November 8, 2016.
Prostate cancer is scary. And for good reason, it kills nearly 10,000 men per year. However, it is one of the diseases that can be cured when taken in time.
What is the prostate?
When we think of prostate cancer, we fear its effects on health and virility, we fear pain, we fear treatment. Corn we don’t really know the prostate as such. It is a gland that is part of the male reproductive system.
According to the explanations of the site www.prostate.fr, “ It is located under the bladder, in front of the rectum, it surrounds the urethral canal which carries urine from the bladder to the outside. This position explains the urinary problems of the prostate. The role of the prostate is to produce prostatic fluid (storage in seminal vesicles). This liquid is part of the composition of semen by mixing with the sperm from the testes. “.
Early screenings
When cancer sets in there, traces of blood are found in the urine. But, before reaching such a stage, early screenings exist and become regular for people aged 50 and over. The first screening test is the PSA test. Professor Desgrandchamps, urologist at Saint-Louis hospital in Paris, explains: “ The PSA test is a blood test that looks for the presence of a specific protein. But it is like a large net with too small a mesh: by revealing a rate higher than normal, it is the revealer of all prostate diseases. Whether it is benign disorders, infections, adenomas (benign tumors) or aggressive cancers. ” The second test is the digital rectal examination. Dreaded by patients, it is very useful or even essential to detect an anomaly.
If there are any doubts, an MRI and a biopsy will follow so as not to miss a diagnosis. And if there is cancer, it will not necessarily be cured, because not all of them necessarily require treatment. But we will not have missed a dangerous case. And it is of course possible to avoid it by having a healthy lifestyle: not too much red meat, more vegetables (cabbage and tomatoes), avoid a sedentary lifestyle and favor a fulfilling sex life. And as Professor Grandchamps reminds us, “ Anything that’s good for the heart is good for the prostate “.
Read also : Prevention of prostate cancer
