Prostate cancer is a disease that takes time and about 1,500 men succumb to it every year. As doctors point out, cancer is often not caught in time, because patients do not feel pain for a long time. The problem is often discovered too late, also because men neglect preventive urology examinations out of unnecessary shame.
Minister of Health Vlastimil Válek (TOP 09) announced on Friday that he did not experience any symptoms of the disease either – the cancer was actually discovered by accident. And that as part of the screening that started in the Czech Republic less than a year ago.
No need to pull up your pants
“In the next few days, I will undergo surgery to remove the tumor,” said Válek, who is 64 years old. At the same time, he urged the men not to delay and to come for the examination.
So what does the aforementioned systematic search for sick people look like and who should be included in it? The entire program has been running since January and is aimed at men between 50 and 69 years old. It is not necessary to go to a specialized urological workplace, even if the attending urologist can enroll the interested person in the program.
However, the Ministry has placed particular emphasis on the involvement of general practitioners – they are the ones who are closest to their patients and can actively address them. Doctors should explain the purpose of the program to patients in detail and educate them about the course of the examination. Thanks to the information, the patient can then decide for himself whether he wants to be included in the program.
Another advantage from a practical point of view is that there is no need for any complicated examinations and patients usually do not even have to wait for the dreaded examination of the prostate through the rectum. Men only undergo the so-called PSA test, which is a blood test that measures the level of prostate specific antigen, PSA for short.
A higher PSA level can signal various prostate health problems, including cancer, but also benign diseases or inflammation of the prostate. If the result is good, the patient is invited by the attending physician for another check – i.e. another blood sample. And that in two or four years.
If the PSA level is higher than the specified value, the person concerned will be taken into care by a urologist, who will carry out subsequent examinations, such as sonography. Based on the results of these examinations, the next procedure is determined, if a diagnosis of malignant prostate cancer is made, the patient is referred to specialist oncological care.
Shame can kill
Even Minister Válek has now become convinced of the meaning of such a preventive investigation, who at the same time stated that the tumor was detected in time – i.e. at an early stage. As a result, he will probably only be out of office for a few weeks and probably won’t have any long-term health consequences.
However, it remains a sad reality that many patients still fail to detect the disease in time. Each year, around 8,100 men in the Czech Republic become ill with this tumor, and approximately 1,400 die from prostate cancer annually.
In addition, according to information from the General Health Insurance Company, the number of men with prostate cancer is increasing every year. Last year alone, 50,000 men were treated with this diagnosis, which is 36% more than in 2014.
This is also why the professional public supports the Movember event this year, which draws attention to the topic of men’s health. In November, many men grow mustaches as a symbol of support for this global initiative. The aim is to raise awareness about the prevention of prostate cancer, but also testicular cancer and other serious diseases.
As recently as podcast MUDr.ování pointed out urologist Petr Běhounek, head of the urology department at Hořovice Hospital, even thanks to such educational events, it is possible to overcome the shame that doctors sometimes encounter in men. Due to shame, they often ignore routine prevention.
According to the doctor, the various stories told in pubs about painful examinations, which are decades old, are also to blame. “Some examinations were very unpleasant. But nowadays it is practically no longer performed or has been replaced by devices that are much better and more pleasant. He’s not such a scarecrow anymore,” said Běhounek.
