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Men are prone to common diseases like heart disease and diabetes but also to unique conditions. While many health issues can be prevented with regular exercise, a healthy diet, limited alcohol use, lower stress, and hydration, it is important that men get regular check-ups and screenings. Prostate and testicular cancer, specific sex issues, and enlarged prostate are topics I routinely address with my male patients.
#1- Testicular Cancer:
Testicular cancer occurs most often between the ages of 15 and 35, but all men should perform regular self-checks. Since the disease typically occurs in only one teste, the best way to note an abnormality is to compare the two. Testicular cancer tends to be fast growing, but often responds well to treatment.
Symptoms:
- Non-tender lump or swelling in the scrotum
- Dull ache or heavy feeling in the low belly or around the anus or scrotum
- Pain in the testicles or scrotum
If you have any of these symptoms, contact your doctor right away. They will order tests to determine the cause.
Treatment depends on the type of cancer found and whether there is risk it could return. This risk is based on the type of cancer and whether it has spread. Treatment options include removal of testicle, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery to remove nearby lymph nodes, or active surveillance.
#2- Sex Issues:
Male sex issues typically stem from aging, heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, smoking, alcohol or drug use, nerve damage, stress, depression, relationship problems, or certain medications.
Symptoms might include
- Erectile dysfunction- inability to get or keep an erection
- Low libido- having little or no interest in sex
- Premature ejaculation- ejaculating before you are ready
- Inability to ejaculate- even though you can get and keep an erection
Treatment depends on the cause and can include medicines to help delay or maintain an erection, hormone treatment, treatment to improve mood, or modification of prescriptions to help ejaculation problems caused by depression medications. Note: medicines sold on the internet are not always safe and may contain harmful ingredients.
#3- Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the medical term for an
enlarged prostate. This gland grows as a person ages, causing BPH, a very common condition that is
not prostate cancer. All men should be screened via blood test for prostate cancer beginning at age 50.
Many people with BPH have no symptoms at all. When symptoms do occur, they can include:
● Needing to urinate often, especially at night
● Trouble starting to urinate
● A weak urine stream
● Leaking urine
● Inability to fully empty bladder
If you have symptoms like those listed above, see your doctor. If your symptoms do not bother you, treatment is usually unnecessary. Contact your doctor if you have pain in your back, shoulder, or belly, have a fever of 100.4°F or higher, chills, burning, or pain when you urinate. In rare cases, BPH can make it so you cannot urinate at all. This is a serious problem, and you should call your doctor right away.
Treatment options for BPH include monitoring symptoms to see if they get worse, medicines, and surgery. There are two types of medicine commonly used to treat BPH. Drugs like Flomax relax the muscles that surround the urethra. Finasteride, often used for hair loss, keeps the prostate from growing more or helps shrink the prostate. Surgery may involve removing some of the prostate, shrinking the prostate, or making the urethra wider so that more urine can flow through.
Don’t wait; contact your physician if you detect symptoms. Early detection improves treatability.