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The most common complaint?
Next time you see your father, your uncle, or any older gentleman over age 60 or so, ask them about their prostate.
If you know the guy well enough, and he feels comfortable enough around you, he will perhaps share a whole litany of the common prostate problems that are troubling him, or have troubled him, or will trouble him in the near future.
That is because an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hypertrophy), and even prostate cancer could be in the cards for many men who are past a certain age.
It is a scary but true fact of getting old as a man.
How does it compare to breast cancer?
Do you know that prostate cancer comes after skin cancer on the list of cancers that afflict men, happening in nearly as many men, roughly speaking, as breast cancer in women?
Prostate cancer does not get the press that breast cancer does, however, probably because most men would rather not speak about what’s happening down there.
It would also appear to be a similar case with funding. The National Cancer Foundation spends twice as much funding on breast cancer than on prostate cancer.
The National Institutes of Health spends three times as much on breast cancer than on prostate cancer.
All this, despite the fact that death rates are higher in men for prostate cancer than for women with breast cancer.
Do you know what your prostate is?
Another thing many men don’t know is exactly what that prostate is, or where it is located.
So then, your prostate gland is actually part of your sexual organs. Located just below the bladder in a man, wrapped around the urethra, the prostate is about the size of a walnut. Its main job in sexual activity is to add fluid to your sperm during ejaculation.
Most of the time, men don’t even realize they have a prostate because it is a hidden internal organ, yet they find out fairly quickly what and where their prostate is when they suffer a common prostate problem.
Prostate issues and the under-50s
Do you know that prostate issues aren’t just for older men? That men under 50 can get prostatitis, or an extremely painful infection of their prostate?
This is another common problem with the prostate gland which is a swelling of the prostate that can cause fever, a burning sensation during urination, and fatigue.
According to information provided by the Mayo Clinic, there are more than 200,000 cases each year.
BPH and the over-50s
All men over 50 need to be aware of their number one most common prostate problem, which is an enlarged prostate, or benign prostatic hypertrophy.
This benign, or non-fatal, condition, is actually far more common in older men than prostate cancer, which might give some relief to older men when they know it.
Men need to be aware of the symptoms of benign prostatic hypertrophy, such as
- leaking and dribbling during urination,
- trouble getting started with urination, and
- frequent urination
- excessive urination at night
- even small amounts of blood in the urine.
As an aside, have you noticed the symptoms are quite similar to that of prostate cancer?
And though benign prostatic hypertrophy is more common than prostate cancer, men need to be aware that the two can go hand in hand.
It is not always the case, and many men with an enlarged prostate will never develop cancer.
However, it is good to keep your eyes out for both, because they can have similar symptoms.
So know you know the three common problems of the prostate gland:
- prostatitis,
- benign prostatic hypertrophy/hyperplasia, and
- prostate cancer.
In the next article, we will revisit symptoms as well as risk factors. Some of these might surprise you.
To a better, wiser, stronger – YOU.
Sources:
Common Cancer Types. Located at National Cancer Institute (online), https://www.cancer.gov/types/common-cancers#:~:text=The%20most%20common%20type%20of,are%20combined%20for%20the%20list [Accessed September 18, 2022]
The Prostate Cancer Foundation Reveals the First National Report About Lack Of Basic Prostate Cancer Understanding in The U.S. Located at The Prostate Cancer Foundation (online), https://www.pcf.org/news/the-prostate-cancer-foundation-reveals-the-first-national-report-about-lack-of-basic-prostate-cancer-understanding-in-the-u-s/ [Accessed September 18, 2022]
Prostate Cancer and Testicular Cancer Could Really Use Some Funding. Located at Fatherly.com (online),
https://www.fatherly.com/health-science/prostate-cancer-research-funding-breast-cancer [Accessed September 18, 2022]. This article was originally published on December 4, 2018. It was updated on October 26, 2021.
Prostate Enlargement (Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia). Located at NIH | National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (online), https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/prostate-problems/prostate-enlargement-benign-prostatic-hyperplasia [Accessed September 18, 2022]
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH): Symptoms and Causes. Located at Mayo Clinic (online), https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/benign-prostatic-hyperplasia/symptoms-causes/syc-20370087 [Accessed September 18, 2022]
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