Last month, we mentioned Pink October on the fight and prevention of breast cancer, which is of paramount importance for women and which is currently a matter of public health concern.
This November we want to talk about prostate cancer, which currently claims the lives of many men in all age groups. Despite the easy prevention and combat, we still find a lot of prejudice derived from machismo and, therefore, there are many cases in Spain and around the world.
The World Health Organization, a UN body that focuses on the health of the world population, is alarmed by the percentage of this pathology, which has increased significantly in recent decades, basically due to the lack of information and awareness of modern man. It is in sixth place as the most common pathology in the world and the one with the highest incidence in males.
About ¾ of the cases in the world are associated with men over the age of 65 years. There is always a great chance of curing this pathology, as long as it is treated at the beginning, thus reducing the incidence of death.
In Spain, prostate cancer is the fourth leading cause of death, which makes clear the great taboo that exists among men about, mainly, their reproductive system.
The prostate is a gland responsible for the production of semen, essential for male fertility and for the elimination of urine.
We can point out that a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and cereals and reduction of fat, mainly of animal origin, collaborates in a decisive way to combat this evil.
The most common symptomatology for prostate cancer is difficulty urinating, altered urination frequency and decreased flow, and not ruling out in any way the precedent of a family history of the disease, and the age to perform preventive exams.
The great prejudice and difficulty of men is in relation to the test, which is unpleasant, but is the most effective for detecting the disease, which is the Digital Rectal examination together with the PSA test, which, translated into Portuguese, means Prostatic Specific Antigen. This exam analyzes the increase in the protein produced by the prostate, which can characterize an indication of the disease. In addition, there are no exams that replace the ones mentioned above.
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The Spanish Society of Urology recommends that the exams begin to be performed on patients aged 45 years or older, and that they mainly undergo an annual prostate exam – which greatly reduces the incidence of the disease.
I write this article primarily to reassure men of the importance of such measures for health. Today, with all the resources available in the case of prostate cancer detection, there are many ways to fight it, from the beginning, as mentioned above, because excellent results are achieved, which provides for the extinction of the disease and the recovery of health as one all.
