Men aged 45 and above must undertake prostate cancer screening – Radiographer

Prostate cancer screening for men aged 45 years and above is not negotiable but rather a must, Mr. Isaac Akoa, a Radiographer at Pleasant Medical Centre in Ashaiman, Middle East, has stated.

Mr. Akoa explained that the prostrate, which is a gland that every male possesses from birth and is positioned in front of the rectum below the bladder, enlarges with age, stressing that “as you age, it typically gets bigger, and there are several health problems that can arise from an enlarged prostate that is not cancerous.”

He said as part of the reproductive system, it aids in the production of sperm and envelops the tube that takes urine and semen out of the body, making it very important for men.

Mr. Akoa said this when discussing the topic “Ten everyday mistakes that should be avoided” at the weekly “Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility,” organized by the Ghana News Agency’s Tema Regional Office.

It aims at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination in order to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy.

Focusing on the sub-topic “A man staying after age 45 without a prior prostrate screening,” Mr. Akoa noted that some of the problems associated with an enlarged prostate included acute bacterial prostatitis.

He said this typically begins with a bacterial infection, chronic prostatitis, which caused pain in the groin or at the tip of the penis, and the fluid getting into other parts of the body to create health problems as some of the problems associated with the prostate.

He said a significant amount of blood was pushed into the prostate gland at the time of ejaculation, fueling its growth, compressing the urinary bladder, and subsequently blocking urine flow.

He added that at this stage, doctors would have to insert catheters to enable the patient to pass out urine.

He claimed that during an orgasm, the mature semen is carried out of the man's body by the prostate gland, which also releases prostate fluid together with other sex glands.

Mr. Akoa noted that it was better to test for early detection and removal, adding that the removal of the prostate gland does not negatively affect the sexual activities of men, therefore there was no need to have fears about testing regularly as needed.

The radiographer explained that when the prostate becomes abnormally enlarged, it meant that there was an increase in the prostate's surplus white blood cells, which the gland normally does not need.

Mr. Akoa indicated that there was no drug that had been scientifically proven to effectively treat prostate enlargement; therefore, the only available treatment was its removal through a surgical operation or radiation therapy, which was to kill the cells and stop them from reproducing. more cells.