Prostate Health

Improve Prostate Health

Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in men. Only lung cancer kills more men than prostate cancer. About 1 in 6 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life, but only 1 in 35 will die from it, so treatment is available and effective. Of course, prevention is much more effective than available cures!

In order to prevent prostate cancer and other prostate issues such as enlarged prostate and infections, you need to improve the overall health of your prostate. There are several ways to do this.

The most important may come as a pleasant surprise for most men. You need to make sure you have sex (or masturbate) on a regular basis. The role of the prostate in a man’s body is to produce the fluid for semen. Producing semen helps keep the prostate active and healthy. Do don’t let anyone tell you masturbation is a bad thing!

Saw palmetto is an herbal supplement that is rich in phytonutrients. It is known to help prevent prostate issues, improve prostate health, and even benefit overall health, as well.

Red clover supplements can also help prevent prostate cancer, as well as other types of cancer. It is high in certain types of antioxidants that are known for their ability to inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

Consume plenty of antioxidants from other sources. Tomato-based products like ketchup, spaghetti sauce, salsa, and other products are high in lycopene, which is a potent antioxidant. Green tea has 51 different phytonutrients that may prevent cancer. Many types of berries are also very high in antioxidants.

Reduce alcohol consumption to no more than 2 drinks per day, and try to stick with mostly beer and wine. Red wine may improve overall health, so consume it as your preferred drink. Heavy alcohol consumption has been linked with an increased risk in prostate issues, including cancer.

Get plenty of exercise. Exercise helps move cancer-fighting and disease-fighting lymph through the body, as well as helping you keep your weight under control. Obesity has been linked to prostate cancer risk, so regular exercise is important for prostate health, as well as overall health.

Prostatitis is an infection of the prostate. This is one of the most common prostate problems. Signs of prostatitis include difficult or painful urination, increased urinary frequency, struggling to empty the bladder, fever, and chills. If you experience these symptoms, you should see a doctor.

Digital Rectum Exams

A digital rectal examination is a type of screening in which a finger (digit) is inserted into the rectum to screen for prostate cancer or enlargement. It may also be used to check for certain types of issues in a woman’s reproductive organs, including the uterus and ovaries, and is sometimes done during a pelvic examination or Pap test.

A DRE is usually performed in men during a complete physical examination, and usually only in men who are over age 50 or those over age 40 who have known risk factors for prostate cancer, such as men of African American descent, or men who have relatives who have had prostate cancer.

During a digital rectal exam, the doctor wears a rubber glove and lubricates his index finger. This finger is gently inserted into the rectum, and it is used to feel for the prostate gland. The other hand may carefully press on the abdomen or pelvic area to make it easier to feel the prostate gland.

You will either be standing and bending forward at the waist, or lying on your left side with your knees bent up toward your chest during this exam. It is not usually painful, but it may be embarrassing or a little uncomfortable. You may also feel the urge to urinate, because of increased pressure on the urethra during the exam. Don’t worry, these exams usually last only a few seconds.

The doctor will be checking to see if the prostate gland is larger than normal, or if it feels hard or irregular. If the doctor finds anything unusual about the prostate, additional screenings may be necessary to determine the nature of the issue. You may need to have a biopsy if the doctor suspects cancer.

Before a DRE, be sure to tell your doctor if you have hemorrhoids. This will help your doctor take greater care during the examination so he doesn’t damage them and cause you to bleed.

Natural Treatments for Enlarged Prostate

There are many natural ways to treat an enlarged prostate, and medications and surgery may not always be necessary. Treatment options range from general lifestyle changes to herbal remedies.

You should keep in mind that the medical community does often not test herbal remedies. Traditional medicine tends to look at herbal remedies as being ineffective, even though anecdotal evidence shows otherwise. However, you must remember that many of today’s popular medications are derived from plants. Herbal remedies can be highly effective in many cases.

Lifestyle modification is the first natural treatment option. You must make some changes to your general lifestyle in order to reduce prostate size and keep it from getting larger.

Lifestyle modifications include:
• Losing weight
• Eating a healthy diet rich in antioxidants, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains
• Reducing alcohol consumption to no more than 2 drinks per day
• Getting more exercise
• Reducing caffeine consumption
• Drinking less right before bedtime

In addition to these lifestyle changes, you may explore herbal options. One of the most common herbal treatments for an enlarged prostate is saw palmetto. Saw palmetto has shown a lot of promise in clinical trials, although those trials are still ongoing. Anecdotal evidence has proven that saw palmetto can be a good treatment option for many men.

