When and Why You Should Start Seeing a Urologist
The urinary system is crucial for removing waste, but we don’t really think about it unless something goes wrong. When it does, it’s important to know when and why you should visit your urologist.
How to Reduce Your Risk of Prostate Cancer
Your prostate — a small muscular gland below your bladder and in front of your rectum that nourishes your sperm and helps to push it out during ejaculation — does a lot of hard work with little notice. As you age, you face an increased risk of problems with this organ, including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, an enlarged prostate) and cancer.
Around 1 in 8 men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis over the course of their lives, and estimates indicate the probability of nearly 334,000 new cases and over 36,000 deaths in 2026. While prostate cancer is survivable with early treatment, you can lower your risk of developing it.
To get help avoiding or treating prostate cancer and other genitourinary needs, Drs. Craig Herman and Steven Kester and the team at the Urology Center of Florida offer many ways to help.
Prostate cancer basics
Like other cancers, prostate cancer stems from the development of abnormal cells that multiply rapidly, replacing healthy tissue. Prostate cancer most commonly is a type called adenocarcinoma, but other types of cancers that grow in the organ include small cell carcinomas, transitional cell carcinomas, neuroendocrine tumors, and sarcomas.
The cancer grows slowly at first, with most tumors diagnosed before the cells spread into other tissue (metastasis). This is when prostate cancer is still highly treatable, which improves your chances of long-term survival.
Risk factors and symptoms
The overall cause of prostate cancer is not well understood, but several things can increase your risk of getting it, including:
- Age: Most men with prostate cancer are 50 and older.
- Family history: If a close relative has this cancer, your chances of having it are higher.
- Specific genes: Inheriting the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes raises your chances, as does having Lynch syndrome.
- Diet: Eating a high-fat diet increases the risk.
- Race: Black men are more at risk.
Other risk factors include obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and prostate inflammation. Men with this cancer often show signs including back, hip, or pelvic pain; a frequent urge to urinate; difficulty urinating; blood in their urine (hematuria); or painful urination or ejaculation.
Advanced cases can cause fatigue, bone pain, and unexplained weight loss.
How to lower your risk
To avoid dealing with this disease, here are some steps you can take:
- Engage in more physical activity: Strive for about 150 minutes of weekly exercise.
- Eat more vegetables: Antioxidants in plant-based foods help with prostate health and lower your risk.
- Keep a healthy weight: Extra pounds increase the chances of the cancer being more aggressive.
- Ejaculate more frequently: A healthy sexual life of sex or masturbation has been linked to lowered chances of prostate cancer.
- Avoid smoking and drinking: Limiting or avoiding both lowers the risk of many cancers, including those in your prostate.
- Learn about your family medical history: Discovering if other family members have this illness can help your medical team assess your risk.
If caught early enough, prostate cancer doesn’t have to shorten your life, and taking the steps outlined here can help you avoid it. For more ways to lower your cancer risks, contact our Pompano Beach, Florida, office today.
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