by Gordon Raza, BSc, Canada
Men are notorious for not taking care of their health as well as women. Here’s an interesting fact: married men live longer than their unmarried counterparts. There are several theories for this disparity, mine being that our significant others urge us to take better care of ourselves and seek guidance of a health-care professional when necessary.
Men’s Health Awareness took a giant step forward in 2003 with the inception of the Movember Foundation by a group of Australian men. Thanks to their initiative, men are starting to pay better attention to their health. But it’s still not enough.
According to the Canadian Cancer Society, one in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime—which ranks it second to non-melanoma skin cancers. Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH), on the other hand, afflicts one in every two men over fifty. Prostate enlargement occurs in both, so it’s only natural that they will have symptoms in common. Symptoms of BPH can be early warning signs of prostate cancer; ignoring the symptoms of one can delay accurate diagnosis of the other.
| Potentical symptoms | BHP | Prostate Cancer |
| An urgent need to urinate | ✔ | ✔ |
| The urge to urinate many times during the day | ✔ | ✔ |
| Waking up to urinate at night (nocturia) | ✔ | ✔ |
| Trouble starting to urinate or having to push to release urine | ✔ | ✔ |
| Weak or dribbling urine stream despite the feeling of urgency | ✔ | ✔ |
| Intermittent urine flow | ✔ | ✔ |
| Feeling of bladder not fully emptied | ✔ | |
| Pain or burning sensation during urination | ✔ | |
| Presence of blood in urine | ✔ | |
| Erectile dysfunction | ✔ | |
| Painful ejaculation | ✔ | |
| Lower volume of semen during ejaculation | ✔ |
If you are experiencing these symptoms, you owe it to yourself and your loved ones to visit your health-care practitioner. Diagnostic tests are readily available, and an early diagnosis could help save your life.
Get Yourself Tested!
Another thing these conditions have in common is that neither should be left untreated.
If cancer is confirmed, an oncologist will provide appropriate treatment plans. Natural supplements and botanicals may be used as adjunctive therapies to help manage side effects, often brought on by conventional therapies.
If diagnosed with BPH, proven botanical approaches can be used to effectively manage symptoms.