Another herbal remedy for an enlarged prostate is red clover. Red clover is very high in antioxidants that may protect the prostate, and may also help prevent prostate cancer.

Zinc is considered an important element in prostate health. It can help with both enlarged prostates and inflamed prostates. Studies have shown that a deficiency of zinc can enlarge the prostate, and raising serum zinc levels in the blood may reverse the problem. You should supplement 50 to 100 milligrams of zinc per day to reduce an enlarged prostate, and take in at least 15 milligrams per day to prevent it from growing once it is returned to normal size.

Prostate Adenoma

Prostate adenoma is a clinical term for an enlarged prostate. Generally found in older men, prostate adenoma causes the prostate gland to get larger, pressing on the urethra and causing urinary problems and sometimes sexual dysfunction.

There are three stages of prostate adenoma. In the first state, urination frequency increases. Men may need to get up in the middle of the night to urinate. Additionally, the urine stream may be slower, thinner, or weaker than normal.

In stage two, urination becomes more difficult. The urine may dribble out slowly or stop and start instead of coming out in a smooth, constant stream. There may be some straining involved, and the bladder may not empty entirely, causing you to need to go to the bathroom more often. You may need to urinate again just a few minutes after going to the bathroom.

In stage three, the prostate may enlarge so much that urination becomes extremely difficult. The bladder may never empty completely. In rare cases, urination can be blocked completely. This condition is fatal if left untreated.

Prostate problems in men are relatively common. Enlargement is found in most men by the age of 70 or 80. However, it doesn’t always progress to a stage where treatment is critical. If you begin experiencing symptoms of stage two or three prostate adenoma, your doctor will probably want to explore treatment options with you.

Those treatment options may include lifestyle modifications such as reducing alcohol consumption and losing weight, various medications, herbal remedies, or even surgery in advanced cases.

There is some evidence that prostate adenoma may be a warning sign or a precursor to prostate cancer, so your doctor may want to keep an eye on the situation. This may mean frequent examinations to be sure your prostate isn’t growing, and that it isn’t progressing into a cancerous state.

Prostate Cancer Prevention Tips

There is no surefire way to prevent prostate cancer, but there are ways to lessen the odds you will get it. It is most common in older men, men with a history of prostate cancer in their family, and African American men. You can’t control genetic factors, but there are other factors you can control.

The easiest thing you can do is follow a healthy, sensible diet. Don’t overeat, and keep calories under control. Choose balanced meals with plenty of vitamins, and eat a wide variety of foods in order to ensure you’re getting enough of all the nutrients you need. Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables in your diet.

If you don’t like fruits and vegetables, try adding them to things you do like.  For example, if you cook broccoli and puree it, you can add it to spaghetti sauce and you won’t even notice it’s there.

Be sure to get plenty of fiber. Fiber has been shown to help the circulatory system and prevent heart health issues, and it may also be effective at lowering cancer rates. Additionally, highly-processed grains like white flour and white rice are high in carbohydrates, which may increase cancer risk.

Don’t consume too much sugar. Cut out sweetened beverages. Sugar feeds cancer cells, and taking in a lot of it can cause your cancer risk to multiply by many times. Stick to sugar free choices whenever possible.

Heavy drinking can increase your risk of contracting aggressive prostate cancer, so drink only in moderation. One or two drinks per day is fine, but try to stick to beer and wine rather than hard liquor, consuming hard alcohol only occasionally.

Consume foods that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. A diet high in omega-3 may reduce your risk of certain types of cancer and heart issues. Omega-3 fats can be found in cold-water fish like salmon and mackerel, and in flax seeds, as well as other sources.

Increase vitamin D intake. Vitamin D has been shown to potentially prevent prostate cancer, so it is important to get plenty of it in your diet. Your body can produce some when you are in the sun, but many men don’t get outdoors much. It is found in limited amounts in some foods, including fish liver oil, cheese, egg yolks, and milk, but you may consider a supplement.

Obesity is a risk factor for prostate cancer, so keep your weight under control. Eat a healthy diet, and be sure to get at least 15-30 minutes of exercise most days or the week. Exercise also helps lymph move through your body, which can help prevent a whole slew of issues. 

Prostate Cancer Treatment

The prostate is a gland found in men that produces fluid that makes up part of the composition of semen. Normally, it is about the size of a walnut. It can enlarge, causing stress on the urinary system, and it can become cancerous.

