I know eh year during my annual physical Authentic Bernie Kosar Elite Jersey , my doctor and I have to joke about how eh of us looks forward to the highlight of the session which is rolling over on my side so he and his finger can take a ort journey into my ‘dark inside’ to see that all is well with this little organ we know as the prostate gland.The ft is that we wouldn’t give the prostate a second thought if it wasn’t that we’ve heard that it is a source of big troubles for us as we age. The infamous rectal exam is funny in small talk over a couple of beers, but all laughter stops when prostate and cancer are used in the sa sentence.What Is the Prostate?The prostate is a gland, which is located at the base of the penis, in front of the rectum, surrounds the urethra (tube connecting bladder to genitals), and produces seminal fluid. It assists in transporting sperm and urine out of the body through the penis. So, it’s a kind of important thingie to keep working properly.Let’s briefly survey so things in order to get a better idea what the likelihood of prostate cancer (PC) and our options ould we get it.Who Gets It?Doctors have yet to pinpoint the cause of PC but certain lifestyles and good old geics are known to increase our chances of developing prostate cancer. Look over this ort list of ftors.A) Age: Higher the number larger the prostate, literally, oftentis, and higher the probability of being diagnosed with it. The dian age for PC is 70.5 years of age. Typically not a young-man’s cancer.B) Re: So research suggests that African Arican n are 1.6 tis more likely than Caucasian n to develop PC, whereas Asian Aricans have a very small chance of ever developing PC.C) Geics: Your risk of developing PC can be up o or three tis greater due to hereditary ftors. Unfortunately, unless a family mber tually has a serious bout with this cancer or dies from it Authentic Bernie Kosar Browns Jersey , we don’t hear all that much about it. People simply don’t talk about it as much as other illnesses.D) STDs: A recent study suggested that those who have contrted sexually transmitted diseases have a greater chance of developing PC.E) Diet: Consumption of fatty foods and obesity are suspected contributors to the growth of the prostate and later problems associated with it.How Do You Know You Have It?Uh, you won’t! That is, there are no obvious symptoms for early stage PC and this ft highlights the importance of getting one of those rectal-probing doctors to do his or her thing. Takes only a mont anyhow, and it’s not painful, so just DOOOO it!When the disease has progressed any number of warning signs can erge. So mon symptoms include difficulty urinating, increased urge or frequency of urination, weak pressure while urinating, blood in the urine, pain in urination, constant feeling of a full bladder andor pain while urinating. This is not the full list. These are normally symptoms of a more advanced condition, so getting checked is the best way to detect early developnt.Part of the problem is that an enlarged prostate is not synonymous with cancer. Hence, the importance of testing and a proper diagnosis.How Is Testing Done?Aside from the infamous ‘finger-up-your-rear’ option (properly called a ‘digital rectal exam’) Authentic Bernie Kosar Womens Jersey , a blood test is mon as well. The blood is tested for a prostate specific antigen (PSA), ingeniously referred to as a PSA test. It is THE test used and seems about as controversial as it is mon. The debate centers on its aury in detecting prostate cancer. So argue it mis-diagnoses as often as it gets it right. As a result, a lot of unnecessary additional testing is done based on a ‘false’ positive. This was my case.Doctors admit the controversy (and the unreliability of the test), but usually argue that we have nothing better at this point. If the PSA score oots above a certain reading, then the doctor may rend that a biopsy be done.Now you have to prepare for further hassle and humiliation – you bare your butt and ‘private parts’ to more and more strangers in the na of... sothing, I forgot what extly... oh yeah, our wellness! Yes, so at this stage they’ll use real pieces of hardware to ove up your rectum in the na of getting a better look.Then, in layman’s lingo here, the surgeon, with the aid of the ultrasound technology inserted into your rectum from which to ‘see’ what he’s doing, oots needle-like probes through the rectal wall into different parts of the prostate gland. I say oots Womens Bernie Kosar Browns Jersey , as in my experience that is what it sort of sounded like in my half-groggy state during my ‘oot’ a year or so ago.While there was so disfort in this procedure, it certainly wasn’t as disturbing as the later ‘everything was red’ experiences. I had blood in everything – urine, seminal fluids and feces. Oh goodie!While the bleeding ould stop within a day or o or less, the remnants of this event will stay in the seminal fluid for multiple ejulations – I say again, multiple ejulations. The material I read for this article stated that only rarely will there be blood in these areas. Well, for , there was a lot.So experts argue for less invasive testing thods such as sonograms, even CAT scans or an MRI. Ask your doctor about your options.What Are So Treatnt Options?The progression of the cancer is determined based on the size, location and extent of spread of the cancer. Stage I & II can normally be determined by the initial tests and normally ans that it has not moved beyond the prostate gland - which is good news. Where as Stages III & IV an the cancer has spread beyond the prostate gland to other tissues or has spread to the lymph nodes.Once the stage of the tumor is determined the treatnt options are laid out on the table. All treatnts will have so potential side effects associated with them that will be about as easy to swallow as the whole ‘red pill - blue pill’ scenario - so t