Prostate cancer: on the one hand... but on the other side... and with the third...
Where do crayfish liveKonstantin Kropotkin, "The Snob"
Doctors lie more often than we would like.
According to the data published recently by the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer, every eighth diagnosis of prostate cancer is erroneous. This message is a balm for the soul of those men who are ready to talk about a "shameful" disease only when it is impossible not to talk anymore. Meanwhile, the same European experts are convinced that there would have been much fewer deaths if the disease had been diagnosed at an early stage.
"If a man has not got prostate cancer, then he has already died" – there is a considerable amount of truth in this evil medical joke. According to statistics, prostate cancer threatens every tenth man. However, many people have a malignant tumor growing so slowly that other diseases turn out to be the cause of death.
Detecting prostate cancer is still extremely difficult. His cunning lies in the fact that he makes himself felt when it's too late to do anything. One of the most common methods is considered to be the study of prostate specific antigen in the blood (PSA test) - in some European countries it is recommended to do it for all men over forty.
However, there are more and more critics of this test. In January, a study was published in seven European countries, according to which every eighth positive PSA test is wrong (that is, every eighth is "healed" - he is needlessly biopsied, irradiated, given chemical cocktails). These conclusions are based mainly on data from Finland that have been collected over the past four years. The Finnish participants of the study also note that every second man, once "cured" of a non-existent disease, subsequently refuses to take any preventive measures on this occasion at all – and even if the risk of prostate cancer is very high.
Taboos play a role, which, as it turns out, are also common among Europeans – men do not like to talk about problems with the prostate gland. It is also not good for prevention that the treatment of prostate cancer is associated with extremely unpleasant side effects (including problems with erection). "Cancer is bad, but it's even worse for a man if there is no more strength in his members, and he himself does not part with diapers," Spiegel magazine formulated the fears of German men.
In this sense, famous men are not much different from ordinary men. At a late stage, Dennis Hopper was diagnosed with prostate cancer, who has been in a Los Angeles clinic since the end of December. The 73-year-old actor's condition is assessed by doctors as "extremely serious". "Now I'm ready to die," the American media cite the words of the Hollywood classic, the author of the cult "Carefree Rider".
In the same study, the European Randomized Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer states that the number of deaths could be reduced by up to 20% if a malignant tumor was detected at an early stage. Swiss scientists are even more optimistic. Hubert Jon, head of the urological clinic in Winterthur, said last week that 90% of malignant prostate tumors can be cured if they are detected in time.
The validity of these words is confirmed by the case of Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was recently successfully cured of prostate cancer. "It's a big relief for me. We are finally at the end of this long journey and have achieved the best results," the 61-year–old British composer said in an interview with Hello magazine. He calls his recovery a happy case – a malignant tumor was detected at the earliest stage.
Andrew Lloyd Webber's statement once again marked a new trend among "star" men. "A lot of male celebrities have been operated on in our clinic, but none of them have talked about it openly," Hartwig Huland, head of the Hamburg medical center with a worldwide reputation (900 operations annually), recently said in an interview with Spiegel. The case of the Roth brothers, former members of the national handball team, is now widely known in Germany. 47-year-old athletes told about the successful cure of prostate cancer. At first, Michael needed surgery, and soon after that, Uli.
Hartwig Huland is convinced that a positive PSA test is not a reason to go under the knife. Such tests, according to the German doctor, make sense only for men over forty, among whose close relatives there have been cases of prostate cancer. The form of the disease should also be taken into account: urgent surgical intervention is required only when aggressive malignant formations are detected in the prostate.
In this sense, a study by scientists from the USA and Sweden, who have found a genetic mutation that significantly increases the risk of the disease, may be useful. According to the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Inherited genetic variant predisposes to aggressive but not indolent prostate cancer), researchers from Wake Forest University Medical Center analyzed the DNA of 4,800 men with an invasive form of prostate cancer, as well as 12,000 men who had a slow-growing malignant tumor. So a piece of DNA was found, which, according to doctors, quadruples the risk of a deadly form of cancer. However, so far it is only a small step forward – the authors of the study are convinced that other genetic markers will be required for an effective test for prostate cancer. The same publication states that an invasive form of prostate cancer is the second most common cause of death among American men.
"We were surprised to learn that many of our friends are not interested in cancer prevention," said Michael Roth, talking about how he and his brother were cured of a deadly disease. The famous twins do not hide that they intend to become something like singer Kylie Minogue for German men, who did not hide her diagnosis from the public (breast cancer, successfully cured), as a result of which 40% more mammographic tests were done in her homeland in Australia.
So far in Western Europe, no more than 15% of men are tested for prostate cancer. On a planetary scale, these are not bad indicators, but rather unsatisfactory for doctors.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru26.01.2010