Prostate cancer is usually found in older men, but may be found in younger men as well. As a man ages, the prostate can enlarge. This condition is called benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH. This condition is not cancerous, but may require surgery to correct.

Unfortunately, the symptoms of BPH are the same as the symptoms for prostate cancer. There is no way to distinguish the two without a medical examination and potentially a biopsy of the prostate cells.

Prostate cancer can spread to other areas of the body if it is not caught in time. It can spread to the bones and lymph nodes, making it much harder to treat and making the prognosis much more grim. For this reason, it is critical to visit your doctor as early as possible if you notice any prostate symptoms.

The easiest treatment for prostate cancer is surgery. The prostate can be removed entirely in order to remove the cancerous cells, or just a section may be removed. If the cancer has spread to nearby lymph nodes, they will be removed, as well.

Radiation is sometimes an option, although it’s not the first choice. While it can be effective at getting rid of prostate cancer, it can greatly increase the risk of bladder cancer and rectal cancer in men who have this treatment. Additionally, men treated with radiation may experience impotence and urinary issues.

Hormone therapy is sometimes used to block hormones that cause the cancer to grow. In prostate cancer, male sex hormones can cause the prostate cancer to progress. By removing those hormones by the use of other hormones, the cancer growth can be stopped or slowed.

Hormone therapies for prostate cancer include luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone agonists, antiandrogens, orchiectomy (surgical removal of one of both testicles), and the use of estrogen. Some types of drugs may also be used.

There are many other potential treatments currently being tested, including chemotherapy, cryosurgery, biologic therapy, high-intensity focused ultrasound, and proton beam radiation therapy. These are all in clinical trials, and may not be available to the general public.

PSA Tests

A PSA test (Prostate-Specific Antigen) is a specific kind of test that may help detect prostate cancer. This test measures levels of the prostate-specific antigen molecule in the body. Unfortunately, it’s not always effective.

While the PSA test can detect the presence of this molecule in the body, screening is controversial. First, doctors claim that PSA testing for men in their 70s and older is often useless, because many men who have prostate cancer at this age would die of something else before prostate cancer progressed to a state where it would be deadly. In younger men, prostate cancer is so rare that it would be expensive to test enough men just to find a single case of cancer.

Because of these issues, PSA tests are usually performed only in certain high-risk groups. They are not recommended for people who are not at high risk of developing prostate cancer.

The American Cancer Society does not currently recommend a routine screening for prostate cancer in its cancer screening guidelines. It recommends talking with your doctor about screening, and potentially getting screenings only for men with certain risk factors. Generally, PSA tests are only recommend in those men who are over 50 and have a life expectancy of at least another 10 years, and men who fall into certain risk factor categories.

Those risk factors include:
• Being over 40 and in another high-risk group
• Being African American
• Men who have a father, brother, or son with prostate cancer
• Men who have several relatives who have had prostate cancer

Researchers have discovered that PSA tests did lower prostate cancer death rates by 20%, but that there is a high instance of over-diagnosis. This means that 1410 men would have to be screened and 48 cases of prostate cancer treated to save just one life. This is because most prostate cancer do not progress to a fatal state. However, because of the potential risk of death, it is still recommended that anyone with prostate cancer discuss treatment options with their doctor.

If you are interested in getting a PSA test, talk with your doctor about the possibility. You can work with your doctor to decide if risk factors make you a good candidate for this test.

PSA Tests Explained

A PSA test detects the presence of the Prostate-Specific Antigen in the body. This does not always indicate cancer, but it can. If the antigen is present in the body, a biopsy of the prostate may be necessary.

Symptoms and Treatment of BPH

BPH, or benign prostatic hypertrophy, is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland in men. It usually only occurs in older men, occurring very rarely in men under the age of 50.

Symptoms of BPH include:
• Increased frequency of urination
• Increased urinary urgency
• Straining during urination
• Dribbling during urination
• Incomplete voiding of the bladder during urination

If you have these symptoms, your doctor will usually perform an exam to find out if your prostate is enlarged. If it is, it may be due to BPH, but it can also be caused by prostate cancer or a prostate infection. Infections are usually accompanied by fever and chills, so this will usually be ruled out of those symptoms are not present. You may need to have a biopsy to ensure the growth is not cancerous.

Once it has been determined that you are suffering from BPH, your doctor will discuss various treatment options that are available to you. Lifestyle changes will help. You will have to decrease fluid intake before bedtime to lessen the need to get up during the night. You will be asked to moderate your alcohol consumption, and probably to reduce caffeine intake. You will also potentially be asked to follow a regular urination schedule.

