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The prostate is a walnut-sized organ that lies just below the bladder, surrounding the  urethra.  The function of the prostate is to enhance the motility of sperm cells by secreting a thin, alkaline fluid into the urethra.  Inflammation of the prostate (prostatitis) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) are common afflictions of men over the age of 50.  Prostate cancer is the leading form of cancer among men.

Inflammation of the Prostate (Prostatitis)

Prostatitis is inflammation caused by an infection of the prostate. Prostatitis may be responsible for a quarter of all office visits by young and middle-age men for complaints involving the genital and urinary systems, according to the National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse (NKUDIC). NKUDIC says prostatitis can fall into one of several different categories:

• Acute bacterial prostatitis is the least common of the categories but also the easiest to diagnose and treat. This form of prostatitis leads to a range of very uncomfortable and painful symptoms, including chills, fever, pain in the lower back and genital area, urinary frequency and urgency often at night, burning or painful urination, and body aches. There is also a clear infection of the urinary tract, with white blood cells and bacteria in the urine.
   

• Chronic bacterial prostatitis is another category. This form of prostatitis is associated with an underlying defect in the prostate. Symptoms can be similar to those of acute bacterial prostatitis, and there are also signs of infection.
   

• Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is the most common but least understood form of prostatitis. It is found in men of any age; symptoms go away and then return without warning. Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome may be inflammatory or noninflammatory. In the inflammatory form, urine, semen, and other fluids from the prostate show no evidence of a known infecting organism, but they do contain cells the body usually produces to fight infection. In the noninflammatory form, there is no evidence of inflammation or infection-fighting cells, but there are symptoms.
   

• Asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis is the diagnosis when the patient does not complain of pain or discomfort but has infection-fighting cells in his semen. Doctors usually find this form of prostatitis when looking for causes of infertility or testing for prostate cancer.

Acute bacterial prostatitis is a sudden form, and the potential for septicemia is high.  Chronic bacterial prostatitis can result from enlargement of the prostate and the trapping of bacteria in the urethra.  Chronic prostatitis is a major source of urinary tract infections among men. Click here to learn more about Prostatitis.

Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)

Hyperplasia describes the overgrowth of tissue.  Benign prostatic hyperplasia is the non-cancerous overproduction of prostate cells, specifically the supporting stromal and glandular tissue, that result in enlargement of the prostate.  This condition, which commonly afflicts men over the age of 50, can lead to a range of uncomfortable symptoms and increases the propensity toward bladder infections.  The exact mechanism that stimulates prostatic hyperplasia is not completely understood.  Click here for learn more about BPH.

Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men.  It is primarily diagnosed in men over 65, although it may begin much earlier.  While most prostate cancers are found in the peripheral zone, they may occur anywhere in the prostate.  Most pathologists use a Gleason Grading System to assess the tumor progression.  The more distorted and aggressive the cancer looks, the higher the Gleason grade, and the more aggressive the cancer behaves in the body.  A score from 2 to 4 is very low on the cancer aggression scale; scores from 5 to 6 are mildly aggressive; a score of 7 indicates that cancer is moderately aggressive; scores from 8 to 10 indicate that the cancer is highly aggressive. Click here to learn more about prostate cancer.

Screening and Testing

Prostate Cancer is often curable when diagnosed and treated properly.  Starting at age 50 (or sooner, if you have a history of prostate cancer in your family), the following test should be a part of your annual physical exam:

Blood Test

Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) Test
This blood test helps identify the possible presence of prostate cancer by checking for Prostate Specific Antigen (a protein substance produced by the prostate gland), which is present in high levels in many people who have prostate cancer.  The lower the score, the better. A score below 4 is desirable, and a score below 2 is even better. Click here for more information

Free PSA
The free PSA test is another tumor marker.  It's newer than the regular PSA test.  Free PSA is a special version of PSA, specifically, it's the inactive form of the antigen.  Regular PSA tests are used to screen patients for prostate cancer, but free PSA can provide extra information, especially in determining whether another biopsy should be performed.  The free PSA test costs around $65 or more (depending on the lab)---about twice the cost of a regular PSA test. (The term free obviously doesn't refer to the test itself!). Unlike regular PSA test, the value is expressed as the free PSA divided by the total PSA, and a low percentage score is bad.  Generally scores of 20 percent and above are considered good, while scores of 15 percent and below mean the chances of cancer are high.
Click here for more information

AMAS Test
The AMAS test is one of the best diagnostic aids available today for the early detection and monitoring of cancer. It is superior to conventional blood tests such as the PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen), CEA and CA125, which measure antigen, a cancer indicator that is not detectable until late in the disease. Thus, these tests are especially poorly suited for early detection and are not suitable as early biomarkers in chemo prevention.

