[ HEALTH ]
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE PROSTATE Protecting your prostate, as you age is one of the most important things you can do. Learn how to detect, test, and reduce your risk of getting prostate cancer.
Written by Dr. Johnny R Tice
and screening is so important.
Dr. Johnny R. Tice is a Clinical Assistant Professor at The University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa)-Capstone College of Nursing and serves as the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Concentration Coordinator.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men of all racial and ethnic groups with African American men 1.8 times more likely to be diagnosed with — and 2.2 times more likely to die from — prostate cancer than white men. This translates to about 200,000 new cases and 70,000 + deaths among African American men each year.
As a man, at some point or another you have heard about the infamous prostate gland and the associated “Finger Test,” formally known as the Digital Rectal Exam (DRE), that’s done to evaluate it. Men get squeamish about this test, but there’s a reason why prostate health Prostatitis (Acute Infection/Inflammation) Pain urinating or ejaculating Fever and chills Pelvic pain Needing to urinate more often Cloudy urine
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So, what exactly is the prostate? It’s a small, walnut-shaped gland found only in men located in front of the recBPH (Chronic Enlargement) Urinating frequently, especially at night Difficulty getting a urine stream going Feeling as if you are unable to get all the urine out
tum and under the bladder that produces a fluid partially responsible for semen production. The prostate is expected to grow as we age; however, this growth can be more amplified and uncontrolled for some men than others leading to conditions such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and cancer. Additionally, there can be an acute, short-lived, inflammation state known as “prostatitis,” often caused by sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia tra-
Prostate Cancer Often has no symptoms Can occasionally cause obstruction of urine flow, like BPH. This symptom usually suggests more advanced prostate cancer.
