Prostate Cancer Symptoms and Causes

The prostate gland is part of the reproductive system in men and helps to create and store seminal fluid. In adult males, the prostate size is about 3 centimeters in length, and the weight is about twenty grams. The prostate gland is located in the pelvis, in front of the rectum and under the bladder. This gland surrounds part of the urethra (a tube through which urine leaves the bladder and sperm during ejaculation).

Due to the location of the prostate, its inflammation often affects urination, ejaculation, and sometimes even defecation. The prostate gland contains many small glands, which constitute about twenty percent of the fluid. Normal work of the prostate gland is carried out with the help of male hormones (androgens). Androgens include: testosterone hormone (produced in testicles), dehydroepiandrosterone (produced in the adrenal glands) and dihydrotestosterone (excreted from testosterone in the prostate). Androgens are also responsible for secondary sexual characteristics, such as: facial hair and increased muscle mass.

Prostate cancer, symptoms

This pathology in the initial stages usually develops asymptomatically. However, sometimes prostate cancer produces benign hyperplasia. Hyperplasia can be accompanied by frequent urination, nocturia (frequent urination at night), hematuria (blood in the urine) and dysuria (painful urination). One of the most serious diseases of the male reproductive system is prostate cancer. Symptoms of this disease can be diverse, for example: difficulties in achieving an erection and painful ejaculation.

With a disease like prostate cancer, metastases can affect other organs. Sometimes the cancer can compress the spinal cord with metastases in the spine, thereby causing weakness of the legs, bladder and fecal incontinence. Also, with a pathology such as prostate cancer, symptoms can manifest as pain in the vertebrae (spine bones), pelvis or ribs.

Causes

One of the most serious diseases of the male reproductive system is prostate cancer. The causes of this pathology, unfortunately, are not fully understood and for the most part remain unknown. But the main risk factors are family history and age. The average age at the time of diagnosis is 70 years. Prostate cancer in people younger than 45 years is a very rare phenomenon, but is more common among older men. Nevertheless, many people do not know that they develop prostate cancer; Symptoms often manifest themselves imperceptibly. Pathological studies of Chinese, German, Israeli, Jamaican and Swedish men who died for other reasons revealed prostate cancer among thirty percent of patients at the age of fifty and 80 percent at the age of 70.

In the United States in 2005, there were 230,000 new cases of prostate cancer and 30,000 deaths from prostate cancer. Patients with high blood pressure are more prone to the disease. In addition, according to statistics, men who have no physical exertion are more likely to develop cancer in the prostate gland.

Diagnosis of prostate cancer

The only test that can fully confirm the diagnosis of prostate cancer is biopsy (removal of small pieces of the prostate gland for microscopic examination). The study, conducted in 2010, showed that basal cells of the prostate are the most frequent localization of cancer.

Of course, it is important to assess the extent of prostate cancer. This allows you to get a forecast and determine the choice of an effective method of treatment. It should be remembered that inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis), can increase the likelihood of cancer. In addition, some infections that are sexually transmitted, for example, gonorrhea, chlamydia or syphilis, as well as obesity and an elevated level of testosterone in the blood also contribute to the onset of the disease.