hello...wife of a newbie - - Page 2Being diagnosed with prostate cancer

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 00:24

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

I also guess the riding the bike link is simply because riding a bike is linked to an elevated PSA so when a cyclist has a routine PSA test their PSA is likely to be above normal and therefore they are more likely to be sent for a biopsy.

No, it is based on a thread on here some time ago where some of us put up details of previous employment, hobbies, etc to see what commonalities there might be. A significant proportion were keen cyclists but then again how many boys don't have a bike at some time in their lives? We have quite a few pilots amongst us, a lot of motorcyclists and engineers, and a fair few who had had vasectomies. Other than that, the interests and employment histories were as broad as you would imagine.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 08:30

I forgot - I've had the snips as well.

Paul

Stay Calm And Carry On.

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 08:59

Hi,

Me too Paul. I did see the report about the possible connection between that and PCa. Does make you think but there again you're always looking for the answer to that question "Why me?".

Steve

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 09:34

As did John. 40+ years ago

We can't control the winds - but we can adjust our sails

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 09:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by: Online Community Member

There can still be link to more men who cycle being sent for a biopsy:

"9th March 2012 - Many doctors are unaware that keen cyclists can have raised levels of a protein which is an important indicator for detecting prostate cancer, says a leading consultant urologist.

A failure to check whether patients spend long spells in the saddle is resulting in otherwise healthy men being sent for uncomfortable and unnecessary biopsies.

Consultant urologist Christopher Eden, of the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford tells BootsWebMD: "If you're a keen, competitive cyclist, or you're a recreational cyclist who commutes, the trauma of your perineum - which is the bit of you that you sit on - against the saddle is going to massage or injure your prostate in a minor way and cause inflammation, and the inflammation will drive up the PSA."

Cycling must be so good for you in so many other ways they do need to do more research ASAP otherwise some men may stop cycling through fear of getting PCa.

I guess I am just unlucky then as I don't ride, haven't had the snip, have no relations who have been diagnosed with it, not African-Caribbean, never ate lots of processed food and (despite what my kids think) I am not old. I must confess to scratching my testicles a few times when they have been itchy ....... it's a wonderful feeling. Any link?

Oh .... and I am a man.

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 11:20

Hello, this is a very interesting conversation. I know you all know a lot more about prostate cancer than I do, especially as it is all new to us. When my other half found in a routine blood test that his psa was raised last June (we found it had been tested over the last 10 years without his knowledge in routine bloods) We went to see a urologist who said at 3.7 it was not really high, but suggested a biopsy as his father had prostate cancer, though he was diagnosed in his mid seventies, never had any treatment and died at 93 due to his parkinsons. Also his mother died of ovarian cancer, the urologist said there is also a link in sons with a mother diagnosed with ovarian cancer (diagnosed at 79, after chemo she made another 10 years before it returned, she died very soon after) anyway the urologist said he was fairly sure it would be prostate cancer due to family history. The biopsy showed early prostate cancer.

Yet the Brachy specialist sad that as his parents were fairly old they had to die of something and there may not be a link. When my other after half went to see one of our gp's last week due to not being able to cope with some of the side effects of his brachy, the gp was a different one but one he has been friends with for years said he can't believe how many people are being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he also told him never to ride a bicycle again as he feels there is a link. (he only rides a bicycle occasionally when we take the boys out up the road and back and sometimes he visits local farmers) he has now decided not to ride it again!

As for diet he always ate well as a child, no processed food. But we have 3 boys, the youngest is 5 and I can't cope with his eating habbits, he does not eat any fruit, any veg, any meat apart from sausages and chicken nuggets. I would give anything to change his eating. Especially knowing his father has been diagnosed with prostate cancer in his 50's so I feel he should eat healthy now.

Also I thought I would add that he doesn't smoke, rarely drinks alcohol and hasn't had the snip either.

Edited by member 04 Feb 2015 at 18:15 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 11:59

Hi all,

This conversation and debate is so interesting, and mirrors many of the conversations I've had with people in my work. 'Why me?' does crop up a lot, understandably. On hearing today's revised statistics that one in two of us will develop a cancer in our lifetime (BBC news), it seems 50% of people may be asking that question.

