Health Information Blog

Since a prostate cancer symptom can look the same as a symptom of something like BPH (enlarged prostate), it can be easy to mistake one for the other. It’s generally during routine examinations that prostate cancer is first detected. If you’re showing any of the following symptoms, you should probably go see your doctor immediately:

- Difficulty urinating or retaining urine

- Frequent urination, particularly at night

- An intermittent or weak urine flow

- Burning or painful urination

- Blood in semen or urine

- Painful ejaculations or difficulty in achieving erections

- Frequent pain or stiffness in the lower back, hips, or upper thighs

There are also a variety of factors that can influence the risk of developing prostate cancer, which affects one in six American men and makes it the most common type of non-skin cancer. These risk factors include:

Age. The risk rises sharply as men get older. Under age 40, the odds are roughly 1 in 10,000 to be diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, for men between the ages of 40 - 59, the rate increases to 1 in 38, and for men between 60 - 69, 1 in 15.

Family genetics. A man who has had a father or brother with a prostate cancer diagnosis is twice as likely to develop it himself. The risk rises even more if that diagnosis of prostate cancer in family members occurred at an early age (e.g., 55 years old), or if there were 3 or more family members affected.

Race. African-American men have a 60% more likely chance to develop prostate cancer than men of Caucasian origin, with their odds of dying from the cancer being more than twice that of whites. For U.S. men overall, the risk of prostate cancer is 17%. Asian men living in Asian countries have the lowest overall cancer rate (2%), but for those who have moved into Western cultures, their risk has been shown to rise dramatically.

Location. In the U.S, men living in cities north of 40 degrees latitude (around Philadelphia, PA or Columbus, OH) experience the highest risk of death from prostate cancer than for men living anywhere else. It’s commonly believed that the lower levels of sunlight in the northern regions reduces Vitamin D levels critical to good health.

Additional risk factors that can cause the exhibition of prostate cancer symptoms and the development of aggressive prostate cancer:

- A consistent lack of high-fiber vegetables in the diet

- High calcium consumption

- Lack of exercise due to a sedentary lifestyle

- Excessive height.

Factors and conditions that don’t seem to increase your risks for developing prostate cancer include:

- Obesity, or a high body mass index (BMI)

- An enlarged prostate (or benign prostate hypertrophy)

- Prostatitis

- High levels of sexual activity

- Vasectomies

- OTC and prescription medications

- Alcohol

More than 200,000 new cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed every year in the U.S., and 32,000 men will die from it this year. Darrin Paulsent researched the subject to help men distinguish between a legitimate prostate cancer symptom and the much more common prostate enlarged symptoms that are readily treatable.