While there are lots of different treatments for prostate cancer, most of them are medical treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, etc. But do you know that there are lots of other alternative treatments that are not often talked about? The first part of this article looks into some of them, to help you fully understand and get the benefit from these treatments.
It's a fact that nobody wants to die. And nobody wants to die the premature, slow, and painful death that prostate cancer can deal to a patient suffering from the disease. It may be a slow growing carcinoma, but everyone knows that it is not a disease without substantial venom. But people die nonetheless, all the time because that's the way life is; and it is so much worse with this prostate type of cancer, which claims close to twenty six to twenty seven thousand or more American lives every year.
It is not for want of treatments to intervene with the condition, and it is not for want of capable physicians and oncologists offering the best of prostate cancer therapies; it's just that the available therapies for this cancer of the prostate are so limited in their capacity to manage the disease.
Sure, up to ninety percent of those who are diagnosed with prostate cancer get to live up to ten years cancer-free after the treatment has been concluded, but really, this is only possible when the diagnosis is done for the early stages of the disease. Also, although the risk factors of this prostate disease are known, one might often wonder if there actually are ways to guarantee that one never gets the cancer.
And that brings us to the subject of alternative or alternate prostate cancer treatments and medicines. Not that alternative remedies for prostate type of cancer would guarantee that you never catch prostate cancer, or that you will be perfectly cured by them, or that once the cancerous tissues are removed you'd never have to worry again about the disease; merely what they offer is a different way by which you can handle the malignancy.
See Prostate Cancer Alternative Medicines Treatment and Proton Therapy for Prostate Cancer as well as other completely FREE tips and strategies to surviving prostate cancer, as offered in these links. With the prevalence of the condition, more and more workable solutions are being found, including new therapies and treatments that are promising, such as in the above links.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=King_J._For
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Prostate Cancer - Incidence, Symptoms, Causation, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prognosis
Prostatic cancer is the most common cancer in men over the age of fifty. Adenocarcinoma is the most common form. Prostate cancers seldom produce symptoms until the cancer is in the advanced stage so early diagnosis is essential as in the early stages the disease is curable.
Location and Function The Prostate is an organ forming part of the male reproductive system. It is located immediately below the bladder and just in front of the bowel. Its main function is to produce fluid which protects and enriches sperm.
In younger men the prostate is about the size of a walnut. It is dough nut shaped as it surrounds the beginning of the urethra, the tube that conveys urine from the bladder to the penis. The nerves that control erections surround the prostate.
Signs and Symptoms
• Waking frequently at night to urinate • Sudden or urgent need to urinate • Difficulty in starting to urinate • Slow flow of urine and difficulty in stopping • Discomfort when urinating • Painful ejaculation • Blood in the urine or semen • Decrease in libido (sex urge) • Reduced ability to get an erection
Most men tend to accept the onset of one or more of these symptoms as being a natural consequence of aging. However, anyone experiencing any of the above symptoms is advised to consult a doctor without delay. Early expert diagnosis and treatment is important and may avert potentially serious health consequences.
Prostate cancer is usually one of the slower growing cancers. In the past, it was most frequently encountered in men over 70, and many of those men died of other causes before their prostate cancer could kill them. This led to the old saying "most men die with, not of, prostate cancer".
However, that is certainly is not true today. Three developments have changed things considerably:
• Men are living longer, giving the cancer more time to spread beyond the prostate, with potentially fatal consequences. • More men in their early sixties, fifties and even forties are being detected with prostate cancer. Earlier on-set, combined with the greater male life expectancy, means those cancers have more time to spread and become life-threatening unless diagnosed and treated. • Prostate cancer in younger men often tends to be more aggressive and hence more life-threatening within a shorter time.
Risk Factors and Testing Risk factors for prostate cancer include diets high in fat and low in vegetables. Risk factors include age; 75% of cases are in men over 65 years. Prostate cancer is most often discovered by physical examination or by screening blood tests, such as the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test.
The PSA test measures the blood level of prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme produced by the prostate. The risk of prostate cancer increases with increasing PSA levels.
The majority of men who reach age 85, in fact, have cancerous prostate cells, but the disease is developing so gradually that it never threatens their quality of life.
Genetic factors play a role, particularly for families in whom the diagnosis is made in men under 60 years of age, and the risk of prostate cancer rises with the number of close relatives who have the disease.
