3 Warning Signs That Warrant Prostate Cancer Screening
Prostate cancer is common, especially among aging men globally. Medical professionals advise at-risk patients to go for regular prostate cancer screening to foster timely diagnosis and treatment. For instance, advanced or untreated prostate cancer usually causes cancer to spread from the localized prostate region to body tissues located in other body sites. Moreover, screening is crucial because prostate cancer is treatable upon early detection.
Multiple treatment options are available, including surgical treatment, radiation, hormone therapy, and chemotherapy, depending on the prostate cancer's aggressiveness. Thus, patients often seek consultation from qualified oncologists to determine the most appropriate treatment option. Below are three key indicators of prostate cancer at its onset for people to monitor:
Difficulty Urinating
At its onset, the first key indicator of prostate cancer is experiencing difficulties during urination. Usually, people control the pressure and force of their urine stream without problems when healthy. However, prostate cancer causes people to lose control of their urine streams, causing weak and interrupted urine streams. Prostate cancer causes urination difficulties because the cancerous growth presses on the patient's urethra, causing a problem when passing urine.
Moreover, prostate cancer usually develops in the prostate gland region close to the bladder. Leaving the cancer untreated causes the growth to spread to nearby regions, including the bladder that is responsible for urine storage. Furthermore, prostate cancer causes urine urgency, which causes people to develop the urge to empty their bowels even when there is no urine in the bladder. People experiencing difficulty with urination should go for prostate cancer screening to determine the cause.
Blood in the Urine
Another key indicator of prostate cancer is the presence of blood in the urine. Several causes lead to blood in the urine, including kidney stones, urinary tract infections, and inflammatory conditions affecting the ureter. However, blood present in urine is also a symptom of prostate cancer that develops when cancer cells in the prostate gland grow rapidly. In some cases, blood in the urine is accompanied by severe pain or a burning sensation when passing urine. Therefore, people that observe blood in their urine should visit a hospital for prostate cancer screening to rule out the possibility of prostate cancer as the cause.
Sudden Erectile Dysfunction
Erectile dysfunction is a common problem affecting men as they grow older and has multiple causes, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, and age. However, sudden development of erectile dysfunction often indicates the possibility of cancer cells growing in the prostate. Therefore, people who develop sudden erectile dysfunction and cannot attribute it to lifestyle diseases should seek prostate cancer screening to ensure it does not result from prostate cancer.
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