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| Columnists | | Cancer of the prostate is for men only | Dr. ALI MZIGE
Daily News; Saturday,September 27, 2008 @20:02
| An interesting comparison for men and women, the possibility of suffering from breast cancer is obvious. The men’s breast cancer may be more serious and aggressive than the female breast cancer.
The only exception and exemption is for women, they will never suffer from cancer of the prostate because they have no prostate gland. Bravo to MEWATA they are checking and examining their fellow women for breast cancer and I hope for cancer of the cervix as well.
Where are the MEMATA members (Medical Males Association of Tanzania) to check and screen their fellow males for cancer of the prostate? We are left behind; we need to catch the band wagon now.
Among men in the United States, prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second most common cause of cancer death. The chance of developing prostate cancer increases with age and is greater for African-Americans and Hispanics, men whose close relatives had the disease, and men receiving testosterone treatment.
My fellow Tanzanian males, if the male African-American has it in the US why not the male African Tanzanian not have it? It is three years now since the National Health Insurance Fund had proposed to the Government through Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the health services of the fund is extended to those who retired and were contributing to the fund.
My message is get those bills done, the elderly retired are now tired and depressed cannot cope with the medical expenses for diabetes, high blood pressure and now cannot be screened for prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly and may take decades to produce symptoms. Thus, far more men have prostate cancer than die from it. Many men with prostate cancer die without ever knowing that the cancer was present.
Prostate cancer begins as a small bump in the gland. Most prostate cancers grow very slowly and never cause symptoms. Some, however, grow rapidly or spread outside the prostate. The cause of prostate cancer is not known.
If your father had cancer of the prostate, it is no wonder and no guarantee as a son you may develop it at an old age, when? I have no answer. Do not panic look for MEMATA members if they are around to guide and give you advice.
Prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage. Sometimes, symptoms similar to those of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) develop; the symptoms are the three Ds we used to name in the old medical school days- dash-delay-dribble.
One rushes (dash) to pass urine, when you zip down the urine does not come out easily (delay) and when it comes out it comes out in (michirizi) dribbling.
We used to joke and say the guy is a retired fireman fighter-cannot extinguish the fire with his hoarse pipe. The symptoms of the three Ds are also accompanied by need to urinate frequently and with pain when passing water.
Usually the symptoms do not develop until the cancer grows large enough to compress the urethra and partially block the flow of urine. Later prostate cancer may cause bloody urine or sudden inability to urinate. Young male doctors and clinicians watch out.
Time will come when you may be one of the clients who need screening and examination for the prostate. In some men, symptoms of prostate cancer develop after it spreads (metastasizes). The areas most often affected by cancer spread are bone (typically the pelvis, ribs, or vertebrae) and the kidneys.
Bone cancer tends to be painful and may weaken the bone enough for it to easily fracture. Prostate cancer can also spread to the brain, which eventually causes seizures (degedege) confusion, headaches, weakness, or other neurologic symptoms.
Spread to the spinal cord, which is also common, can cause numbness, weakness, or incontinence (failure to control urine flow). After the cancer spreads, anemia is common. To screen for prostate cancer, a doctor performs a blood test and a digital rectal examination. If the man has prostate cancer, a doctor sometimes feels a lump in the prostate gland. The lump is often hard.
A blood test is performed to measure the level of prostate specific antigen (PSA), a substance that is usually elevated in men with prostate cancer. PSA levels can be misleading: they can be normal when prostate cancer is present or elevated when prostate cancer is absent.
The best can be done to these clients is to go on further with other tests like ultrasound, full blood picture and Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR). Needle biopsy can be done to confirm the diagnosis of cancer.
The cancer treatment including surgery needs to be discussed with the doctor and the patient with family members. Always there are grey areas where family members have wrong concept of cancer treatment because of the disease process that takes time to be diagnosed and patient’s referral to a centre where treatment can be given especially and in particular Ocean Road Cancer Institute.
Palliative treatment for chronically ill patients like those suffering from AIDS/HIV need to be established within our communities. It needs training; understanding and whatever resources are available are used.
If the communities know about the chronic diseases care and treatment, the belief that there is witchcraft within the mysteries of these unspoken diseases should be communicated to the family members. Education is an answer to most of these chronic diseases. | | View Visitor's comments on this Story
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