Prostate
Cancer Hits Wives Hard, Too
Spouses play key role
and suffer alongside husbands, survey shows
Wives of men with prostate
cancer are intimately involved in their husbands' care and they
suffer as they help their spouse battle the disease, a new national
survey shows.
 In
the survey, conducted by Roper Starch Worldwide, 83 percent of the
wives said they play a key role in boosting their husbands' morale;
67 percent accompany their husbands to treatment; 59 percent make
sure their husbands follow their treatment regimen; and 53 percent
play a role in treatment decisions.
Spouses
Role Comes With a Cost
Forty-two percent of the
wives reported stress, sleeplessness, and weight swings. And 51
percent said they suffered feelings of helplessness, loss of intimacy,
anxiety, and depression.
Yet the survey revealed
41 percent of the women said they had been drawn closer to their
husbands because of the disease.
The
Two Against One Connection Program Can Help
The telephone survey of
302 spouses of men with prostate cancer was done from mid-December
to mid-January.
In a follow-up, a new
Internet-based mentoring program has been launched to help wives
and other loved ones of prostate cancer patients. The Two Against
One Connections program, introduced on Valentine's Day by prostate
cancer survivor and New York Yankees Manager Joe Torre and his wife,
Ali, matches prostate cancer patients and their families with others
familiar with the disease. People share their concerns and experiences
via e-mail.
The program is a partnership
between the National Prostate Cancer Coalition,
Amgen Inc., and Praecis Pharmaceuticals.
Discussing the disease
with others who have dealt with it can be a source of comfort and
support for wives and other family members, says Skip Lockwood,
coalition spokesman.
"You can look and see
that it's not just you. There are many, many women out there who
are suffering and grappling with the same issues," Lockwood says.
Spouses
Can Discuss Feelings and Remain Anonymous
People involved with the
Connections program remain anonymous. That "allows women to talk
to other women and reveal as much or as little as they like without
feeling they're opening themselves up to the world," Lockwood says.
"That really makes it easier for people to be very honest and forthright."
Wives also provide essential
emotional support, which helps the patient's attitude and outlook.
Always consult your physician
for more information.
Herbal
Treatment Shows Promise Against Prostate Cancer
It suppressed
cell growth in lab experiments
An herbal formula sold
under the brand name Zyflamend may offer new treatment and prevention
options for prostate cancer patients, say Columbia University researchers.
The formula, a combination
of 10 different herbs (including turmeric, ginger, holy basil, hu
zhang, Chinese goldthread, barberry, oregano, rosemary, green tea
and Scutellaria baicalensis), suppressed the growth of prostate
cancer cells and caused many cells to self-destruct in lab experiments,
report the researchers. They presented their findings at a recent
meeting of the Society of Urologic Oncology at
the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda,
Md.
"This is a natural product
that contains herbs and spices and in our lab studies seems to have
an effect on the cancer we looked at," says one of the study's authors,
Dr. Aaron Katz, director of the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia-Presbyterian
Medical Center in New York City. "The compound needs future research
on the clinical side, but it holds the potential for prevention
and reducing PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels."
Cancer of the prostate
is a common and serious health concern. According to the American
Cancer Society, there will be approximately 220,900 new
cases of prostate cancer in the United States in the year 2003,
and about 28,900 men will die of this disease. It is the most common
form of cancer of men over age 50—and the second leading cancer
killer (lung cancer being first).
The researchers added
Zyflamend to prostate cancer cells in lab cultures. They also tested
the effects of curcumin, a compound from the spice turmeric. Curcumin
is believed to have an anti-inflammatory effect that could reduce
the growth of prostate cancer.
They found Zyflamend reduced
the growth of prostate cancer cells and induced cell death, and
that curcumin alone did not produce these effects.
Dr. Howard Korman, a urologist
and prostate cancer specialist at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal
Oak, Mich., says the results of this new study are exciting.
"Some of our most effective
medicines come from plants," says Korman, "and these results are
interesting and hopeful."
However, he cautions,
"it's a big step to go from the lab to people."
Katz says the researchers
are hopeful the therapy will be as effective in people as it is
in the lab, and they plan on conducting clinical trials in the future.
If it proves as effective
as they hope, Katz says the herbal formula could be used as preventative
therapy because it has no significant side effects. He says it could
also, perhaps, be used as a treatment for men with small tumors
who do not want to undergo surgery or radiation if the trials go
well.
Always consult your physician
for more information.
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February 2003
Prostate
Cancer Hits Wives Hard, Too
Spouses
Role Comes With a Cost
The
Two Against One Connection Program Can Help
Spouses
Can Discuss Feelings and Remain Anonymous
Herbal
Treatment Shows Promise Against Prostate Cancer
Online
Resources
In Other Men's Health
News:
New Help for Enlarged
Prostates
Prescription drug
now available to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia
The drug Avodart, used
to treat symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with
an enlarged prostate, is now available by prescription in the United
States.
Avodart is a 5 alpha-reductase
inhibitor that arrests the BPH disease process. The current most
commonly prescribed treatment for BPH, alpha blockers, treat only
the symptoms of BPH.
BPH (also referred to
as benign prostatic hypertrophy) is a condition in which the prostate
gland becomes very enlarged and may cause problems associated with
urination. BPH can raise PSA (prostate-specific antigen) levels
two to three times higher than the normal level. An increased PSA
level does not indicate cancer, but the higher the PSA level, the
higher the chance of having cancer.
More than half of men
in their 60s have some symptoms of BPH.
As many as 90 percent of men in their 70s and 80s have some symptoms
of BPH.
The following are the
most common symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. However, each
individual may experience symptoms differently. Symptoms may include:
-
leaking or dribbling of urine
-
more frequent urination, especially
at night
-
-
urine retention - inability to
urinate
-
a hesitant, interrupted, weak
stream of urine
These problems may lead
to one/more of the following:
The National Cancer
Institute and the American Cancer Society
recommend that all men over 50 consult their physicians about having
a digital rectal and PSA examination once a year to screen for prostate
cancer.
Online
Resources
(Our Organization is not
responsible for the content of Internet sites.)
American
Cancer Society
American
Urological Association, Inc.
Men's
Health Network
National
Cancer Institute
National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
National
Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NIDDK)
National
Prostate Cancer Coalition
Society
of Urologic Oncology
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