Prostate cancer

With all the hype going on around social media about 'Movember', we feel there is a need to look past the moustache parade into the deeper reason for this drive. In two words, men's health.

Movember demands men to grow their moustaches for the whole month of November to raise awareness and inspire donations on men's health. And the biggest health risk concerning 'only' men right now is prostate cancer.
Maya believes in a holistic approach to wellness, family, and society. While our focus is on women, we also support campaigns for men's health and well-being because we see the importance of men in our lives and their support that has shaped women's lives.

What is a prostrate?
The prostate is a small gland in the pelvis found only in men. About the size of a walnut, it is located between the penis and the bladder. It surrounds the urethra, a tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis.
The main function of the prostate is to help in the production of semen. It produces a thick white fluid that is mixed with the sperm produced by the testicles, to create semen.

Causes of prostate cancer
Like all the other cancers, prostate cancer does not have any specific cause. However, there are a number of risk factors which are well established to be linked to prostate cancer. These include- advancing age (all men above 45 should undergo periodic prostatic examinations regularly), family history ( a close relative with any form of cancer) and obesity     sedentary lifestyle.

When to get yourself examined?
Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs you have it for many years.
Symptoms often only become apparent when your prostate is large enough to affect the urethra (a tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis). When this happens, you may notice symptoms such as: needing to urinate more frequently, often during the night, needing to rush to the toilet, difficulty in starting to urinate (hesitancy), straining or taking a long time while urinating, a  weak flow and feeling that your bladder has not emptied fully after urinating.

Keep in mind that these signs do NOT conclusively mean you have prostate cancer. It is more likely they are caused by something else, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), which is when the prostate just grows in size and becomes larger without any cancer.

What to do when you have the above signs and symptoms?
The best course of action is to immediately visit a doctor. The doctor shall rule out prostate cancer by- tests that measure the level of PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) in your blood, checking your urine sample for infections, per rectal prostate examination or doing an ultrasonogram of the whole abdomen

If you what you have is malignant, there are various methods o f treatment depending on the stage of advancement of cancer. Treatments include complete removal of prostate, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, radio-chemotherapy or maybe hormonal therapy.

For many men with prostate cancer, treatment is not immediately necessary. If the condition is pre-cancerous and not causing symptoms, a policy of "watchful waiting" or "active surveillance" may be adopted. This involves carefully monitoring your condition via periodic checkups by your doctor. Remember, all cancers are treatable if detected early. If you are facing any of the problems listed above, please visit a doctor as soon as possible. If you don't know where to start, you can always write to us at our website www.maya.com.bd for any query.
Happy Movember everyone! Spread the message and help raise prostate cancer awareness!