Prostate Health Alert

For men over 40 years old, as long as any of the three signs of "rising at night ≥ 2 times, dripping after urination, or perineal swelling" persists for more than 1 week, the first priority test is the basic screening of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) + digital rectal examination. This is currently recognized as the lowest cost and lowest missed diagnosis rate for early screening of prostate problems.

I just met a 42-year-old Internet company operator in the clinic last week. He stayed up for a month to catch up on the Double 11 project. At first, he only had to wake up twice a night. He thought it was because he drank too much coffee and didn't take it seriously. Later, it developed to the point where his underwear would be wet after peeing. After sitting in a meeting for two hours, he would feel so gloomy that he felt like he had stuffed a warm little egg. It took him three months to come. After checking, the PSA value was normal, but a digital examination revealed that the prostate had swollen to 1.5 times the normal size, indicating moderate chronic prostatitis. Fortunately, it did not reach the point of hyperplasia. I prescribed some α-blockers, and told him to stand up and jump twice every two minutes after sitting for 40 minutes. After returning for a follow-up visit in half a month, he was almost relieved.

In fact, regarding the early warning signs of the prostate, there have been two different judgment standards in the industry: Traditional urology departments prefer to regard "difficulty urinating, thinning of the urine line, and painful urination" as clear early warning signs. They believe that the previous mild symptoms are likely to be temporary discomfort caused by lifestyle habits, so there is no need to be overly anxious, which may cause psychological problems.； However, in recent years, the school of chronic disease management in men's medicine has suggested that the early warning line be pulled forward - things like perineal swelling after sitting for a long time, dull pain that lasts for more than ten minutes after ejaculation, and getting up more than once at night and lasting for more than a week, are all early warning signs. At this time, intervention basically does not require medication, and can be reversed by adjusting living habits, and avoids the recurrence of chronic inflammation.

Don’t think that prostate problems are only for the elderly. There was a 28-year-old young man who just quit his job and played Chinese mobile games at home. He spent at least 14 hours a day on a gaming chair, holding in his urine until he couldn’t hold it in before going to the toilet. When he came, he was so painful that he couldn’t stand up straight. When he found out it was acute bacterial prostatitis, he said in surprise, “Isn’t this a disease that only old men get? ”. There are many young people under the age of 30 suffering from prostatitis nowadays. Most of them are caused by sitting for a long time, holding back urine, and drinking alcohol. It has nothing to do with age.

There is no consensus on the topic of lycopene preventing prostate disease on the Internet: a long-term follow-up cohort of tens of thousands of people in Europe and the United States has shown that the incidence of prostate cancer is about 10% lower among people who take lycopene for a long time. However, clinical tracking data in the past five years in China have not found a significant difference. To put it bluntly, if you are willing to eat, eat more tomato scrambled eggs. Lycopene needs to be in oil to be easily absorbed. It is much more cost-effective than buying purified health products that cost hundreds of yuan. There is no need to pay IQ tax for this.

Many people resist a digital examination when they hear that they need a prostate examination and feel embarrassed. I have seen too many people who would rather spend hundreds of dollars more for an abdominal B-ultrasound than a digital examination. It is really unnecessary. The sensitivity of digital examination to prostate nodules is 30% higher than that of abdominal B-ultrasound. Many early-stage prostate cancers are detected first by digital examination. The doctor wears gloves and applies lubricant. It only takes a few seconds. It is not as uncomfortable as everyone thinks. Compared with face, the body is real, right?

To be honest, I have been working as a clinician for so many years, and I have seen too many people turn a small signal into a big problem. Either they are too embarrassed to come to see it, or they feel that such a small thing is not worth going to the hospital. They don’t know the suffering until they really can’t urinate and need to have a urinary catheter inserted. To put it bluntly, the prostate is the "fragile faucet gasket" of men. Eat more snacks at ordinary times, don't sit for too long and don't hold your urine, drink less and stay up late. If there are small signals, check them in time. It's really not a big deal. Don’t panic if a problem is discovered. Whether it’s inflammation or hyperplasia, early intervention can basically control it well and won’t affect normal life at all.