Why and how to pay attention to his prostate?

HBP can sometimes cause health problems such as repeated urinary tract infections or kidney problems. However, the most frequent symptoms alter the quality of daily life and treatments focus on mitigating the disadvantages of urinary problems. The simplest solution is to reduce the consumption of liquids, especially in the evening, or to limit diuretics such as caffeine and alcohol. For those who need greater relief, drugs can relax muscles around prostate, or even shrink, and surgical treatments can reduce prostate size.
According to Arvin George, treatment decisions depend above all on the discomfort caused by symptoms. “Some men wake up to urinate several times a night, but they go back to sleep and everything is fine,” he explains. “Others do not have access regularly to toilets, which can affect their quality of life. »»
Men who live long enough will probably be diagnosed with prostate cancer. The number of people over seventy years old with cancer cells in their prostate without having been diagnosed is 70 %. In France, prostate cancer is the third cause of cancer death in humans, behind lung cancer and that of the colon, while it is the second deadliest cancer in the United States and in the Kingdom- United in men. The average age at the time of diagnosis is sixty-nine years in France and diagnoses are rare in men under the age of forty.
Scientists are still studying genetic mutations linked to prostate cancer, but the heredity of this cancer is a certainty. A man whose at least two close male relatives, father or brothers, have prostate cancer is five to ten times more likely to be diagnosed himself. For reasons still misunderstood, men of African origin are particularly exposed. The probability of them to have prostate cancer is 70 % higher and they are also more likely to die from the disease.
Arvin George points out that many men he meets and who have inconvenient urinary urinary symptoms are afraid of having serious prostate cancer, which can be understood. “This is probably the most widespread false idea in patients and even within the medical community,” he said.
In countries like the United States, where screening has been common for decades, prostate cancer is often detected long before the patient has symptoms, he explains. “Most of the time, when a man has symptoms, it is very unlikely to suffer from prostate cancer. Most often, it is a simple hypertrophy. »»
While no health authority in France or abroad recommends systematic screening for prostate cancer, the American Urological Association advises most of the fifty-five to seventy-nine years to be tested Every two years. Consulting a doctor to talk about your personal risk factors can help refine this recommendation. People with higher risk factors, such as black men and people whose close relatives have or have prostate cancer should be tested earlier and more often.
The screening indicates whether cancer has a high risk of spreading and allows doctors to treat it quickly and save lives.
However, for some experts, screening has its disadvantages. The specific prostate antigen test (PSA), which identifies proteins produced by prostate, can produce falsely positive or falsely negative results, which can cause unnecessary stress or treatments. Over a thousand men detected between fifty-five and sixty-nine years, about a death can be avoided.
In addition, many prostate cancers change slowly and never cause problems. In reality, recent research shows that many men with prostate cancer have an interest in not treating it at all, but simply to monitor it. In April 2013, a study published in the journal New England Journal of Medicine has shown that active monitoring of prostate cancer has the same high rate of survival, that is to say fifteen years, than much more aggressive interventions such as radiotherapy and surgery.
The same study highlighted the side effects of these treatments, pointing out that they could cause persistent problems of sexual function and urination for a longer period than we thought going up to twelve years. “This is a heavy problem to wear in the long term for those concerned,” says Ridgman. “Data show that men can live with localized prostate cancer at low risk for many years, even decades, without the need for active treatment. »»
Although their urinary problems are generally not synonymous with cancer, men should not suffer in silence.
“If you have symptoms that bother you, talk to your doctor,” advises Arvin George. “We do not want the people concerned to resign themselves to think that this is an individual problem and that they must accommodate them. »»