Women Can Help Men Spot Prostate Cancer

 Please Be Sure To

To Give Hope & Information

How women can help men spot symptoms of prostate cancer

As male patients are being given false hope on prostate cancer, Louisa Peacock outlines how wives and girlfriends can help their male partners spot the disease.

How to spot the symptoms of prostate cancer

How to spot the symptoms of prostate cancer Photo: Wellcome Collection

Louisa Peacock By Louisa Peacock2:01PM BST 11 Apr 2014

Prostate cancer is very tricky to spot, according to the charity Prostate Cancer UK. In some cases, the symptoms may develop over a number of years. In other patients, by the time symptoms become noticeable, prostate cancer has already spread to their bones.

Most men with early prostate cancer do not have symptoms, the charity points out.

However, there are some warning signs for men, and as a recent study showed, because men routinely risk their health by failing to go and see the doctor, their partners can often encourage them to go and get symptoms checked before it’s too late.

Symptoms to look out for:
– Having to get up in the night several times to empty your bladder, which you wouldn’t normally do
– Having trouble starting to urinate

Related Articles
Half of prostate cancer cases may be missed 14 Jun 2013
Anger over NHS ‘U-turn’ on prostate cancer drugs 28 Jan 2014
Men with prostate cancer ‘falsely’ told it is not aggressive 11 Apr 2014
Why do men still need women to make them visit the doctor? 05 Nov 2012
UK men ‘losers in European prostate cancer lottery’ 07 Mar 2013

– Feeling as though the bladder isn’t emptying properly
– Dribbling after urinating

In the above video from Prostate Cancer UK, John Robertson, a prostate cancer specialist nurse, explains that the symptoms may be linked to bladder problems, or an enlarged prostate. In some cases, they can be due to prostate cancer and it’s best to get this checked by a GP.

Fear of the doctor

A recent study by the National Pharmacy Association showed that nearly nine in 10 men don’t like to trouble a doctor unless they have a “serious problem”. This reticence has largely been attributed to men’s fear of the doctor, (white coat syndrome) and male machismo.

Partners, wives or girlfriends of men should encourage their loved one to get checked if they notice any unusual bathroom habits.

Historically, women have usually been the custodians of health in the family. Mums, grandmothers, sisters, aunts – have typically been the ones to make their men visit health professionals and sort any kind of ill health out proactively.

Women can help men quell the irrational fear of going to the doctor, so they can seek help before it’s too late.

Where prostate cancer has already spread to the bones, the symptoms can include long standing pain in one area, such as the back or pelvic bones.

However, Mr Robertson points out this could be a sign of another illness, such as arthritis.

Blood in semen or in urine could indicate prostate or urine infection, or prostate cancer, he adds. Either way, you’re advised to check it out.