CT scans and bone scans.

Here are pieces of advice to those who have prostate cancer, first, never take medicines without doctor's prescriptions. Yes, there are new cancer drugs but these have to be taken under doctors advice. Second, if you find out that you have prostate problem symptoms, consult a doctor as to what to do and what medicines you need to take.

Dr. Arnold P. Nerenberg, PhD, is an internationally renowned clinical psychologist, motivational speaker and educator. He is also a prostate cancer survivor that is why he wants to help each man who has a problem with their prostate. Visit http://askdrnerenberg.com for more information.

Can Pomegranate Juice Slow Down Prostate Cancer?

How can you imagine pomegranate juice could slow down prostate cancer? There is research to suggest this is so. You can find all sorts of studies for various things, what matter is if it works. Prostate problems seem to be more common that ever before. Read more to find out how to reverse this trend.

With over 186,000 men diagnosed last year (2008) about 28,000 died from this disease. That means a death rate of about 15% is derived from this disease according to the National Cancer Institute.

What Can You Do?

There seems to be no specific cause beyond just diet, medication, toxins, fats and other lifestyle issues that accumulate stress on the prostate. An enlarged prostate creates other problems for the bladder and kidneys by not being able to release fluids, causing UTI and other complications. So, taking care of your prostate early on can avoid any further damage to your prostate and other organs.

Pomegranate juice slows down prostate cancer because it has anti-oxidation qualities, this decreases plaque build-up and allows the prostate to function normally. Even when traditional treatments fail pomegranate juice can continue to benefit your prostate.

Other Factors

The cumulative affect over time seems to hit males in their fifties with this problem. The reason for death is generally procrastination, letting it spread to the point where it's to late. Lack of exercise can lead to toxic build-up and your prostate can be a easy place for this overload of toxins to reside. Pomegranate juice has properties to help with these oxidants which slows the progression of prostate problems. Is this a cure? No, but it is a help along with other things you can do for yourself.

To get more information about your prostate and treatments go to the Prostate Cancer Info, find out what else can help you prevent the spread of this disease. For other cancer information go to Cancer Network, there you will find information about other forms of cancer. Let information not fear create your future.

Prostate Cancer Causes and Treatment

Prostate cancer occurs due to the sudden and faster growth of the cells in prostate gland. This gland is located in the bottom of the urinary bladder near the rectum. Prostate gland is the size of a walnut. It is the place where the semen is produced and stored. Ultimately it plays a vital role in human reproduction. If the cells in the prostate gland show a faster and improper growth, which we call a prostate cancer, the patient may undergo severe urinary problems.

The term cancer doesn't mean a sun sign here as both the disease and sun sign are referred by the same name. The cancer disease occurs because of the improper and sudden growth of cells in a particular part of the body.

The prostate cancer occurs most of the time to older persons. In sense, with the increase in age of a person, maximum is the occurrence of this disease. A small consolation is that the prostate gland cancer is so slow to cause death to a patient. If the patient is above 80 years, there is no need to give any medical aid to him, he will die before the cancer spreads completely all over his body, it takes such a long time to spread.

Normally, if the cancer hasn't spread anywhere outside the gland, there is a possibility of saving the person. On the other hand, if it spreads outside of the body, the medical practitioners have to do a lot of hard work to treat the cancer.

As an alternative cancer treating method, if the cancer is found to be inside the gland, there is no need to remove the entire gland by performing a surgery in order to increase life cycle of a patient. There are 3 types of treatment performed;

First being the Antrogen-deprivation therapy.

Second being external radiation therapy, by passing the radiations in the gland affected by cancer, the radiation beam shrinks and destroys the tumors present in the gland.

The third, being the entire removal of prostate gland by surgery, this method of treatment is called, Radical prostectomy but it makes the patient completely impotent.

Anand suradha is an author living in India. He is an expert in alternative prostate cancer treatment and you can learn a lot about it from his website alternative cancer treatment center

How and When to Have the Latest Treatment on Prostate Cancer

Prostate is a chestnut shaped gland within the male reproductive system. It is located just below the bladder. It is derived from the Greek word "prostates", meaning to stand before. It was Herophilus, an anatomist who called it the prostate because according to him, it stands before the testes. Prostate cancer is one of the major causes of the deaths in men. This fact gave rise to many questions and answers. Further, this fact leads to looking or searching for the latest treatment on prostate cancer.

Several doctors conducted a study and is still continuing to study to find the latest treatment and they all agree that the treatment depends on the stage on the said cancer in a particular person. There are four (I-IV) stages of prostate cancer. The one which is easy to cure of course is Stage I because as cancer progresses, the cancer cells grow within the prostate, then it grows even to the outer layer of the prostate into the nearby tissue, and finally to the lymph nodes or other parts of the body.

Since there is no early warning signs, usually this cancer is accidentally found during surgery for other causes. It cannot even be recognized during rectal examination and is not visible by imaging or x-ray. One helpful aid of treating prostate cancer is the use of Gleason staging system. This system is used to evaluate the prognosis of men with prostate cancer. It is incorporated into a strategy of staging. This predicts prognosis and aids as a guide therapy. The score depends on the stage which the cancer is categorized. Moreover, the score is based upon the microscopic appearance.

