Watchful Waiting for Prostate Cancer Treatment

By Sandy Ingram


Through the evolution of modern medicine, medical physicians have now come up with a new prostate cancer treatment known in many circles as HIFU, which stands for high intensity focused ultrasound. This new technology assists men suffering from prostate cancer by getting rid of all cancer infected tissue in the prostate region using an advanced acoustic ablation method that utilizes the powers of an ultrasound. This technology locates the infected area with pinpoint accuracy. The infected area is targeted using sound waves allowing HIFU to elevate the tissue's temperature, making the tissue breakdown and consequently eliminating the cancer.

This we call - watchful waiting. What is Watchful Waiting? Watchful waiting or active surveillance is one option for managing prostate cancer. It means deciding not to resort to traditional treatments like radiation, surgery, and seed implants just yet. Watchful waiting does not mean you're not going to do nothing about it. Rather, you're just delaying the treatment, if possible, so you still get to put off the side effects and continue to live life as it was meant to be lived - manhood intact. With watchful waiting, your condition has to be regularly monitored naturally. This means getting your PSA levels every 3-6 months and undergoing annual biopsies to assess whether the cancer cells have spread or have become more aggressive. If the tests reveal the aggressive growth of cancer then that's the only time when the patient may begin with the appropriate treatment.

Due to this even doctor find it very difficult to diagnose them, usually such cancer is diagnosed a year after the symptoms are seen in most cases. But lately the deaths due to prostate have reduced by 70 % due to the effective treatments available and the awareness created in men regarding Prostate Cancer Symptoms.

Symptoms to take notice of Some of the most common Prostate Cancer Symptoms include Pain and blood during urination, dribbling of urine at the end of urination, Pain in the pelvis and back part, Erectile dysfunction and problems of erection, Reduced force while urinating and also urinating in small quantities several times during the night.

How Effective Is Watchful Waiting? - The Statistics Says It All According to one study, men who were diagnosed with low-grade slow growing cancer who sought active surveillance were shown to have an almost 80% survival rate. And that the patients are nearly 19 times more likely to die in 10 years due to causes other than the cancer.

The requirement of the patient before the treatment can begin is to undergo two enemas before the treatment can commence. Patients also undergo light anesthesia to ensure the patient remains still during the procedure as even small movements can cause damage. The rectal probe uses ultrasound waves to also provide-time images to the physician of the complete area, offering immediate and detailed feedback. Once the procedure is complete, patients only need a few hours to recover and in just a few days, patients are able to go back to their life.

Still you can't blame men who decide to take the route of surgery. Because not everyone would be able to face the day knowing what might be going on in their prostate. In fact, some studies support that a third of men chose treatment because of their anxiety over watchful waiting. It was simply too difficult for them to cope with it emotionally.




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