Nigerian men have been advised to avoid smoking, eat healthy diet, do physical activities and other body enhancement exercises as these help to lower the risk of contracting cancer, heart disease, diabetes, stroke and other diseases common with adults.
Delivering a lecture titled ‘Prostrate Challenges: The way out’ at a breakfast Health seminar organised by the Men’s Fellowship of St James Anglican Church, Asokoro Abuja recently, a medical doctor and cancer prevent specialist Ebuta Agbor urged men to be careful of what they eat so as to live long and healthy
He identified symptoms of prostate cancer to include joint pain, chills and fever, blood in Urine, cloudy urine, urinary frequency and urgency, night urination, painful and burning urination, genital area pain, abdominal pain, pain in the lower back and muscle pain.
Others are; difficulty or pain when urinating, frequency in the need of urinating, restless sleep due to increased urination, decreased force in urine stream and feeling as if bladder is not emptied completely.
For late symptoms, he identified the symptoms to include; blood in the urine, blood in the sperm/semen, pain in the pelvis or loin, pain in the lower back, hips or thighs, general bone pain, weight loss, erectile dysfunction, decreased force in urine stream and discomfort during urination, amongst others
On the causes, he said it was not clear what causes prostate cancer, stressing that medical experts know that prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate develop changes in their DNA. He said, “A” cell’s DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do.
“The changes tell the cells to grow and divide more rapidly than normal cells do. The abnormal cells continue living, when other cells would die. The accumulating abnormal cells form a tumor that can grow to invade nearby tissue. In time, some abnormal cells can break away and spread (metastasize) to other parts of the body”.
According to Agbor, the risk factors associated with prostate cancer include, positive family history, genetic associations, serum androgen, gene polymorphism, eating of red meat, alcohol consumption
“Prostate cancer is cancer that occurs in the prostate. The prostate is a small walnut-shaped gland in males that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.
“Prostate cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Many prostate cancers grow slowly and are confined to the prostate gland, where they may not cause serious harm. However, while some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.
“Prostate cancer that’s detected early — when it’s still confined to the prostate gland — has the best chance for successful treatment”, Agbor said.
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He advised men to always go for regular medical check-ups as well as early treatment in proven cases of the cancer.
Earlier in his welcome address, the president of the men’s fellowship, Emma Ohakim said the seminar was organised to enable male adults of the church know the symptoms, and treatment of prostate cancer which he said is one of the most prevalent diseases among men in Nigeria and globally. The event attracted men from all walks of life.
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