It is probably an accumulation of factors that trigger the cancer response for prostate cancer...I've read that certain types of plastics, agricultural fertilisers, and diesel fumes can all contribute...and how many men will have lifetime exposure to those factors? Back to my original 'photocopying error' analogy....there may a slight genetic hiccup, followed by exposure to certain chemicals, the bike riding, vasectomy (although the jury is still out on that one), high animal fats diet, low vitamin D...you name it. As Sjtb so rightly says, we possibly have to be making the changes and prevention of risk factors at a young age..and that's exactly when we're at our most stubborn, and probably wouldn't respond to advice:)

Sue

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 12:08

Interesting thread - I have often wondered about my husband and link to previous employment - he worked with dye

pigments and there is a link between that and bladder cancers

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 12:14

Hi, just thought would say whiterose that my other half is a farmer so is always spraying the fields with fertilisers and various pesticides, I am sure none of these are good for his health, not forgetting many of these pesticides end up in our food, our crops do not go for human food but the cattle eat the hay, straw and barley, then the cattle go to slaughter for humans to eat, so it gets into the food chain. It would be interesting to see a study of people that have followed a strict organic diet too.

Edited by member 04 Feb 2015 at 12:15 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 12:56

Thanks tombryce for your post. It will be worth watching the results of this.

My OH was diagnosed on his 66th birthday so just outside the parameters,his father was diagnosed when 80 and lived til 96.

I guess many of us had a fairly high dairy diet as little was known about this years ago. In fact my mother in law added butter to the OH s porridge so he would be strong!! He grew to be a six footer with a love of food,now struggling to keep his weight down as a result of HT.

El.

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 15:39

Poor Mick never stood a chance ...he was a man (definitely)

he had a vasectomy (definitely)

he rode a bike (a lot)

he was a pilot both private and commercial

He had type 2 diabetes for over 20 years

There was PCa and Bca as well as small cell lung cancer in his family

He ate RAF aircrew food for 20+ years so almost all processed and enriched with pork pies and Beer.

He drove diesel winches and tractors for 40 years or more at gliding clubs anything from 4 - 40 hours a week

Although his diet once he married me was near perfect, it certainly wasn't in his first 40 years

He never smoked but his parents and grandparents who he grew up with all did heaviy, gliding club bars and RAF crew rooms were always full of heavy smokers so he probably was a 30 a day passive smoker until 20 years ago!

Now we are told one in two will get some type of cancer I reckon his rsk factor must have been about 99% I have given him that slightest of margins as far as I know he had no African/Caribbean blood.

Now I think I need to party like a crazy person before I too fall victim to statistics

Mandy Mo

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 20:36

Not sure if it's down to genetics, environment or what but looking at the diversity of men on here PCa seems pretty indescriminate to me.

Having said that I've had the snip...worked in engineering in my former life.....drank copious amounts of beer in my rugby playing days and beyond and still enjoy a pint or three.....never was fussy about my diet....sat on cold concrete etc when a kid (interestingly was always told not do that)....had various sexual relationships before meeting the Mrs....had a bike as a kid....use the static bike in the gym...mother and father both died of heart related conditions in their 70's

Actually I might go and have a few celebratory drinks for managing to reach 55

Bri

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:34

I have been a bit quiet on the forum of late most think it is because I have been busy with our puppies in truth I have been trying to keep Trevor of his bloody Bike.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif

Just joking he can ride a bike, well sort of he certainly couldn't compete in the Tour de France.

So common denominators in PCA , can Trevor fly a plane , absolutely not he can drive the ride on though. Could he be described as a grease monkey no and he is not very good at DIY either.

So I got to thinking what could it be that he has in common with 67% per cent of Afro Caribean men in the USA apart from the obvious , being crap at ironing, eating Jerk Chicken , and an extra 4 inches. Of course the ironing is just a joke he is actually very good at ironing.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif

So I did a little bit of studying apparently blacks in the United States have the highest pca rate in the world and nearly twice that of white men the 2-1 ratio is already apparent at the age of 45. So obviously my first thought was OMG have they all got bikes, no but what they do have is a high testosterone at an early age. The report found that the difference occurs in early life testosterone has long been thought to play a role in Etiology of pca. Testosterone and it's metabolite dihydrotestosterone are the principle function of prostate tissue. But can they do the ironing , no. The report does say that circulating hormone levels were 19% higher in black students than in white students and free testosterone levels were 21% per cent higher in the black students.

We all know that lowering testosterone is important in controlling pca so here is my random thought for the day what if high testosterone in young men black or white over stimulates the prostate gland in the early years helps in some way to as Sue would say prematurely wear out the blue print .

This is my thought for the day

BFN

Julie X

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:37

Sorry it's not 4 inches, 4 cms.http://community.prostatecanceruk.org/editors/tiny_mce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-surprised.gif

NEVER LAUGH AT A LIVE DRAGON

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 22:48

I have a confession to make to Steve ( Nikon Steve) as I produced a component that you have used all your working life, and I and some of my colleagues have the dreaded PCA all at a young age. Is there a connection?, who knows, I don't think we will ever know. I remember asking if the environment we worked in was toxic, and was told that all the elements produced were within safe levels, but when I pushed them on the cumulative effect they may have I was fobbed off. I personally think it is down to mankind tampering with nature for profit, but only time will tell.

