New Website Tracks Prostate Cancer Research

A new Web site, www.prostaide.org, aimed at prostate cancer, one of the world's more dangerous and most common male afflictions, has been launched and is now open to the public with a comprehensive list of free information.

St. Louis, MO (PRWEB) November 5, 2006 -- A new Web site, www.prostaide.org, aimed at prostate cancer, one of the world's more dangerous and most common male afflictions, has been launched and is now open to the public with a comprehensive list of free information.

It covers such topics as symptoms, treatment, detection procedures, future progress as well as current news stories on the latest studies and newest treatments as they are discovered.

The Web site is emphatic in one segment of its diagnostic coverage of prostate cancer, and that is for all men over the age of 50 to get an annual test for prostate cancer. Though many may say they dislike a doctor inserting his finger into the patient's rectum to feel whether deadly lumps exist that denotes the possibility of cancer, they also agree that it has saved their lives.

"I'll never forget," one man said after years of annual checkups, "when the doctor performed that test -- which is only momentary -- and then quietly told me, 'I think we'll need a biopsy to see if there's any problem there.' Well, there was and it has kept me and many a man free of cancer."

The rectum test, which was the standard of detection for many, many years, has been bolstered by a blood test called PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) that was developed by Dr. William Catalona. The PSA also is now a standard checkup necessity for men who regularly visit their urologists. Though there has been a bit of dispute over the PSA's accuracy, at present and after years of usage it is now considered an essential early treatment.

The PSA test is just one of the topics covered by www.prostaide.org. It also addresses other disorders of the prostate, such as prostatitis and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Treatments are discussed in depth, including the pros and cons of surgery, robotic and done in person by a surgeon.

Another important topic covered is minimally invasive surgery, a new process in the surgery field that limits the incisions a patient undergoes leading to removal of the prostate.

One of the more important topics surrounding prostate cancer is whether nutrition can prevent the growth of prostate cancer. Recent research has not proven a link between lifestyle and prostate cancer other than a lower risk for people who stick to a low fat diet.

But other tests have shown that nutritional supplements do work. Even Dr. Catalona, one of the nation's top urological surgeons, allows his patients a series of over-the-counter supplements along with their regular checkups.

That subject too is covered on the website. As time goes by, the new Web site will expand to provide user forums and a bi-weekly newsletter offering a synopsis of the latest research developments.

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