Here's The Sad Truth About Prostate Cancer Treatment

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-sad-truth-about-prostate-cancer-treatment-2014-7

***SNIP

Almost 200,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year in the U.S. and about 30,000 die from it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Hoffman and her colleagues write in JAMA Internal Medicine that non-aggressive, also known as low-risk, prostate cancer is not likely to lead to symptoms or affect how long men live.

Instead of treating men with surgery to remove their prostate, radiation or other methods, medical organizations have endorsed the use of active surveillance or observation to make sure a low-risk cancer is not growing or advancing.

That's in part because treatment for prostate cancer can lead to complications like rectal bleeding, impotence and problems with bladder control.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-sad-truth-about-prostate-cancer-treatment-2014-7#ixzz37d9Hjru9

[trotsky]

1. It's been said that if nothing else could kill men...

we'd ALL die from prostate cancer eventually.

Lots of progress is being made in training our immune system to fight cancer and keep it in check - that's probably going to be one of our best weapons going forward.

[MannyGoldstein]

2. This has been known for decades

But prostatectomies = Porsche payments.

[pipoman]

3. I'm glad someone can find humor in prostate cancer. ..ffs

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Nothing humorous about that at all.

I work in the medico-industrial complex, and what I wrote is the sad truth.

[pipoman]

5. All too often prostatectomies result in impotence,

Sounds like someone stating impotence leads to someone buying a Porsche..

[MannyGoldstein]

6. That's exactly what the data demonstrate.

Unequivocally.

It's been known for many years that the PSA test, used as a screen, is worthless or worse. It's also been known for years that the vast majority of prostatectomies are worthless or worse. But there are many, many urologists who've made a fortune from this stuff.

Do you disagree?

[phylny]

9. My husband's saved his life (see below). n/t

[CanSocDem]

7. If you work your prostate as much as possible...

...it won't have time to develop cancer. Older men are socially pre-disposed to neglect their prostate and often harbour deep seated guilt about relieving their own sexual tension.

As a consequence the prostate gland becomes atrophied. Life, including all those jammed up sperm cells, needs expression. If not outside the body, then inside.

So make a choice. Either beat your meat with abandon or fall victim to the cancer industry.




.

[phylny]

8. I'm not sure about that.

My husband and I had sex - a whole lot. As in once or twice a day. 7-14 times a week. He had an elevated PSA with NO OTHER symptoms, long story short, aggressive prostate cancer that would have killed him within two years, so said the doctor, and it was too advanced to treat robotically or with seeds.

That was 5 years ago at age 54. Yes, impotence is a side effect. Viagra is wonderful, but not a panacea. But we muddle through it and he's alive.

[CanSocDem]

10. "Viagra" is something...

...for sure. But I have never had a partner who depended on my erection so I would hesitate to call it "wonderful". Maybe that's my problem.

In my heart I believe that lack of erection is medical malpractice.

"But we muddle through it and he's alive." Which is all that's really important.


.

[flamingdem]

11. What about hormones?

Good or bad?