Preventative measures Researchers at Harvard University found that men who ate cooked tomatoes or foods made with them (tomato sauce or ketchup, for instance) more than twice a week were less likely to develop prostate cancer.
Daily use of anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen may decrease prostate cancer risk. Frequent ejaculations also seem to have a definite protective effect against Prostrate cancer.
Many prostate cancers are not destined to be lethal, and most men will ultimately die from causes other than of the disease. Because many prostate tumors are slow growing, survival rates are excellent when the disease is detected in its early stages.
Treatment The most appropriate treatment is primarily determined by the stage and aggressiveness (how quickly it is growing and spreading) of the disease when it is discovered. Detecting prostate cancer early is the key to beating the disease. Many factors affect the decision whether or not to treat the disease: the patient's age, whether the cancer has spread, the presence of other medical conditions, and the patient's overall health.
Treatment for prostate cancer may involve watchful waiting, surgery, radiation therapy including brachytherapy and external beam radiation, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), chemotherapy, cryosurgery, hormonal therapy, or some combination.
Dick Aronson has a background of over 35 years in various facets of the Healthcare industry. He now runs health sites, including: http://www.healthinnovationsonline.com and http://www.cancerinformation-online.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dick_Aronson
Location and Function The Prostate is an organ forming part of the male reproductive system. It is located immediately below the bladder and just in front of the bowel. Its main function is to produce fluid which protects and enriches sperm.
In younger men the prostate is about the size of a walnut. It is dough nut shaped as it surrounds the beginning of the urethra, the tube that conveys urine from the bladder to the penis. The nerves that control erections surround the prostate.
Signs and Symptoms
• Waking frequently at night to urinate • Sudden or urgent need to urinate • Difficulty in starting to urinate • Slow flow of urine and difficulty in stopping • Discomfort when urinating • Painful ejaculation • Blood in the urine or semen • Decrease in libido (sex urge) • Reduced ability to get an erection
Most men tend to accept the onset of one or more of these symptoms as being a natural consequence of aging. However, anyone experiencing any of the above symptoms is advised to consult a doctor without delay. Early expert diagnosis and treatment is important and may avert potentially serious health consequences.
Prostate cancer is usually one of the slower growing cancers. In the past, it was most frequently encountered in men over 70, and many of those men died of other causes before their prostate cancer could kill them. This led to the old saying "most men die with, not of, prostate cancer".
However, that is certainly is not true today. Three developments have changed things considerably:
• Men are living longer, giving the cancer more time to spread beyond the prostate, with potentially fatal consequences. • More men in their early sixties, fifties and even forties are being detected with prostate cancer. Earlier on-set, combined with the greater male life expectancy, means those cancers have more time to spread and become life-threatening unless diagnosed and treated. • Prostate cancer in younger men often tends to be more aggressive and hence more life-threatening within a shorter time.
Risk Factors and Testing Risk factors for prostate cancer include diets high in fat and low in vegetables. Risk factors include age; 75% of cases are in men over 65 years. Prostate cancer is most often discovered by physical examination or by screening blood tests, such as the PSA (prostate specific antigen) test.
The PSA test measures the blood level of prostate-specific antigen, an enzyme produced by the prostate. The risk of prostate cancer increases with increasing PSA levels.
The majority of men who reach age 85, in fact, have cancerous prostate cells, but the disease is developing so gradually that it never threatens their quality of life.
Genetic factors play a role, particularly for families in whom the diagnosis is made in men under 60 years of age, and the risk of prostate cancer rises with the number of close relatives who have the disease.
Preventative measures Researchers at Harvard University found that men who ate cooked tomatoes or foods made with them (tomato sauce or ketchup, for instance) more than twice a week were less likely to develop prostate cancer.
Daily use of anti-inflammatory medicines such as aspirin, ibuprofen, or naproxen may decrease prostate cancer risk. Frequent ejaculations also seem to have a definite protective effect against Prostrate cancer.
Many prostate cancers are not destined to be lethal, and most men will ultimately die from causes other than of the disease. Because many prostate tumors are slow growing, survival rates are excellent when the disease is detected in its early stages.
Treatment The most appropriate treatment is primarily determined by the stage and aggressiveness (how quickly it is growing and spreading) of the disease when it is discovered. Detecting prostate cancer early is the key to beating the disease. Many factors affect the decision whether or not to treat the disease: the patient's age, whether the cancer has spread, the presence of other medical conditions, and the patient's overall health.