The AMAS test works by indicating the presence of a cancer-specific antibody, anti-malign. A function of the immune system, anti-malign antibody is released at the onset of cancer. More than 3,314 double-blind studies have proven a direct correlation between the presence of anti-malign antibody and all types of active, none-terminal cancer.

The specificity and 95% to 99% accuracy of the AMAS test permits confirmation of a diagnosis of cancer while reducing or eliminating the need for other traditional detection tests. These include mammograms, biopsies, x-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and other expensive, uncomfortable procedures. It is easy to see that the medical people might want this to be kept secret.

High risk individuals are recommended to begin using the AMAS test as early as age 30. Click here for more information on AMAS test.

Urine Flow Study
Sometimes the doctor will ask a patient to urinate into a special device that measures how quickly the urine is flowing.  A reduced flow often suggest BPH.

Digital Rectal Exam (DRE)
The doctor inserts his lubricated finger into the rectum to feel for lumps on the prostate, which is normally smooth.  Nobody likes this test but it can a life saver.

If the digital rectal exam, PSA, or other indicators (such as urinary symptoms) point to the possibility of prostate cancer, the following tests may be performed.

Biopsy
Procedure where tissue samples form the prostate are removed to be checked for cancer.  Prostate biopsy is recommended when a digital rectal examination reveals a lump or some other abnormality in the prostate. In addition, if blood tests reveal that the levels of certain markers, such as PSA, are above normal, the doctor may order a biopsy.

Prostate biopsies can be performed in three different ways. They can be performed by inserting a needle through the perineum (the area between the base of the penis and the rectum), by inserting a needle through the wall of the rectum, or by cytoscopy. Before the procedure is performed, the patient may be given a sedative to help him relax. Patients undergoing cytoscopy may be given either general anesthesia or local anesthesia. The doctor will ask the patient to have an enema before carrying out the biopsy. The patient is also given antibiotics to prevent any possible infection. Prostate biopsy performed with a needle is a low-risk procedure. The possible complications include some bleeding into the urethra, an infection, or an inability to urinate.

Needle biopsy via the perineum
The patient lies either on one side or on his back with his knees up. The skin of the perineum is thoroughly cleansed with an iodine solution. A local anesthetic is injected at the site where the biopsy is performed. Once the area is numb, the doctor makes a small (1 in) incision in the perineum. The doctor places one finger in the rectum to guide the placement of the needle. The needle is then inserted into the prostate, a small amount of tissue is collected, and the needle is withdrawn. The needle is then re-inserted into another part of the prostate. Tissue may be taken from several areas. Pressure is then applied at the biopsy site to stop the bleeding. The procedure generally takes 15-30 minutes and is usually done in a physician's office or in a hospital operating room. Though it sounds painful, it typically causes only slight discomfort.

Needle biopsy via the rectum
This procedure is also done in the physician's office or in the hospital operating room, and is usually done without any anesthetic. The patient is asked to lie on his side or on his back with his legs in stirrups. The doctor attaches a curved needle guide to his finger and then inserts the finger into the rectum. After firmly placing the needle guide in the rectum, the biopsy needle is pushed along the guide, through the wall of the rectum and into the prostate. The needle is rotated gently, prostate tissue samples are collected and the needle withdrawn.

Cystoscopy
In this exam, the doctor inserts a small tube through the opening of the urethra in the penis.  This procedure is done after a solution numbs the inside of the penis so all sensation is lost.  The tube, called a cystoscope, contains a lens and a light system, which help the doctor see the inside of the urethra and the bladder.  This test allows the doctor to determine the size of the gland and identify the location and degree of the obstruction.

If your biopsy/ tissue samples show the presence of prostate cancer, the pathologist assigns each tissue sample a grade, indicating how far the cells have traveled along the path from normal to abnormal. The grade offers a good clue to your tumor's behavior: a tumor with a low grade is likely to be slow-growing, while one with a high grade is more likely to grow aggressively or already to have spread outside the prostate (metastasized). The most widely used grading method for prostate cancer is known as the Gleason grading system. Click here for more information about the Gleason grading system.

Ultrasound
A test that uses sound waves to check for the presence of tumors.  An external ultrasound may be used in addition to the internal ultrasound.

