Worried about Your Prostate Health?

Prostate cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer in men over the age of 50 and in African-American Males over the age of 45 in the United States excluding the skin cancers. As males age the prostate can develop problems. The three most diagnosed conditions in older males related to the prostate are prostatitis, enlargement of the prostate (BPH) and prostate cancer.

Get the facts about the most diagnosed cancers in males over 50 today and the other conditions that may effect the prostate as we age. Learn about the advancements in the screening for prostate cancer of the last 2 decades and when enlargement of the prostate might not be prostate cancer. Being informed on when to get tested for prostate cancer and the other conditions that may effect your prostate is the best way to ensure you know what to expect if you ever have problems with your prostate or have to undergo treatment for prostate cancer.

What is the Prostate? The prostate is a sex gland in men that is located in the abdomen below the bladder at the base of the penis in front of the rectum. It is normally about the size of a golf ball and wraps completely around the urethra, or the tube that runs from the bladder through the penis. What it does is manufacture prostatic fluid, an alkaline fluid which regulates the acidity of semen and protects it from the acids in the reproductive tract of the female. It also acts as a pump during the male orgasm forcing semen in the urethra and doubles as a valve directing both urine and sperm. Not vital organ to live but quite a vital organ for “normal” life.

So what is Cancer? Cancer is a term that doesn't describe a single disease but a group of diseases. These diseases do share one common trait though of uncontrolled cell growth and division. Cell growth and division are controlled by the DNA in each cell. Just about every cell in your body is in a continuous life and death cycle with new cells replacing the old (only exceptions is within the heart and brain) in a process called cellular replication. Normally, the cells in an adult generate just enough new cells to replace the old cells. Basically when a cell that behaves abnormally and “cancerous” it doesn’t stop replicating itself, causing abnormal growth and tumors. Cancerous cells stop performing their original specialized functions and become parasites in the body, consuming energy normally reserved for the normal cells. Cancer spreads when these cancer cells break away from the tumor and enter the bloodstream or lymphatic system. These cells can lodge themselves in another part of the body and continue to replicate causing new tumor growth. Cancer is defined by the place of origination, so if it originates in the prostate, it is called prostate cancer. If it spreads to other areas it is called metastatic prostate cancer.(article by Neville Samson)