Medications may be used. Alpha blockers such as doxazosin, terazosin, alfuzosin, tamsulosin, and silodosin are equally effective, but have different side effects. You may have to try several before you find one that works best for you. 5a-reductase inhibitors such as finasteride and dutasteride may also be used. These inhibit 5a-reductase, which blocks DHT, a hormone that can enlarge the prostate. These two medication types may be used together to reduce prostate size and keep it from enlarging in the future.

Herbal remedies are another option. Saw palmetto has been shown to potentially be effective in the treatment of BPH, but trials are still ongoing. Red clover is another herbal treatment that may help BPH. Other treatments that are indicated, but have not yet been proven to be effective, include beta-Sitosterol from Hypoxis rooperi (African star grass), pygeum (from Prunus Africana bark), stinging nettle, pumpkin seeds, and extracts of rye grass.

Surgery may be required, though it is not performed in every case. Surgery is typically only done in cases where the prostate is severely restricting urination, causing other health issues, or is growing rapidly.

Symptoms of Prostate Problems/Cancer

The symptoms of prostate cancer can vary between individuals. There are several different types of prostate problems that are fairly common in men, including an enlarged prostate (also known as BPH), prostatitis,  and prostate cancer.

Let’s look at some of the most common symptoms of prostate problems, and what causes them:
• Difficulty urinating, or straining to go
• A week or slow stream of urine
• A feeling of incomplete bladder emptying
• Urinating more frequently
• Getting up in the night to urinate
• A stream of urine that starts and stops rather than flowing continuously
• Dribbling of urine
• Returning to the bathroom just minutes after urinating
• Painful or difficult ejaculation

When the prostate enlarges (through benign enlargement or cancer), it can block the urethra. This is the cause of urinary symptoms. As the prostate expands, it can put pressure on surrounding organs, especially narrow passages like the urethra and semen ducts.

As the urethra narrows because of pressure from the prostate, it causes the bladder to contract with more force to push urine out of the body. Eventually, the bladder muscle may become thicker and stronger, even developing hypersensitivity. This results in needing to go to the bathroom more frequently.

Over time, the bladder can become so overworked that it can no longer push hard enough to overcome the narrow urethra. This leads to the bladder not emptying fully, which causes the sufferer to need to urinate even more often.

Prostatitis is an inflammation of the prostate. It can also cause the same symptoms as prostate enlargement or cancer, but it is often treatable. It is usually caused by a bacterial infection. If it is caused by bacterial, you will usually have fevers, chills, and shakes. This is not present in prostate enlargement or cancer.

It’s important that you realize that prostate issues should not be ignored. All prostate issues are treatable if caught in time. The longer you wait, the more grave the consequences could be. Please visit your doctor if you experience the symptoms of prostate problems or cancer.

T3 Prostate Cancer

T3 prostate cancer is very serious, and can be deadly if not treated quickly. Thus, it is extremely important that you understand the four stages of prostate cancer and seek treatment as quickly as possible.

As with most types of cancer, the effectiveness of treatment is largely dependent on how early the cancer is discovered. If you are already in stage 3, also known as T3 prostate cancer, seeking treatment immediately is critical.

There are four stages to prostate cancer:

In stage one, or T1, the tumor is usually very small and cannot be detected by digital rectal exam or ultrasound, and is usually only discovered through PSA tests or biopsies.

In stage two, or T2, the tumor can be detected during a digital rectal exam or ultrasound, but it is still confined to the prostate. This stage still offers a wide range of treatment options.

In stage three, or T3, the cancer spreads to adjacent tissue. This may include seminal vesicles, but does not yet include other organs. Treatment is still highly effective, but may be more difficult.

In stage four, or T4, the cancer spreads to organs near the prostate. This can include the bladder, rectum, lymph nodes, and even the bones. At this stage, treatment becomes much more difficult, and the prognosis is grim.

T3 prostate cancer prognosis is generally good. With stage three prostate cancer, the chances of the disease progressing in the next 10 years are about 50%. If the cancer spreads to seminal vesicles, the chance of a recurrence are further increased.

Also, one study showed that men who were treated for prostate cancer with radiation 20 years earlier had a 50% chance to die of prostate cancer in the future, but most of the other men died of some other issue before prostate cancer returned.

Remember, early treatment is critical. Getting treatment early improves your prognosis significantly, so be sure to explore all treatment options as early as possible. Prostate cancer, even T3 prostate cancer, is not a death sentence. Treatment can work well if it is begun in time.