Imaging Tests

Radionuclide Bone Scan
A bone scan may be performed in addition to a biopsy, to check whether cancer may have spread to the bones.  The procedure involves an intravenous injection of a small amount of a radioactive material. The radioactive substance settles in damaged bone tissue throughout the entire skeleton. Areas of bone damage will be more radioactive and will appear as "hot spots" in your skeleton. These areas may suggest metastatic cancer is present, but arthritis or other bone diseases can also cause the same pattern. To distinguish among these conditions, your cancer care team may use other imaging tests such as simple x-rays, CT, or MRI or even take bone biopsies to better evaluate these hot spots.

Conventional Treatments

Treatment of prostate cancer is determined by the stage of the cancer.

Surgery

Radical Prostatectomy
If the radiation is limited to the prostate, radical prostatectomy (the removal of the entire prostate gland and the accompanying seminal vesicles. In this surgical procedure the prostate is removed and a catheter is inserted to drain urine, blood, and tissue out of the bladder. If a patient is too old or too ill to undergo this surgery a catheter will be inserted on a permanent basis.  The main disadvantage of surgery is that it requires a lot of recovery time (at least four weeks).  During your recovery, you may have some temporary problems with incontinence.  And if you don't have nerve-sparing surgery, you'll be permanently impotent. Other risks include urinary incontinence, significant blood loss that requires a transfusion, pain from surgery, blood clots in legs, lymphoceles in the pelvis, infection in the incision or pelvis, nerve damage from lying on the table in the wrong position, swelling in legs from the removal of the lymph nodes, injury to the rectum or ureters, and so on.

TURP (Trans-urethral resection of the prostate)
In the surgical procedure TURP (Trans-urethral resection of the prostate) the doctor removes a part of the prostate. This procedure often makes the problem worse and has a high death rate. TURP may also cause sterility, impotence, and incontinence.

Cryosurgery
Cryosurgery (which is also known as cryotherapy or cryoablation) refers to the procedure in which cancer cells are frozen.  Some of the primary disadvantages include tissues surrounding the prostate being damaged.  If healthy tissue is damaged, significant side effects such as urethral burning, incontinence, and rectal problems can occur.  Another disadvantage involves the nerve bundles that control erections often unavoidably get frozen during the procedure, which can lead to impotence.

Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy can be performed externally with, with external beam radiation therapy (EBRT), or internally, with brachytherapy (a procedure where radioactive seeds are either permanently or temporarily inserted into the prostate.  A major disadvantage of radiation is that it may cause impotence and urinary incontinence.  The buildup of scar tissue can cause impotence for a year (or more) after treatment.  Radiation can also cause other problems with the bladder and rectum.  Other side effects include hair loss, weakness and tiredness.

Hormone Therapy
Hormone therapy involves administering hormones to suppress natural testoterone (a male hormone).  Common side effects include hot flashes, irritability and mood swings, lowered sex drive, weight gain and redistribution, loss of muscle mass, osteoporosis, and depression.

Chemotherapy
Anti-cancer drugs that are give (either orally, intravenously, or by injection) to attach the cancer cells.  The primary disadvantage of chemotherapy is the side effects, which may be sever. Side effects can include nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, weight loss, hair loss, and extreme fatigue.

Prevention is far better than attempting a cure, but if you already have a prostate condition, there is still a great deal you can do to manage and even reverse many of the common prostate problems. Along with diet & exercise, we have found a combination of various vitamins, minerals and herbs to be successful in dealing with these issues. Below is a list of products that we include in our various protocols.  This list does not reflect all products.  Click here to complete a Free online assessment or call 1-800-558-9697 to speak to a consultant to begin your journey to recovery.

          HERBS                                                        PROBIOTICS
        PC Hope™                                                     Rephe Flora™ Essiac Herbal Tea™                             Phyto-Zyme Living Water™
        Chlorella
Healthy Mix Green™                            VITAMINS/ANTIOXIDANTS
                                                                      Camu-Camu-Vitamin C
     TINCTURES                                                     PRO-C Life™
       Candimint™                                               Miracle Cleanse™   
       Metalmint™                                                Aloe Vera Juice
                                                                                 Noni Juice
                                             MINERALS                                
                                   Agape Living Water™
                                  Indium Living Water™
                                Potassium Living Water™
                                 Selenium Living Water™
                                    Silver Living Water™
                               Zinc Living Water™

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