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The problem of an enlarged prostate or benign prostate hyperplasia is a very common occurrence as you grow older. It's known to strike men above the age of 50, with more than 50% of men after the age of 60, having this complaint.

Causes of enlarged prostate

A non-cancerous condition, enlarged prostate makes the passing of urine from the bladder through the urethra difficult. The multiplication of the prostate cells causes an enlargement of the gland, leading to a buildup of pressure on the urethra, affecting the discharge of urine from the body. The narrowing of the urethra, due to this benign condition, forces the bladder to contract more vigorously so as to push urine out of the body.

As time passes, the muscles of the bladder get significantly affected, causing them to become extremely sensitive, thicker and stronger. As a consequence, the bladder begins to contract, even if the amount of urine in the organ is negligible, causing episodes of frequent urination. Gradually, the bladder fails to completely empty itself of urine due to the constriction of the urethra. This can give rise to a number of health problems including the formation of bladder stones, urinary tract infections, blood in the urine and so on.

How can you identify the signs of the condition?

Signs of enlarged prostate are very easy to identify and include:

- A slow or weak urine flow
- Difficulty in initiating urination
- Instances of frequent urination
- A feeling of not completely emptying one's bladder
- Frequent urination during the night
- Exerting a lot to urinate
- Instances of dribbling
- Urgency to pass urine
- A feeling of urinating again minutes after doing so
- Urination that starts and stops
 

Bladder cancer can be caused by a variety of factors, which include genetic factors, inheritance, drugs, chemicals, environment related factors and smoking. In fact, smoking tobacco is one of the major causes of bladder cancer around the world. The chemicals present in tobacco can irritate the bladder lining which ultimately leads to bladder cancer. Besides smoking other important environmental factors might be chemotherapy, exposure to chemicals from newspaper, dye, leather, paints industries.

Symptoms of bladder cancer are as follows:

Most often it occurs in people more than 50 years of age. It can present in different ways, but common symptoms being :

1. Painless hematuria - reddish or brownish colored urine with or without clots Increased frequency of urination Pain while passing urine .
2. Difficulty in passing urine

Diagnosis:

The diagnosis requires a proper imaging workup including ultrasound, CT scan and urine examinations. Following the initial imaging, a biopsy is required to confirm the diagnosis and stage the disease. This is done by cystoscopy under anesthesia.

Treatment Options:

Treatments for bladder cancer.depend on the stage of cancer. Broadly bladder cancers can be categorised into Non-invasive and Invasive cancers.

1. For non-invasive cancers: It requires recurrent cystoscopic surveillance and resection. For those with high risk of tumor recurrence or progression, intravesical chemotherapy or immunotherapy might be required.
2. For invasive cancers the various treatment choices are:
   1. Surgery: For localised tumor which are amenable to resection perhaps surgery is the best possible treatment. This is a major undertaking where in whole of bladder along with accessory organs is removed. The surgeon may offer choices for reconstruction between neobladder (refashioning bladder with patient's gut) or ileal conduit (fashioning a stoma over which bag can be worn to collect urine). Following surgery a regular follow up is required and the prognosis is good.
   2. Chemotherapy: This modality is reserved for patient's where surgery is not possible or they have metastatic disease (disease spread to other body parts).In this method, medications are used to target and destroy cancer cells.
   3. Radiation Therapy: This might be and option for patient's that are not suitable for surgery. Radiation therapy uses gamma rays to destroy cancer cells in the body The key to good prognosis in bladder cancers is early detection timely intervention and good follow up.

Science has advanced a lot through the ages. Doctors have also succeeded in curing many diseases in this time. But even with one of the most advanced technologies, they still haven’t found a fool proof way to cure cancer. Even out of the many types of cancer, blood cancer is the worst among them. You surely wouldn’t want to get into such a situation. Would you? The best way out of blood cancer is never to get one. To prevent it you can take care of a few things:

1. Maintaining proper body weight: Although you can’t do much to prevent cancer, you must ensure that you maintain a healthy body weight. This implied that your BMI should be normal (healthy weight) so that you have a good chance of fighting it. It has been said by many leading institutions worldwide as the best way to prevent cancer. One can maintain proper body weight by making sure they exercise every day for at least 30 minutes and also maintain a well-balanced diet. This would help you maintain a healthy body weight.
2. Reduction in the consumption of calorie dense food: Not only because calorie dense foods like cold drinks increase your weight, the sugar mixes with your blood and thus is difficult to transport through the body. Thus they add a lot of impurities to the body and must be avoided for the best interests in your effort to fight cancer. The worst fact about calorie dense foods is that you can easily consume 1000 – 2000 calories long before you can satisfy your hunger. Thus, it also defeats your first preventive measure to avoid cancer.
3. Staying away from harmful chemicals like pesticides: You might not know it and be happily spraying pest control sprays everywhere without a proper mask thinking you will make the pests go away. What you don’t know is that those pesticides are harmful for your blood and one should avoid them. To increase the probability of winning against blood cancer, it’s vital to keep this in mind.
4. Consulting a doctor from time to time: One should always go and visit a medical practitioner from time to time so that they can maintain proper health. Furthermore, if you see symptoms like fever, frequent infections, night sweating, swollen liver with abdomen pain, enlarged lymph nodes (they are usually painless), then be sure to go to a medical practitioner. Always remember that prevention is better than cure. Thus one should try to prevent blood cancer not cure it. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a General Physician.

If you are undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment, it is likely for you to experience and feel its ill effects on your body. Chemotherapy refers to the use of several medicines and drugs which are used in cancer treatment. Although chemotherapy is considered to be effective for improving cancer, it is associated with fatal side effects on the body. There are certain practices to follow in order to get through and survive chemotherapy, thereby inflicting less harm to your body. They are as follows:

1. Drink fluids: You need to drink large amounts of fluids at a rate which you think is beyond your body’s capacity. This helps in flushing out toxins from your system quickly, which will make you feel better. If you have a hard time drinking water, you should opt for fluids such as popsicles, broth, fruit juice and ginger ale.

2. Consume bland food: During chemotherapy, your craving for food and your appetite reduces. However, you can make a difference by eating. You should try eating bland and mushy food items, such as pudding, oatmeal, white potatoes, white bread and yoghurt. Do not eat fruits for the first few days after chemotherapy.

3. Find an outlet for your pain: You should find out vents or outlets for the pain and misery you are going through. Some people like to write about their emotions and feelings in the form of online blogs. By doing so, they get to share their feelings with other people online, which is a good form of support.

4. Dress comfortably: It is sometimes difficult for you to accept that you are a patient. You may want to avoid looking like a sick patient and want to get dressed up. However, this is kind of ridiculous and you should try to dress comfortably instead of trying to cover up your condition. Bring a blanket to the chemotherapy room and wear socks.

5. Exercise: Although you will not feel like working out and straining yourself because of weakness, exercise is very important for you. It helps in making you feel better as your blood circulation gets regulated properly, which results in the faster elimination of toxins from the body. You should try yoga or at least walk for 30 minutes regularly.

It is also very important for you to take your medicines properly. This will help you get back your strength and energy. You should be gentle with yourself and believe that you will be able to survive what you are going through. Give your body the time to heal.