Prostate cancer is treated in a few different ways, mainly being surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy. It’s important to remember that each person is different, as will the treatment program they enter. It’s important to base treatment off of their doctor’s advice, along with the age of the patient, and what state of cancer the patient has.

Early Warning Signs for Prostate Cancer

There are a couple of signs that are key to detecting prostate cancer in its early stages. If you notice any of the following symptoms, and especially if you notice multiple symptoms, you should contact your doctor as soon as possible. These symptoms include:

• difficulty urinating
• blood in our urine
• a need to urinate more often than usual
• pain in your pelvis, lower back, or upper thigh area
• a burning or powerful painful sensation while urinating

Keep in mind that these symptoms can also be a sign of many other non-cancerous diseases and that if you are experience them, a visit to the doctor should be in your near future.

Who Should Get A Prostate Cancer Screening?

There are a couple of different high risk groups that should be screened for prostate cancer if they haven’t been screened yet. The American Cancer Society also recommends that you discuss with your doctor about screening for early detection starting at the age of 50 if they are at average risk for the disease. If you are in one of the following high risk groups, the AMS recommends discussing early detection screenings at age 45.

High Risk Groups include:

• African American men
• Men with a first-degree relative (their father, son, or bother, etc) that has been diagnosed at an early age (before the age of 65).

If you have had multiple first degree relatives diagnosed with prostate cancer, The American Cancer Society recommends discussing early screening options with your doctor as early as age 40.

A kidney stone is a hard, crystalline mineral material that is found within the kidney or urinary tract. Kidney stones often cause hurtful and severe pain in the groin, flank, or abdomen. Kidney stones are a common cause of hematuria, or having blood in urine. When a person has a kidney stone, the condition is known as nephrolithiasis. A kidney stone located in the urinary tract is known as urolithiasis, and a kidney stone located in the ureters is known as ureterolithiasis. Rice and Lake Urology is the leader in the Columbus, Georgia area for the treatment of kidney stones.

Who is at risk for kidney stones?

It’s possible for anyone to develop a kidney stone, but there are certain groups of people that are more at risk than others. These groups of people include those with certain conditions and diseases, or those or are taking certain medications. Most people who develop kidney stones will develop them while they are between the ages of 20 and 49, and it’s estimated that at some point in their lives, 1 out of every 10 people living in the United States will develop kidney stones at some points in their lives. Some people are more prone to developing kidney stones multiple times in their life when they first develop kidney stones between their second or third decade of life.

For residents of industrialized countries, kidney stones are more common than bladder stones. For developing countries, the opposite is true, and bladder stones develop more commonly than kidney stones. The cause for this is believed to be related to the diets of those living in the different countries. For males, urinary tract stones are about three times more common than in females. The chance of developing a kidney stone for a male begins to rise when a male reaches their 40s, and it continues to climb as they age into their 70s. For those who have already developed a kidney stone, they are more likely to develop a stone again. Family history and kidney stones also play a part in who is at risk for developing kidney stones. Caucasians and Asians are more likely to develop a kidney stone than Africans, African Americans, or Native Americas.

Urinary Tract Infections affect approximately between 8 and 10 million people a year in the United States. The condition is much more common with women that men, although these reasons are not fully known. The shorter female urethra is suspected to be the cause of this. Younger men and young boys very rarely get an UTI. The percentage of women in the United States who get an UTI is at 20%, and out of those, 20% have a recurrence. In children that a younger than 2, UTIs are more common.

What Causes a UTI?

In adults, about 80% of urinary tract infections are caused by Escherichia coli (E. Coli). While this bacteria is normally present in the colon, they may enter the urethral opening from the skin that is around the anus and genitals. A women’s urethral opening is near the source of the bacteria (the anus, vagina) and their urethras or shorter, so this may be the cause of why women are more prone to the infection. The shorter urethra gives bacteria a shorter access path to the bladder.

There are other bacteria that can cause UTIs. The bacteria Staphylococcus saprophyticus causes between 5% – 15% of UTIs. Chlamydia trachomatis and Mycoplasma hominis also can cause a urinary tract infection. Both men and women can transmit the infection to their partner during sexual intercourse if they are infected with Chlamydia trachomatis or Mycoplasma hominis. Some women, for reasons still unknown, can have receive a UTI from regular sexual intercourse with a partner that isn’t infected with Chlamydia trachomatis or Mycoplasma hominis. Women that use a diaphragm statistically develop infections more often.

For infants, dirty diapers can develop bacteria that enter the urethra and cause a UTI.

Anatomy of the Prostate

The prostate gland is located below the bladder within the pelvis, above the urethral sphincter and the penis. In men, it is in front of the rectum. It is made of muscle fibers and glandular tissue that surround a portion of the urethra. A membrane called the prostate capsule covers the prostate gland and produces a prostate-specific antigen.

Overview of Prostate Cancer

Diagnosed prostate cancer cases have been rising rapidly in recent years, with it occurring in 1 out of 6 men. African American men are the highest at risk group, while Native American and Asian men have the lowest risk. As age increases, the risk for developing prostate cancer rises. Over 60% of newly diagnosed cases occur in men over the age of 70.