Prostate

Thanks to Judy Berman for her wonderful support of her husband, and advice to Howard County men and women, in "My personal prostate cancer month. " I am personally very close in experience to her husband. All I can conclude is that without the PSA test I would have gone on in peaceful ignorance only to die painfully at a relatively early age from prostate cancer. Mrs. Berman, bless her heart, however only tangentially addresses the problem brought on by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF.)

A sea of blue - the color designated to promote prostate cancer awareness - bobbed up and down around the Towson University campus Sunday morning as more than 2,000 people participated in the eighth-annual ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk. One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than 33,000 men will die this year of the disease, according to Patricia Schnably, event organizer and vice president of marketing and communications at Chesapeake Urology. "Like a lot of cancers, if you don't catch it early, it spreads through the body and eventually will kill you," Schnably said.

We would like your opinion of saw palmetto berries. My husband was on this herb for several months. He felt great and even stopped having to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.When he went to the urologist, he was told to stop taking the herb even though the doctor did reluctantly say that the prostate had shrunk a bit. Since stopping the saw palmetto, my husband hasn't felt as well and is again getting up in the middle of the night to void. He has trouble going back to sleep.

A selection of events, resources and medical institutions. Events Free prostate screening 4-6 p.m. Thursday at the Good Health Center at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital, 5601 Loch Raven Blvd., Baltimore. Registration is required. To make an appointment, call 443-444-4100. ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk 10K run, 5K run/walk, 1 mile fun walk, Kids Superhero Dash for Dad and virtual Snooze for Dudes program. Funds raised are split between local community and national efforts to fund research, testing, and education for men and their families.

JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced yesterday that he has prostate cancer but that he will continue to govern and expects to be cured by surgery. Olmert, 62, looking fit and speaking calmly, told a news conference that a biopsy had detected a malignant tumor in its early stage. He said he had learned of the diagnosis over the weekend and has chosen to undergo surgical removal of the prostate gland "in the coming months." "My doctors have informed me that I have a full chance of recovery and there is nothing about the tumor that is life-threatening or liable to impair my performance or my ability to carry out the duties bestowed upon me," he said.

The vitamin E in an extra handful of nuts or serving of spinach each day may help cut the risk of bladder and prostate cancers, according to two separate studies presented yesterday in Orlando. For the prostate, Finnish men who got more of the vitamin in their diets slashed their risk by as much as 53 percent. For the bladder, people in a Texas-based study had about a 40 percent reduction in risk whether they took vitamin E supplements or ate more foods that are rich in the nutrient. Though the results are intriguing, scientists said additional research is needed to see if the vitamin truly protects against cancer.

Columbia-based Celsion Corp. said yesterday that it had gotten government approval to begin testing on patients the safety and effectiveness of a 45-minute outpatient procedure designed to rapidly relieve symptoms of a benign prostate disease. Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore will be among the six sites at which Celsion will test its patented treatment system on 160 men. The company has successfully completed Phase I safety trials of the system, designed to relieve the constricted urethra that makes urinating difficult for men with enlarged prostates.

Philip Ben Wah, Sr A funeral service will be held at Ruck Towson Funeral Home, 1050 York Road on Saturday at 1 P.M. Friends may call on Saturday 11 A.M till 1 P.M. Family suggest contributions may be made to The Johns Hopkins Prostate Cancer Research Fund/ M. Eisenberger, M.D. Bunting Blaustein Cancer Research Building, 1650 Orleans Street, Room 1M52, Baltimore, Md. 21231.

Chesapeake Urology Associates, P.A., one of the nation's largest urology groups, has announced Dr. Sankar Kausik, M.D., F.A.C.S., has been named Chief of Urology for the Upper Chesapeake Medical Center, part of Upper Chesapeake Health, an affiliate partner with the University of Maryland Medical System. Kausik has practiced at the Bel Air facility for more than 10 years. Kausik is the 11th Chesapeake Urology physician to serve as Chief of Urology at a major Baltimore area hospital.

Dave McNally, who fought prostate cancer last fall, has just finished radiation and chemotherapy treatments for lung cancer, which was discovered in mid-January."

Because of advanced treatments, curing prostate cancer has become more common. There now are more than 2.5 million survivors in the United States. Still, many men suffer from side effects after treatment, which may be a deterrent to obtaining care or even discussing the matter with a doctor. But early diagnosis and appropriate treatment will provide the best outcomes, according to Dr. Ira E. Hantman, a urologist with Urology Specialists of Maryland at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore.

