BTHFT - Bradford Teaching Hospitals
Our Patients – Prostate Cancer Awareness
As November is Men’s Health Awareness Month, we’re this week re-visiting a film that spotlights prostate cancer awareness and the need to prioritise regular screenings and health check-ups.
We hear from Dr Chidi Molokwu, Consultant Urologist here at the Trust, and one of his patients, about the critical role early detection plays in improving outcomes for prostate cancer patients.
Mel Pickup's Weekly News Round-Up, Edition 178, 08 Nov 2024
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#NHS #bthft #Bradford #Bradfordhospitals #healthcareMel Pickup's Weekly News Round-Up, Edition 172, 13 Sept 2024
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Visit the Bradford Teaching Hospitals Website:
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Follow us on X, Formerly Twitter –
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Follow us on LinkedIn –
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Follow us on Facebook –
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Google Podcasts – https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0…
RSS – https://audioboom.com/channels/508482…
Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/73v6rBT…
Amazon Music – https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7a2…
CastBox – https://castbox.fm/channel/id5140101?…
Deezer – https://www.deezer.com/us/show/5231237
iHeart – https://iheart.com/podcast/102615738
JioSaavn – https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/Lets-T…
Listen Notes – https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/…
Player FM – https://player.fm/series/lets-talk-wi…
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Podchaser – https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/le…
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#NHS #bthft #Bradford #Bradfordhospitals #healthcare
One in eight men are going
to get prostate cancer. If you wait for symptoms,
it might be too late. I think most blokes, in my experience
anyway, don't talk about illness. Clearly, cancer's
a big scary word, isn't it? More than 1.4 million men are diagnosed with
prostate cancer each year, and it is the most common cancer in
men over 45. So, as November is Men’s Health
Awareness Month, we’re this week re-visiting a film that
spotlights prostate cancer awareness and
the need to prioritise regular screenings and health
check-ups. We will hear from Dr Chidi Molokwu, Consultant Urologist here at the Trust, and one of his patients, about the critical
role early detection plays in improving outcomes for prostate
cancer patients. One in eight men are going
to get prostate cancer. If you wait for symptoms,
it might be too late. Then you could sit silently
while the prostate cancer progresses to a rate
where it can't be cured. I had no symptoms and
there was nothing painful. And when you haven't any symptoms, it's
difficult to gauge how serious it is. So the symptoms that come with prostate
cancer, for example, problems urinating, blood in the urine,
pelvic pain and so on. And the more relatives
you have with prostate cancer, carries on multiplying
the increased risk. We found that prostate
cancer is one of those things where people with an African ancestry
have a higher risk than others. I went to the doctor about six
or seven months ago with a blocked ear. And just as an afterthought, almost a
throwaway line “Can I have a PSA test?” My PSA score was 31. The normal is four and below. The PSA blood tests could be
elevated for different reasons. That makes that test not perfect,
but it's helpful. They then put me on a series of scans really, Then he showed me the enlarged prostate
and the bits that are broken off. And he said, “Well, I can't operate
because there's no guarantee of picking up these bits
while I take your prostate out. So I'm not going to do it. It's inoperable.” So I said to him, “What happens
if I don't have any treatment?” And he says, “You'll die early.” Easiest treatment for prostate
cancer is just monitoring. You have a kind of
cancer, right now it doesn't look aggressive. But at this point in time,
it doesn't look like you need treatment. Then we monitor. So that saves a lot of men
having unnecessary treatment. And the reason is that all the treatments
of prostate cancer are quite aggressive. So whether surgery or radiotherapy,
it does have an impact on your lifestyle. In November, I started radiology treatment
once a week for six weeks. A few weeks after that my PSA rate,
had gone down from 31 to 0.01. So it's been a really straightforward
and painless procedure to get to the point
where it is under control. They'll look after me and make sure
that I live to a ripe old age. I wish I had done it earlier. They would have been able to operate
and remove the prostate, which would have meant that ongoing
medication was unnecessary. There's no sense in
not having it done. There's no point in carrying on with it
and risking pain and early death. I would say the main problem is
a lack of awareness of what a prostate is. What kind of problems
you can get with your prostate. There’s about 45,000
men diagnosed every year. Men are not presenting
early enough to their doctors to actually then be referred
on for treatment. So from my experience
of doing these awareness campaigns, a lot of men don't even know
they have a prostate. It actually allows people
to talk about it, ask questions. But I think most blokes, in my experience
anyway, don't talk about illness. Clearly, cancer's
a big scary word, isn't it? I've told all my friends,
all my male friends. There isn't anything about it
that's remotely awkward or painful. So fundamentally, what I would
like is every man will know that when they turn 50 or 50 ish,
they should get a check. Every man will know that if they have problems passing urine,
they should get a check. Your GP should always be your first port
of call if you've got any health concerns. Yorkshire, we have all
the treatment centres. We're here waiting to treat you, but we can't treat you if you
don't actually show up. Get checked, go to your
GP and get a blood test. And it's painless and
could save your life.
#Patients #Prostate #Cancer #Awareness
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