Roy

Edited by member 05 Feb 2015 at 10:38 | Reason: Not specified

User

Posted 04 Feb 2015 at 23:57

There may be something in the young men / high testosterone theory Julie - I got pregnant every time John turned the light off :-(

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." Soren Kierkegaard

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 10:17

I think there must be connection between hormone production and certain cancers. Men in the prostate and testicles, women in breasts and ovaries suggest to me that the sites of these cancers are linked to hormones production in one shape or another. That much seems fairly obvious but from what has been said it also seems likely that external influences come into play too; riding a pedal cycle for men (but apparently not for women?), undergoing a vasectomy, as I did in my 30s, working with certain chemicals etc. And finally the fact that parents and or grandparents suffered from the disease strongly suggests that it is simply inherited.

Interestingly lots and lots of people don't get cancer in their lives, ride bikes, work in industries where chemicals are used etc. etc. so as usual what works for certainly doesn't not work for all.

I live in a small village where we have many friends. When I was diagnosed a significant number of our friends arranged for a test too, having been TOLD to go by their wives mostly. Strangely out of possibly a dozen men who were tested the only one who came back with a high PSa is a man in his mid sixties who is a vegan and has been, or at least a strict vegetarian, for most of his life. He's very fit but doesn't ride a bike (as far as I know) and works in accountancy - perhaps it's the ink!

Steve

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 16:54

To get down to the heart of this problem, the more statistics available , the better. However to break down the primary cause of any individual PCa must be nigh on impossible. The link between premature births and lung cancer to smoking would have been relatively straight forward to connect, but for PCa there are too many factors involved.

Not only that, environmental factors can change over even a short period of time, as can people's behaviours according to the latest fashions - eg going to the gym and cycling.

One can only hope that a more precise test than PSA comes along sooner rather than later, so that men can be tested routinely and PCa caught early as breast cancer is for females. Until that happens, I can't see any quick fix to bringing the statistics for PCa down.

Stay Calm And Carry On.

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 18:41

Whatever happened to the blood test that was to revolutionise prostate cancer testing. An enzyme had been discovered that when found in a blood sample would provide details of the existence of a tumour, its size, volume and Gleason score etc.

Oh, hang on, it was in the Daily Mail....

User

Posted 05 Feb 2015 at 19:39

" In a large, detailed cross-sectional study of habitual cyclists, we present findings regarding the association between self-reported cycling time and ED, infertility, and prostate cancer. There was no biological gradient between cycling time and ED or infertility, which is at odds with previous suggestions of a causal relationship. The findings suggest a graded association between cycling and risk of prostate cancer, but whether this is a definitive association related to causation or diagnosis remains to be seen."

from

http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/jomh.2014.0012

User

Posted 07 Feb 2015 at 22:42

I did exactly the same as you. My husband had no symptoms, and I sent him off for a well man check for his 57th birthday. My dad has had prostate cancer for some time, and I thought it was time he got checked out. The GP didn't inform us of the result, so we assumed all was well.

He went back to the gp in sept to have his ears syringed, and the gp suggested that 7.6 was a bit high and we should repeat it. It was 9.2. He had prostatectomy in December, and they found a Gleason of 5 +4. Fortunately it was still contained.

He is now 9 weeks post op, with incontinence and impotence and I too feel terribly guilty.

Louise

User

Posted 08 Feb 2015 at 06:09

Hi Louise,

It sounds like you, ( even more than me) did the right thing sending him for the test. The GP practice seem remiss in not alerting your husband to the raised PSA level result...and it was only looked at again when your husband went back to GP for something else.

The men on this website seem both open and encouraging about the post op recovery stages...from what I've read, its still relatively early stages in the recovery phase re urinary incontinence...and the impotence seems to have a myriad of techniques to help as time progresses.

Like me, you may be feeling that ' now look what I've done' feeling. But, I can truly say you acted (unknowing) in the nick of time....as your husband's prostate cancer was needing to be discovered.

Sending a big hug to you from a fellow member of the 'guilt' club xx

Sue

User

Posted 08 Feb 2015 at 08:58

Louise

i was lucky - my GP was on the ball. I can't believe your OH's original result was not acted upon, let alone the 2nd. There is seemingly a lot os education still needed for the medics.

Paul

Stay Calm And Carry On.

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