Belgrave supports work of Prostate Cancer UK
In the wake of prostate cancer claiming our esteemed member Bill Laws, Belgrave are keen to support and promote the great research and work done by Prostate Cancer UK.
For those wishing to learn more about this disease, here is some information:
About the prostate
What is the prostate?
Only men have a prostategland.
It is about the size ofa walnut and tends to get larger as men get older.
Its main function is tohelp make semen.
Theprostate is underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra (the tube that menpass urine through).
Key statistics (UK)
- More than 11,000 men die fromprostate cancer in the UK each year – that's one man every 45 minutes. It’s thethird biggest cancer killer
- It’s the most commonly diagnosedcancer in men, with over 400,000 living with and after the disease
- Prostate cancer is set to become themost commonly diagnosed cancer of all in the UK by 2030
Risk
Only mencan get prostate cancer and the risk factors associated with it are:
• Age: Menover the age of 50 are at higher risk of developing prostate cancer
• Family:you are 2.5 times more likely to develop prostate cancer if your father orbrother has had it.
•Ethnicity: Black men are more likely to get prostate cancer than men of otherethnic backgrounds. In the UK, about 1 in 4 Black men will get prostate cancerat some point in their lives. The reasons for this are not yet clear but mightbe linked to genetics.
•Body weight: Research shows that being overweight or obese increases your riskof getting cancer that’s more likely to spread (called aggressive) or advancedprostate cancer (cancer that has spread outside the prostate
Anyone withconcerns about their risk of prostate cancer should discuss them with their GP.
Symptoms
Many menwith prostate cancer have no symptoms at all. When symptoms do occur, they canbe similar to non-cancerous prostate problems such as an enlarged prostate(also called benign prostatic hyperplasia or enlargement).
Symptomsto look out for include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especiallyat night – for example if you often need to go again after two hours
- Difficulty starting to pass urine
- Straining or taking a long time to finishurinating
- A weak flow of urine
- A feeling that your bladder has notemptied properly
- Needing to rush to the toilet – you mayoccasionally leak urine before you get there
- Dribbling urine
- Getting up in the night more often
Less commonsymptoms of a prostate problem include:
- Pain when passing urine
- Pain when ejaculating
- Problems getting or keeping an erection –this is not a common symptom of a prostate problem and is more often caused byother health conditions
- Blood in the urine or semen
All ofthese can be due to non-cancerous conditions but if you have any of thesymptoms above don’t ignore them and have a chat with your GP who caninvestigate further.
- Anyonewith concerns about a prostate problem or prostatecancer may contact Prostate Cancer UK's Specialist Nurses in confidence on 0800074 8383 (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm, Wed10am-8pm)
- LiveChat online (Mon to Fri 9am-4pm, Wed 10am-8pm)
- TextNURSE to 70004 to ask for a callback
- Visitprostatecanceruk.org/nurses
The PSA test
- The PSA blood test isthe first step to diagnosing the disease and you can request the test fromyour GP if you are over the age of 50.
- If you’re over 45 and have a higher risk ofprostate cancer, for example if you’re black or you have a family historyof it, you might want to talk to your GP about having a PSA test.
- The PSA test isn’t100% accurate and can give ‘false positive’ and ‘false negative’ resultsand so it’s important to talk through the pros and cons of having the testwith your doctor first.
Research
Prostate cancer research is historically underfunded leavingus with lots of questions we don’t know the answers to. Prostate Cancer UK iscommitted to funding research to answer those questions, which is the only waymen will be diagnosed early and survive longer. We can only do this withsignificant funding.