3 Surprising Facts About Prostate Cancer
If you are a man or if you have a man in your life you care about, you need to understand prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is incredibly common among men, especially older men. If you want to know more about prostate cancer, check out these three surprising facts.
You May Not Need Treatment
Typically, if you find out you have cancer, you start treatment right away, but that isn't always the case with prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is a slow-growing cancer. In fact, in some men, the cancer spreads so slowly that treatment is simply never needed. Usually, your doctor will consider your age, the size of your tumor and the type of symptoms you have to determine if treatment is necessary. However, if your doctor does suggest monitoring the cancer instead of treating it, you will need to go back regularly to have your cancer actively monitored, so treatment can begin if the cancer begins to worsen.
It's Most Common in African Americans
African American men are the most likely to develop prostate cancer. They have twice the chance to develop this disease than white men. Some of the reasons African Americans are more likely to develop prostate cancer cannot be fixed. For example, genetics may play a role as it does with sickle cell. However, many other factors can be fixed. For example, research has shown that African American men often have less access to affordable healthcare in their youth, so they may not be able to get the preventative care they need to catch or prevent prostate cancer.
A Fatty Diet May Be the Cause
There are many reasons to cut out the bad fats from your diet, and prostate cancer is just another reason because there is a connection between a diet high in fatty foods and prostate cancer. Luckily, for men who have not developed prostate cancer yet, this means there are some steps they can take to help prevent cancer, such as limiting fatty foods, eating less red meat and eating more fruits and vegetables. While this won't guarantee you won't get prostate cancer, it does help remove one of the risk factors.
Prostate cancer is incredibly common, so every man must know the facts. If you or someone you love may have prostate cancer, action must be taken immediately. Talk to your doctor today and find out what you can to do slow the progression or treat your prostate cancer.
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