Prostate Awareness – Men’s Health

This is a guest post by Michael Doherty who passed away on 1st May 2023 with advanced prostate cancer at the age of 85. Keep an eye on your prostate men! Michael’s awareness kept him healthy for a long time.

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THE DISCLAIMER AT THE END OF THIS POST.

I’m writing this blog to help guys understand a bit about their bodies, especially the parts that affect their manhood. I’ll start off with my own story, or at least, my story so far.

My Personal Experience

I’m 75 and have developed an enlarged prostate, which was interfering with me peeing, pooing and possibly contributing to erectile dysfunction. I checked for the swelling myself. Yep, finger-up-bum job.

In my case, even if I had prostate cancer, I would not undergo chemo, surgery or radiation. The cancer might be slow growing, in which case I’d be happy to agree to stay out of its business if it stayed out of mine. If it were the aggressive type, it would probably have spread anyway, and I’d only have a short period to live.

All these medical interventions destroy quality of life, and may only extend life for a short time. Surgery often causes impotence and double incontinence, meaning you wet and mess yourself and have to wear nappies(diapers), taking away your pride and dignity.

I’d prefer to be dead. I would choose to live out my remaining time with the best quality of life I could manage, only seeking medical help for pain control at the end.

I’m not suggesting that anybody else should follow what I do. But, I am always aware that modern medicine hasn’t been around for that long, about 70 years, and that the human race has survived without it for thousands of years. Consider Chinese medicine and Ayurvedic (Indian) medicine. Also, aboriginal peoples all around the world (Inuit, Australian Aborigines, American Indians, Bushmen, Amazonian Tribes, etc) have survived since the beginning of time without western-style medicine.

All these earlier forms of medicine work in harmony with the body, whereas western medicine just controls symptoms, but that’s another story.

What I have done is to take the following supplements, which have reduced the symptoms, and my prostate has reduced in size.

Selenium. This is an essential trace element which is almost non-existent in modern foods, due to artificial fertilising in modern farming. Research suggests that selenium can limit the growth of cancers, especially prostate cancer.

Saw Palmetto. An ancient remedy for many conditions affecting the urinary system.

Grape Seed Extract. There is evidence that it can help reduce the incidence of prostate and colorectal cancers.

OK, that’s the personal stuff over.

Now for the information:

Its job is to make semen. When you ejaculate (cum), you produce a white liquid (semen), which is a carrier for your sperm. It’s the stuff the sperm swims in to get to the egg in the woman’s body.The prostate is a small gland about the size of a walnut, which lives under the bladder, and surrounds the tube that takes your pee from the bladder to the outside.

One of the problems with our bodies, both male and female, is that we live too long. Our ancestors were lucky to live much beyond 30. As far as evolution is concerned, we don’t matter as individuals, and the only reason we are alive at all, is just to pass on our genes to the next generation.

So, once we’ve reached our physical peak, around 30-35, and start to slide downhill, we’ve outlived our usefulness to evolution.

In other words, our bodies aren’t designed to live to the 60s and 70s and beyond. That’s why as we age we can suffer from all sorts of chronic health problems, and even though modern medicine is helping us live longer and longer, we’ve got to die of something.

For men over 50, one of the common problems is with the prostate, which has almost certainly outlived its usefulness. Yeah, I know some guys can make babies well into their 60s and 70s, but the quality of their sperm has reduced, and who wants to be a teenager when your Dad’s a really old fart of 80 or 90.

Symptoms of Prostate Problems

If you have any of the above symptoms, get a checkup.

These symptoms can be caused by other conditions, such as:

Sexually Transmitted Infections (Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia)

Bacterial Infection (Such as E-coli)

Yeast Infection (Candida. Often called Thrush – yes, guys get it too)

Urethritis – Inflammation of the urethra (Pee tube)

Prostate Cancer (More on this below)

As said before, get a checkup so your doctor can diagnose what’s causing the symptoms.

There are 4 problems that can happen with the prostate:

Enlargement

Acute Prostatitis

Chronic Prostatitis

Prostate Cancer

Enlargement

Your doctor calls this: Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)Very common in older men. The prostate gland swells, squeezing the pee tube (urethra). This can cause difficulty in peeing, dribbling, pain on peeing, frequent need to pee, especially at night. Your doctor will poke his finger up your bum to feel if the prostate is enlarged. (He’ll wear a rubber finger sleeve and use a lubricant, so it’s not so bad, even if it is a bit embarrassing and uncomfortable, since for most people their bum has always been a one-way street).

Benign Enlargement of the Prostate (BEP),

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy (not correct, but often used)

Benign means not cancerous.

