In their lifetime, one in nine men will develop prostate cancer, making it the most common cancer in men. In addition to following your doctor’s cancer screening recommendations, you should pay special attention to the symptoms discussed in this article. If you have any concerns about your situation, be sure to talk with a healthcare professional.
They include the following symptoms
Is your bladder playing tricks on you? It might be prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of the most common causes of urinary incontinence in men. By damaging the muscles and nerves around the pelvic area, this condition causes uncontrollable and involuntary urine loss.
If you have to get up once or twice a night to go to the bathroom, that in and of itself is not concerning. But if you have to get up every 30 minutes, that’s a different story. If you have prostate cancer, a cancerous tumor could be irritating your bladder or urethra, which can lead to an increase in the number of daily urinations, especially at night.
Every time you urinate, does it feel like your bladder is not emptying all the way? You may need to see your doctor, as this is one of the most common symptoms of prostate cancer. This is because partial compression of the urethra by a tumor prevents the bladder from emptying completely, much like a garden hose being stepped on.
In advanced cases of prostate cancer, the tumor grows so large that it squeezes the urethra, causing decreased urine flow. This symptom can also be caused by benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a less serious condition causing enlargement of the prostate gland.
Some people with prostate cancer find that their urine flow tends to be interrupted when they urinate. This issue is caused by compression of the urethra by a cancerous tumor.
However, the culprit is often a less serious condition, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia.
If you notice blood in your urine, you should see a doctor right away. It could be a sign of a urinary tract infection, but also of a more serious condition. For instance, with prostate cancer, blood may appear in the urine if the kidneys, ureters, urethra, or bladder are compressed by a cancerous tumor.
The presence of blood in semen is not always indicative of illness. However, if you frequently notice blood in your semen, see your doctor to make sure you don’t have cancer. According to studies reported by the Mayo Clinic, 4% to 6% of men who had blood in their semen were diagnosed with prostate cancer. Most of the participants in these studies were over the age of 40.
There are many different causes of erectile dysfunction (ED), and prostate cancer isn’t always the first to come to mind. However, according to a 2017 study, men with ED are 1.27 times more likely to develop prostate cancer than the average.
It’s normal to experience back pain if you’ve overexerted yourself. It’s a different story if your back pain has no apparent cause. In a 2013 study, researchers followed men who complained of back pain for 10 years. By the end of the study, prostate cancer was found to be about 50% more common among them than in a control group.
At an advanced stage, prostate cancer sometimes spreads to other parts of the body, such as the hip bones. Men with prostate cancer tend to experience unexplained pain in that part of their body.
Have you lost weight recently and have no idea why? You might want to book an appointment with your doctor. According to a 2018 meta-analysis, there’s a link between weight loss and many different cancers, including prostate cancer.
Loss of appetite is a symptom that is commonly associated with cancer, especially prostate cancer. People with this type of cancer may have difficulty swallowing food or simply feel put off by certain dishes.
Sometimes prostatitis, a painful inflammation of the prostate, can make climaxes painful. The condition is characterized by a burning sensation in the perineum area and urethra when you ejaculate or just after. More rarely, the true culprit is prostate cancer. In this case, the cancer is advanced, making the tumor large enough to put pressure on the urethra.
Approximately 74% of men with prostate cancer experience fatigue at one time or another. They lack energy even after getting a good night’s sleep. Some are even so exhausted that they have difficulty carrying out their daily tasks. According to one theory, fatigue is caused by changes at the cellular level that prevent the body from using energy properly.
At an advanced stage, metastases can form on the lumbar aortic or iliac lymph nodes. When this happens, veins can compress and cause edema (swelling) of the feet and ankles.