At least 15 percent of American men have vasectomies, so when a study came out recently linking this common method of birth control to an increased risk of the most lethal kind of prostate cancer, it sparked some alarm in doctors' offices. The findings "caused a lot of fear among many people, people who had had vasectomies," said Dr. Mohummad Minhaj Siddiqui, one of the study's authors and director of urologic robotic surgery and an assistant professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

A white powdered chemical compound emerged from two University of Maryland School of Medicine laboratories more than 10 years ago with a name destined for oblivion, but a future that now looks promising as a treatment for the most challenging cases of prostate cancer. Today, VN/124-1 is a drug candidate with a name - galeterone - a pharmaceutical company founded on its potential and a record of strong preliminary results in clinical trials with human patients. The Food and Drug Administration has put galeterone on a fast track for approval to treat prostate cancer, which kills about 30,000 men a year in the United States.

Thanks to Judy Berman for her wonderful support of her husband, and advice to Howard County men and women, in "My personal prostate cancer month. " I am personally very close in experience to her husband. All I can conclude is that without the PSA test I would have gone on in peaceful ignorance only to die painfully at a relatively early age from prostate cancer. Mrs. Berman, bless her heart, however only tangentially addresses the problem brought on by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF.)

Edmondson's football team will have its usual Monday conditioning session on Sunday this week, for a good cause. The Red Storm will race in the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run Sunday morning at 8:30 at Towson University. Coach Corey Johnson told the players they could have Monday off from conditioning if they participate in the fund-raising 5K scheduled for the last weekend of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Johnson said the idea originated with Edmondson principal Karl Perry Sr. after Dr. Sanford Siegel, the president and CEO of Chesapeake Urology, mentioned the race to him. “My principal thought it would be a great way to get the guys involved and also help to bring awareness,” Johnson said, adding that Siegel picked up the $30 entry fee for each of the Red Storm players and Perry provided a bus. “They wanted to bring awareness of prostate cancer particularly to the African American community,” Johnson said, “because it really affects African American men at a much higher rate than others.

October, with its ubiquitous pink ribbons, has come to symbolize breast cancer awareness. I'm guessing you didn't know that September has a ribbon too - a little-seen light blue ribbon that is the sign of Prostate Cancer Awareness month. I didn't know it. But last September I became acutely aware of prostate cancer, when my husband was diagnosed with the disease. I set up a full physical exam for my less-than-thrilled husband earlier in 2012, when a friend was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

I've heard that ibuprofen will negate the positive effects of aspirin if the two are taken together. I read a report that says ibuprofen blocks aspirin's effect for only two hours and that it's safe to take ibuprofen two hours after aspirin to circumvent this effect. Any truth to this? Several years ago, a report in the New England Journal of Medicine (Dec. 20, 2001) suggested that ibuprofen could counteract the anti-clotting benefits of aspirin. A new study in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (September)

•"Man-to-Man," a monthly education and support group for men and their significant others to learn about topics related to prostate cancer diagnosis and management, will meet from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. today in the Tate Center Conference Room of Baltimore Washington Medical Center, 301 Hospital Drive, Glen Burnie. Free. For more information, call 410-553-8103 or 410-421-4304. •Learn about how to sleep better at a "Peaceful Sleeping" seminar at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Harbor Hospital's Baum Auditorium, 3001 S. Hanover St. A light dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m. Registration required; call 410-350-2563 or visit harborhospital.

September marks Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and with prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men in the United States, the Harford County Health Department urges men to consider the facts about prostate cancer and the importance of a healthy prostate. In 2013, The American Cancer Society estimates that 4,880 men in Maryland will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 560 will die from it this year, while across the country, approximately 238,590 men will be diagnosed and 38,460 will die from this cancer this year.

Many men will experience prostate enlargement as they get older, some to the point that it will cause urination problems. Dr. Michael Naslund, director of the Maryland Prostate Center at the University Maryland Medical Center, said there are many options for treatment, including surgery, drugs and lifestyle changes. What is the prostate and how does it function in the body? The prostate gland sits beneath the bladder in men. The primary function of the prostate in a young man is to produce some of the fluid in the ejaculate and to transport urine and sperm out of the body through the urethra.