Hyperplasia means increase in number of cells.

(This is what happens in BPH)

Hypertrophy means increase in size of cells.

(This doesn’t happen in BPH)

Acute Prostatitis

This is an infection of the prostate, caused by bacteria (germs, bugs, NOT viruses)

It comes on fast, usually with fever (check temperature – normal is 37C, 98.4F), chills, pain in lower back and between legs, hurts to pee.

You’ll need antibiotics for this one, so off to the doctor. You can help by drinking plenty of fluids.

Chronic Prostatitis

This is an infection that keeps coming back, time after time. It’s not usually as severe as the acute prostatitis, but it can last longer, and usually does. It’s not so easy to treat, and antibiotics don’t always work, because it may not be caused by bacteria (germs, bugs).

It can be an inflammation of the prostate. Cause not known. Treatments offered by doctors usually don’t work. There are alternative/complementary treatments that can help.

Herbs such as ‘Saw Palmetto’, ‘Quercitin’, ‘Cernilton’ have been tested by regular doctors and scientists. They have been shown to help control the symptoms and improve quality of life. If you can’t get them locally, they are available on the internet (check out Amazon)

There are other treatments available – acupressure can help. Chinese medicine can help a lot. Get a consultation with a registered Chinese health professional, or try the over the counter Chinese patent medicine Qian Lie Xian Wan [Prostate Gland Pills].

Prostate Cancer

This is one of the most common cancers affecting men. It’s more common in black men than white men.

There are different types of prostate cancer. It usually grows slowly without symptoms, and many older men die of something else never knowing they’ve got it.

But there is a more aggressive form which spreads quickly, and which can be treated if caught early, but the treatments available, chemo, radiation, surgery, can have very serious side effects, but for some people, these side effects are a price worth paying.

There is a test for this, called the PSA test, but many doctors don’t approve of using it, as it can give a lot of false positives. This means that the test can say you’ve got it when you haven’t, which can lead to unnecessary and harmful treatments. Also, screening for prostate cancer doesn’t reduce the mortality (death) rate.

There is a more reliable test called EN-2 but I’m not sure if it’s available yet. For a very good site with stacks of information go to:

http://www.medicinenet.com/prostate_cancer/article.htm

For information about alternative/complementary treatments for prostate cancer:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/canceralternativetherapies.html

Both these sites are run by medically qualified people so you won’t be getting any airy-fairy new-age BS.

Do women have a prostate?

You might wonder why a woman has a gland like your prostate, called the Skene’s gland. You must remember that for your first 7 weeks in the womb, you grew as a female. At around seven weeks. the male hormones kicked in and you were on your way to being a guy. This is why guys have breasts, and women have a clitoris (her version of your penis). Her ovaries are your testicles and so on.

Her Skene’s glands are responsible for making lubricating fluid during intercourse, (making her wet), and are probably responsible for female ejaculation (when she may squirt). This is not urine, so don’t believe everything you see on porn sites. There, they are peeing, (or so I’ve been told).

The Skene’s glands may also be the so-called G-spot. Some women have small Skene’s glands, and in extreme cases the glands just aren’t there. So, if these glands are the cause of female ejaculation and G-spot orgasms, this could explain why many women don’t experience either.

To Summarise:

If you are suffering from any of the above symptoms, before you make your mind up what to do, look at the websites above and go for a check up with your doctor.

Disclaimer
The author of this blog is not medically qualified. The information contained in this blog is provided as the author’s personal opinion, based on personal experience and research, for your information, education and interest. In no way is it offered as medical advice, as a diagnosis or as a treatment for any physical or mental condition  I recommend that you consult your healthcare professional for advice should you consider using any of this information. 
Under no circumstances should you make any changes to any medication regime that your physician has prescribed without the knowledge and permission of that physician, who is legally responsible for your primary healthcare. 

The author’s responses, if any, to any comments made by others, are not, in any way, to be considered as expert moderation. Any such responses are the author’s personal opinion, and are not offered as advice.

The author is not responsible for the content of any external site that may be accessed via links contained within this blog.

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Kelly Martin

Kelly Martin, author of ‘When Everyone Shines But You’ is a dedicated writer and blogger who fearlessly explores life’s deepest questions. Faced with a decade of profound anxiety and grief following the loss of her father and her best friend Michael, Kelly embarked on a transformative journey guided by mindfulness, and she hasn’t looked back since. Through her insightful writing, engaging podcasts, and inspiring You Tube channel Kelly empowers others to unearth the hidden treasures within their pain, embracing the profound truth that they are ‘enough’ exactly as they are.

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