Older Men Tend To Get Less Effective Care For Prostate Cancer

Just because a person is old, he should not be prevented from receiving treatment for prostate cancer. Treatment measures such as surgery and radiation therapy are common protocols adopted for treating men having prostate cancer. However, a recent study conducted in the US shows that if men are more than 75 years old, they tend to get less effective treatment compared to younger men with the same problem.
The study was conducted by the University of California in San Francisco and the researchers claim that from their findings it appears as though older men (more than 75 years) are usually under treated for prostate cancer and this could be the reason why there is a higher rate of mortality among this particular category of men.

Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly occurring cancers in men. In the US around 160 men out 100,000 develop this kind of cancer each and year and prostate cancer is responsible for killing a sixth of the diagnosed patients.
For this study, data from across the country was studied and involved 12,000 men suffering from prostate cancer. The researchers found sixty percent of men, who were 75 years old, received just hormone therapy for the cancer although this therapy is not believed to be a cure, and eight percent of the men in the same age group did not receive any treatment but their progress was followed by their oncologists.

On the other hand, just 18 percent to 26 percent of younger men with this cancer were given hormone therapy and just 1 percent of them were put on the wait and watch list.
This led the researchers to conclude that older men with the cancer are treated differently from younger men. And that age is the driving factor for receiving cancer treatment rather than the risk.

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Posted in: Prostate Cancer

Risk Of Prostate Cancer

Studies reveal that there are many risk factors for causing Prostate cancer. We will see in the details given below what these factors are.

Age: 

This is most common and strongly proven risk factor. It is very less frequent amongst people who are below the age of 40. But as soon as one's age advances 50 or more, the chances of one having it increases rapidly. It is found that in every 3 such cases, 2 are found to be in the people who are above the age of 65.
Race: African or American people who are of a black race are more prone to this cancer as compare to people of other races. Apart from this, it is found more commonly in non-Hispanic whites as compared to Asian-American or Hispanic/Latino race.

Nationality: 

The most frequent cases of Prostate cancer are observed in countries like North America, North Western Europe or Australia as compared to countries like Asia, Africa, Central America or South America.
Lifestyle: The lifestyle of people as in the diet, various habits followed by people also matters a lot. The people in Asia who live a more descent and healthier lifestyle are less prone to this cancer as compared to those who live a non healthy lifestyle. Men who consume a high quantity of red meat or dairy products which are high in their fat content are more prone to this cancer. Also men consuming small amounts of fruits or vegetables are more susceptible to Prostate cancer. It is also found that men who consume lots of calcium as supplements have a greater risk of having it.
Family history/Inheritance:

Inheritance or genetic factor also matters a lot. A person who already has a father or brother having it is more susceptible to the cancer as compared to the one who does not have anyone affected in the family. An affected brother is normally more risky as compared to an affected father. Also people whose relatives are already affected are more prone to having Prostate cancer. Certain genes are inherited from the ancestors which are responsible for causing prostate cancer. People having Prostate cancer are found to have some variations and abnormalities in their genes. Some genes which commonly show inherited mutations are BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. These are responsible for causing most of the these cancers.

Obesity:

It is found that people who are obese, do not have any physical activity or have a high amount of fat or cholesterol in their bodies have a higher risk of having Prostate cancer. It is observed that people who exercise regularly are less prone to having Prostate cancer.

Infection: 

It is found that people who suffer from sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhea or Chlamydia have a higher risk of having prostate cancer. Also, men who had a vasectomy done earlier, specially young men below 35 have a slightly increased risk of having prostate cancer.

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Posted in: Prostate Cancer

Prostate Cancer - Part 3

Anyone who has heard of this form of cancer knows that pancreatic cancer is an extremely aggressive type. Most people with this form of the disease die in a matter of months, not years, after being diagnosed. The fact that this guy made it well past six months with this disease clearly illustrates how tough he was. I also understand that he was always positive throughout the process in spite of the medical statistics, which undoubtedly helped sustain him for so long after his diagnosis.

There was no way I could keep myself from participating in this race. First, I love to run so that made it easy. But I knew there would be positive energy flowing at the race and I wanted to be part of it and to support this worthy cause. I found comfort in knowing that even though my friend was the only one at the race who knew my diagnosis, I was putting up the good fight, not letting my situation control me. So at around 6:00 am one Saturday morning in May, 2007, I woke up and got myself on the road to the race. I remember that it was a beautiful sunny morning and the temperature was around 70 degrees F. My directions had me traveling down Route 84 to Route 9, through Midddletown, CT. Route 9 runs along the Connecticut River for a ways and that made this portion of my trip very scenic. You might say I was on a sort of pilgrimage. One that had me being thankful for being alive and able to enjoy the day and this special race.
Despite making one wrong turn on the course, which I quickly realized after a small group of runners behind me yelled to several of us wayward runners, "Hey, it's this way!", everything went smoothly. At the very end of the race course, there's a 60 foot water crossing that you have to navigate across. There's a rope across the water which you can use to pull yourself along or you could just swim it. My friend had told me about this part of the course and I was very curious to see it myself. It turned out to be a nice way to cleanse the sweat and mud from my body so I welcomed it. In the end, I finished around 23rd out of 150 runners that day. Not too bad for a guy with cancer. But my point for sharing this part of my story is that I was determined to tough it out and not let this thing control me like my friend's friend. With prostate cancer, I wasn't faced with the overwhelming negative survival statistics associated with pancreatic and certain other forms of cancer. I guess you could say I was lucky from that perspective.

Two weeks later, I met with a doctor at Hartford Hospital to go over pre-operational procedures and to answer a few questions. The doctor asked me about a number of things, including what I did for a living and how I stay in shape. He was very positive when I explained that I run. He said that the surgery is somewhat easier to perform with patients that aren't overweight and are in good shape. That made me feel really good.

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Posted in: Prostate Cancer