๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ช๐ณ๐ด๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐น๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐บ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ. ๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ข๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ต๐ฉ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ข๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ต.
Prostate cancer comes with plenty of fear, but it also comes with misinformation. Some men avoid discussing their prostate because they are afraid of the examination. Others believe that feeling healthy means there is nothing to worry about, while an elevated PSA result can send another man home convinced that he already has cancer.
As The Peopleโs Tribune continues its Prostate Cancer Awareness Series, we look at some of the beliefs that can prevent men from getting reliable information, discussing their risk with a doctor or following up when something needs attention.
Myth 1: If I have no symptoms, I don't have prostate cancer
This may be the most dangerous misconception of all.
Most men with prostate cancer do not have symptoms, particularly when the disease is at an earlier stage. When symptoms do occur, they can include difficulty urinating, a weak urine stream, frequent urination, blood in the urine or semen, and persistent pain in the back, hips or pelvis.
Feeling perfectly healthy therefore does not rule out prostate cancer. Screening is specifically intended to look for potentially serious cancer before symptoms develop.
Myth 2: A high PSA means I have cancer
No. PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, is produced by normal prostate cells as well as cancerous ones.
An elevated PSA can be caused by prostate cancer, but it can also result from an enlarged prostate, inflammation or infection. Ejaculation, cycling and some medical procedures can temporarily increase PSA as well. Certain medications can lower it.
There is also no single PSA number that proves cancer is present. The higher the PSA, the greater the reason for further investigation, but a high result is a warning signal, not a diagnosis.
Myth 3: Prostate cancer is an old man's disease
Age is the biggest risk factor, and prostate cancer becomes more common as men get older. But that does not mean younger men can dismiss it.
Risk varies considerably. Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer, tend to develop it at younger ages and are more likely to have advanced disease when it is discovered. Men with a family history can also face increased risk.
That is why some major cancer organizations recommend that discussions about screening begin earlier for men at increased risk. The American Cancer Society recommends starting that conversation at age 45 for Black men and men with a father or brother diagnosed before age 65, and at age 40 for men with more than one close relative diagnosed at an early age.
Myth 4: Nobody in my family had it, so I don't have to worry
Family history matters, but it is only one risk factor.
A man can develop prostate cancer without his father, brother or grandfather ever being diagnosed. In fact, the CDC states plainly that all men are at risk. Age, ancestry and family history can increase that risk, but having no known family history does not provide immunity.
Family history should make a man more alert, not make everyone else less alert.
Myth 5: Getting checked automatically means a rectal examination
For some men, fear or embarrassment surrounding the digital rectal examination, or DRE, becomes a reason to avoid the entire subject of prostate cancer.
But prostate cancer screening can include a PSA blood test. A DRE is another examination that may be used in evaluating the prostate, although the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not recommend DRE by itself as a screening test because evidence of its screening benefit is lacking.
Do not allow fear of one examination to prevent you from even having a conversation with your doctor about your options.
Myth 6: If they find prostate cancer, I will need surgery immediately
Not every prostate cancer behaves the same way.
Some prostate cancers can grow and spread aggressively. Others grow so slowly that they may never threaten a man's life. For men with certain low-risk cancers, doctors may recommend active surveillance instead of immediate surgery or radiation. That means monitoring the cancer closely and beginning treatment if testing shows that it is progressing.
A prostate cancer diagnosis therefore does not automatically mean surgery, chemotherapy or immediate treatment.
Myth 7: Prostate cancer always grows slowly, so there is no urgency
This myth takes a partial truth and turns it into dangerous reassurance.
Many prostate cancers do grow slowly, but others are more aggressive and can spread. The purpose of proper evaluation is not simply to determine whether cancer exists, but to determine what type of cancer it is and how likely it is to cause harm.
That difference matters.
For men in St. Maarten, especially Black men and those with a family history of prostate cancer, the message throughout this series remains simple: do not make decisions about your health based on fear, embarrassment or something you heard years ago.
Ask questions. Know your risk. Understand what a PSA result actually means. And when something needs to be investigated, follow through.
Prostate cancer is serious, but knowing the facts gives men a much better place from which to make decisions about their health.
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