Prostate Cancer
Blue September, cancer survivor (not of prostate cancer) Buck Shelford leading TV ads.... men are being encouraged to get their bottoms foraged to see if they have prostate cancer.
"Save 300 lives a year!" the information from Prostate Cancer Foundation of NZ screams, as they try to turn prostate screening into the male equivalent of breast and cervical cancer screening.
Surely, it's a good thing that men get their rectums probed for signs of the dreaded C Word?
Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and prostate cancer is a lot more complex than the empire-builders at PCF will tell you.
The headline on the PCF site says this:
One of the main goals of PCF is to educate people about prostate problems and prostate cancer in particular. We know that those diagnosed with prostate cancer have special needs. We know because "we have been there!"
Alas, PCF does NOT educate people about prostate cancer, they teach that their plan is the only plan. I don't believe they are maliciously expanding an organisation at the expense of men's health, but it's obviously counter-productive for PCF to give the entire facts, so they don't.
The facts are that prostate cancer is not men's breast cancer and early detection could be the worst thing which ever happens to you.
Huge amounts of research has been done in recent years and it's only in the past few years that the facts on this disease have come to light. Unlike most cancers, prostate cancer is an extremely slow developer in the vast majority of cases. That should make it more easily treatable, but due to its proximity to both male reproductive organs and the lower intestine, it's not easy to treat and the side-effects can be devastating.
And potentially, the worst is first, with a biopsy normally part of the plan - that is, cutting a piece out the prostate and testing it under a microscope.
There will be thousands of false positives, so hundreds of thousands of medical industry hours will be wasted, and thousands of men will have needless surgery. Minor surgery, sure, but completely pointless.
But it does get worse...
Out of every 100 men who do actually have prostate cancer, if it is left untreated, only three will die from that cancer. Thanks to screening and early detection programs, that can be reduced to 2 deaths per 100 diagnoses.
The problem is on the converse side - of those 100 diagnoses, 97 will have received treatment which does more harm than good. Rectal incontinence and impotence are the two most likely results, with around half of those treated being adversely affected by one or the other, and sometimes both.
You therefore have a 48% chance of devastating side-effects of treatment, with only a 1 in 35 chance that you will improve your life prospects.
Just so you know, the treatment for prostate cancer is similar to most cancer treatments - because cancer cells are part of your own body, they cannot be attacked without attacking the rest of your body as well. Such treatment consists of bombarding your prostate and surroundings with radiation. This can slow the cancer's growth, but it will not kill it.
It's fairly easy to imagine what the effects of having radiation hitting your sexual organs and rectum will do. Ever had sunburn? Now imagine that sunburn internally and ongoing, burning the intestines and sexual organs. Men I know who have had prostate cancer treatment universally acknowledge the horror effects.
Some blokes may already be on Viagra and not mind the impotence, but rectal incontinence is no joke.
Is it worth taking a 14:1 shot that it might save your life, while paying off odds-on that it will give you a horrible quality of life for many years, and probably the rest of your life?
Want a 25% chance of never being able to wear non-incontinence pants for the rest of your life? Irradiate your prostate! Could be a new slogan for Depends.
Prostates are simple. If yours is causing a blockage, slow urination, etc, then you need to get it checked, because "normal" age-related hyperprostatism (also called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia) is almost a certainty, but it's irrelevant*. Do not fail to get it checked, however, because a blocked urethra will kill you fast.
If, during your check up, your PSA result is high, just forget it - play the odds and live a happy life.
Links to further reading on the subject.
Disclaimer - I am not a doctor and you should always seek medical advice from professionals, but please ensure your medical professional is aware of all the facts before accepting treatment.
* Be very wary of what the doctor prescribes for benign hyperprostatism - many of the drugs used will give you lovely thick hair as a side-effect, but it will also give you floppy dick.
Copyright © Alan Charman