Treatment for prostate cancer may involve watchful waiting, surgery, radiation therapy including brachytherapy and external beam radiation, High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU), chemotherapy, cryosurgery, hormonal therapy, or some combination.
Dick Aronson has a background of over 35 years in various facets of the Healthcare industry. He now runs health sites, including: http://www.healthinnovationsonline.com and http://www.cancerinformation-online.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dick_Aronson
Monday, March 30, 2009
PROSTATE CANCER TREATMENT
Prostate cancer is a complex heterogeneous disease that acts differently in different men. Therefore, treatment varies amongst individuals. A wide array of treatments exists for prostate cancer, which includes surgery, radiation, hormone deprivation therapy, chemotherapy, dietary changes and the use of various herbal supplements.
A patient may undergo hormonal therapy to reduce the level of testosterone in the body. Drugs that reduce testosterone production by the testicles like Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone (LH-RH) agonists are administered. The effect is not immediate and occurs 2-4 weeks after initiation of the therapy. Orchiectomy or castration is a surgical procedure that completely removes the testicles. It produces an immediate and permanent reduction in testosterone. Another alternative hormonal treatment is the use of hormone-blocking drugs, called antiandrogens. Antiandrogens like flutamide and nilutamide block the body’s ability to use androgens, such as testosterone.
Surgeons may use different techniques to remove the prostate. Surgical removal of the entire prostate gland is called radical prostatectomy. Radical prostatectomy is usually performed to remove early-stage prostate cancer that has not yet spread to other parts of the body. Side effects after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer include incontinence and impotence. Cryosurgery, in which liquid nitrogen is used to freeze and kill prostate cancer cells is a common procedure. During cryosurgery, a warming catheter is inserted through the penis and this protects the urethra.
Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy x-rays or subatomic particles to kill cancer cells. The rays may either be beamed from a machine or emitted by radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate.
Chemotherapy is also used to destroy cancer cells. Drugs are introduced into the body via the blood stream. The drugs work by destroying those cells that divide or grow rapidly. The most common side effects of chemotherapy are tiredness, nausea and hair loss.
Watchful waiting also known as “observation” is an option that physicians may use. The patients receive no active treatment unless symptoms appear. They may be asked to schedule regular medical checkups and report any new symptoms to the doctor immediately.
According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year relative survival rate for patients where cancer is detected while still in the local and regional stage is almost 100%.
Prostate provides detailed information on Prostate, Prostate Cancer, Prostate Health, Prostate Cancer Treatment and more. Prostate is affiliated with Prostate Cancer Treatments.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Romando
A patient may undergo hormonal therapy to reduce the level of testosterone in the body. Drugs that reduce testosterone production by the testicles like Luteinizing Hormone-Releasing Hormone (LH-RH) agonists are administered. The effect is not immediate and occurs 2-4 weeks after initiation of the therapy. Orchiectomy or castration is a surgical procedure that completely removes the testicles. It produces an immediate and permanent reduction in testosterone. Another alternative hormonal treatment is the use of hormone-blocking drugs, called antiandrogens. Antiandrogens like flutamide and nilutamide block the body’s ability to use androgens, such as testosterone.
Surgeons may use different techniques to remove the prostate. Surgical removal of the entire prostate gland is called radical prostatectomy. Radical prostatectomy is usually performed to remove early-stage prostate cancer that has not yet spread to other parts of the body. Side effects after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer include incontinence and impotence. Cryosurgery, in which liquid nitrogen is used to freeze and kill prostate cancer cells is a common procedure. During cryosurgery, a warming catheter is inserted through the penis and this protects the urethra.
Radiation therapy involves the use of high-energy x-rays or subatomic particles to kill cancer cells. The rays may either be beamed from a machine or emitted by radioactive seeds implanted in the prostate.
Chemotherapy is also used to destroy cancer cells. Drugs are introduced into the body via the blood stream. The drugs work by destroying those cells that divide or grow rapidly. The most common side effects of chemotherapy are tiredness, nausea and hair loss.
Watchful waiting also known as “observation” is an option that physicians may use. The patients receive no active treatment unless symptoms appear. They may be asked to schedule regular medical checkups and report any new symptoms to the doctor immediately.
According to the American Cancer Society, the five-year relative survival rate for patients where cancer is detected while still in the local and regional stage is almost 100%.
Prostate provides detailed information on Prostate, Prostate Cancer, Prostate Health, Prostate Cancer Treatment and more. Prostate is affiliated with Prostate Cancer Treatments.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Romando
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