PROSTATE CANCER : THE BURDEN OF MEN PART 4

Prostate Cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men. 

Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly, and finding and treating it before symptoms occur may improve men’s health or help them live longer. 

Early prostate cancer usually causes no symptoms. 

More advanced prostate cancers can sometimes cause symptoms, such as :

–  Problems urinating, including a slow or weak urinary stream or the need to urinate more often, especially at night. 

• Blood in the urine or semen 
• Trouble getting an erection (erectile dysfunction or ED) 
• Pain in the hips, back (spine), chest(ribs), or other areas from cancer that has spread to bones. 
• Weakness or numbness in the feet or legs, or even loss of bladder or bowel control from cancer pressing on the spinal cord. 

Most of these problems are more likely to be caused by something other than prostate cancer. For example, trouble urinating is often caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a non-cancerous growth of the prostate. 

Researchers do not know exactly what causes prostate cancer. 

However, they have found some risk factors and are trying to learn just how these factors might cause prostate cells to become cancer cells. 

On a basic level, prostate cancer is caused by changes in the DNA of a normal prostate cell ( remember your genes and the messages they get in my last article)

DNA is the chemical in our cells that make up our genes, which control how our cells function. 

We usually look like our parents because they are the source of our DNA. 

But DNA affects more than just how we look. 

Some genes control when our cells grow, divide into new cells, and die:

— Certain genes that help cells grow, divide, and stay alive are called Proto-oncogenes. 

— Genes that normally keep cell growth under control, repair mistakes in DNA, or cause cells to die at the right time are called Tumor Suppressor Genes. 

Cancer can be caused by DNA mutations (or other types of changes) that keep Oncogenes turned on, or that turn off tumor suppressor genes. 

These types of gene changes can lead to cells growing out of control. 

Interestingly, these DNA changes can either be inherited from a parent (family history) or can be acquired during a person’s lifetime. 

In my article, I will provide scientific evidence to show how certain factors that are under control can lead to prostate cancer. 

By the end of this series, you will be convinced beyond all reasonable shadow of a doubt that prostate cancer doesn’t just happen, it is “self-manufactured”, though ignorantly.