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Middle-aged men are being urged to seek annual screenings to check for prostate cancer which is one of the top four forms of the disease suffered by males in Bahrain alongside bladder, lung and leukaemia, a type of cancer of the blood or bone blood.
The prostate is a glandular organ present only in males. The cause of prostate cancer is unknown, but hormonal, genetic, environmental and dietary factors are thought to play roles.
Dr Ravisankar Pillai, a specialist urologist at Royal Bahrain Hospital, said: "The prostate can become enlarged as we get older. The growth can be a non-cancerous condition called benign prostatic hypertrophy, which causes urinary symptoms or it can be cancer, which occurs when normal cells undergo a transformation, growing and multiplying without normal controls.
"Most prostate cancers are initially silent and have no symptoms. The condition has to be detected by active examination before it gnaws awat at you. Prostate cancers are discovered by undergoing regular health examinations like a digital rectal exam and a blood test called prostate specific antigen blood test.
"If the clinical examination and blood test are abnormal you may need a biopsy to confirm prostate cancer."
A normal, healthy prostate gland is about the size of a walnut and lies at the neck of the bladder and in front of the rectum. The usual symptoms associated with prostate enlargement include difficulty in starting the urinary stream, increase in frequency of urination, pain while urinating, intermittent streams, night time urination, urine leakage, sense of incomplete emptying and blood in urine.
All the major International health agencies recommend annual screening for men over 50 and over the age of 45 years for those with a family history of prostate cancer.
For any further information or to book your appointment, call 17246800 or plan your visit at www.royalbahrainhospital.com
