The Cost of Treating Prostate Cancer Soars

The Cost of Treating Prostate Cancer Soars

Prostate cancer is the second most deadly of diseases in men. This killer disease will act stealthily and results in death. Most of the men who are infected with this disease are not aware about it until the disease progress to an advanced stage. Once it advances, the cells grow out of control and will spread to other vital organs of the body. Prostate cancer is the most prominently found cancer in men above fifty years of age. The risk related with prostate cancer increases with time in patients affected by this disease. The numbers of patients who are victims to prostate cancer are increasing alarmingly day by day.

As this disease progress more slowly than most other disease it is hard to find out the symptoms at an early stage unless you’re well aware about this disease and the normal biological functions of the prostate gland. The exact cause for the formation of prostate cancer is not known, as of now, and it remains as a mystery. A few of the symptoms related with prostate cancer are; frequent urination, especially during the night, difficulty in holding back urine, interrupted or weak flow of urine, burning sensation or pain while passing urine, painful ejaculation and difficulty in having a complete erection. In the advanced stage of the disease blood appears in urine or semen. Also frequent pain appears in the thighs and lower back hip of the body.

The treatment of prostate cancer includes radiation therapy, surgery and hormone therapy. These therapies can cause terrible unwanted side effects, many times resulting in a higher risk of death while suffering from side effects that can destroy the quality of life for men more than that of the disease by itself. Moreover the costs of the treatments are very high making the patient more prone to stress. The average cost spent for the treatment of prostate cancer in US during 1987 was .7 billion and it arose up to .1 billion between 2001 and 2005 and this is according to a recent report by Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new cancer drugs are highly priced, driving up the treatment cost of this disease. In addition to the hospital expenditure and cost of the surgery these cancer curing drugs will also soar up the total cost of treatment. Radiation therapy and hormone therapies, or both, can be recommended to be administered at regular intervals which in turn adds additional burden to the patient.

If prostate cancer is suspected at an early stage by regularly screening for PSA-Prostate Specific Antigen then the patient can have hope to escape from the jaws of high expenditure, stress, and anxiety. Most importantly avoid being unnecessarily over diagnosed, over treated, and severely injured, losing their biological functions to the “machine”, otherwise known as the medical system. Unfortunately, the system has been corrupted by greed and the abuse of the insurance companies. This ultimately raises the cost of health care for everyone one way or another.

Moreover these days there are prostate awareness programs which provide complete knowledge about the biological functions of prostate and change in function of prostate. You can avoid last minute anxiety and stress by having knowledge about this disease, allowing you to make intelligent decisions for your health that can affect you the rest of your life.