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ARTICLES
Are you at Risk for Prostate Cancer?
Prostate cancer strikes 1 in 6 American men. If the cancer is caught
at its earliest stages, most men will not experience any symptoms.
Knowing more about the prostate and prostate cancer is the first step
in coming to terms with a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
While age, ethnicity and family history help determine who will get
prostate cancer, other causes are poorly understood. Diabetes, cardiovascular
conditions and obesity have been associated with prostate cancer but
the evidence has not been consistent.
Day after day, the effects of dietary and lifestyle changes on the development
and progression of prostate cancer are being discussed and explored by
leading researchers in the field.
The older you are, the more likely you are to be diagnosed with prostate
cancer. In fact, more than 65% of all prostate cancers are diagnosed
in men over the age of 65.
As men age, the prostate may become a source of various problems of
which cancer is only one. The three most common problems are inflammation
(prostatitis), prostate enlargement (benign prostatic hyperplasia), and
prostate cancer.
The most common misconception about the risk of prostate cancer is that
the presence of non-cancerous conditions of the prostate increase the
risk of prostate cancer. Even high levels of sexual activity or frequent
ejaculation have been rumored to increase prostate cancer risk. This
is untrue.
Being diagnosed with prostate cancer can be a life-altering experience.
It requires making some very difficult decisions about treatments that
can affect not only the life of the man diagnosed, but also the lives
of his family members. |