The features of Gleason scores are the following as described in wikipedia:

• Grade 1 - The cancerous prostate closely resembles normal prostate tissue. The glands are small, well-formed, and closely packed.
• Grade 2 - The tissue still has well-formed glands, but they are larger and have more tissue between them.
• Grade 3 - The tissue still has recognizable glands, but the cells are darker. At high magnification, some of these cells have left the glands and are beginning to invade the surrounding tissue.
• Grade 4 - The tissue has few recognizable glands. Many cells are invading the surrounding tissue
• Grade 5 - The tissue does not have recognizable glands. There are often just sheets of cells throughout the surrounding tissue.

When the Gleason score is already identified, what then is the latest treatment on prostate cancer? In a capsule, these are brachytherapy, chemotherapy, cryosurgery, cryotheraphy, hormone therapy, radiation therapy, prostatectomy, and watchful waiting. Each of this however has side effects but it is up to the patient's doctor to advise which is advantageous on the part of the patient and the patient's immediate family. The earlier the signs are detected the better. For a simple reason that the earlier it is diagnosed the easier the medical process is undergone and the later it is known the more complex the treatment becomes.

Dr. Arnold P. Nerenberg, PhD, is an internationally renowned clinical psychologist, motivational speaker and educator. He is also a prostate cancer survivor that is why he wants to help each man who has a problem with their prostate. Visit http://askdrnerenberg.com for more information.

Overview of Penile Cancer

Penile cancer is cancer of the penis, the male sex organ, and it is not as common as other forms. This penile disorder can develop in people aged 60 years or older, in people that have phimosis (the foreskin cannot be pulled back over the glans), people that have poor personal hygiene, people that have too many sexual partners and people that consistently use tobacco products. The symptoms of this horrible disease include redness, irritation, or the development of a sore on the penis. Another symptom of it includes the development of a lump on the penis itself. A physical exam, the history of the patient, or a biopsy can be used to determine whether or not a person has it.

The chance of recovery and how to determine the treatment options depends on the prognosis of the disease. The prognosis is determined by the stage of the cancer, the location and the size of the tumor, and whether the cancer was just diagnosed or is recurring. There are three main tests performed to determine how far along the cancer has become and those tests are an MRI, a CT Scan, and an Ultrasound. An MRI, short for magnetic resonance imaging, uses radio waves to make a series of pictures of the patient's body. A CT Scan is a procedure that makes a series of pictures of the body from different angles. An Ultrasound is a procedure in which high energy sound waves are bounced off internal tissues or organs which then make echoes. The echoes then form a picture of the body's tissues known as a sonogram.

There are six common stages of this. Those stages include Stage 0, Stage I, Stage II, Stage III, Stage IV and recurrent cancer. Stage O is when abnormal cells are found on the surface of the skin of the penis. These abnormal cells might form into cancer and spread to other parts of the body but they might not spread at all. Stage O is also referred to as carcinoma in situation. Stage I is when the cancer has formed and spread to connective tissue just under the skin of the penis.

Stage II is when the cancer has spread to the tissue of just under the skin of the penis and to one lymph node in the groin or erectile tissue and may have spread to one lymph node in the groin. Stage III penile cancer is when the cancer has spread to the connective tissue or erectile tissue of the penis and to more than one lymph node on one or both sides of the groin or has spread to the urethra or the prostate. Stage IV is when the cancer has spread to tissues near the penis and may have spread to lymph nodes in the groin or the pelvis or has spread to anywhere in or near the penis or to other distant parts of the body. Recurring penile cancer is cancer that has gone away and returned again. The cancer can come back in the penis or in other parts of the body.

Prescription Drug Addiction

Senior Citizen Drug Addiction

Some Treatment Options For Prostate Cancer

If you are looking for a prostate cancer treatment, what are your options? Treatments vary significantly from case to case. Because prostate cancer is usually very slow growing, one often-prescribed treatment is no treatment at all. This is called "watchful waiting", in which action is only taken if the cancer starts spreading. If a man is in his 70s and his cancer is contained within the prostate gland, the best treatment is usually watchful waiting because the risks involved with treating it outweigh the fact that the man is probably going to die from something completely unrelated to the prostate cancer.

If, however, a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer in his 40s or 50s, the cancer needs to be attacked because there is a good chance that, in this man's lifetime, the cancer will start spreading. Options to attack this cancer include surgery, radiation therapy, as well as other treatments such as hormonal therapy. Surgery is often a good option is the cancer is contained within the prostate gland, as is radiation therapy.

Side effects may include erectile dysfunction, nerve damage, or involuntary urine leakage. The same side effects are present in radiation therapy. One treatment option, which has been getting some media attention, is High Intensity Focused Ultrasound. Supposedly it works the same as radiation therapy without the harmful side effects.

If this type of cancer is in its latter stages (meaning it has spread from the prostate gland) or if the cancer is reoccurring, more treatment options are considered.

Nick has a more detailed look in prostate cancer treatment.