Les Stewart's Comments

Welcome Les. I believe you may be the first Kiwi member..!! You've pretty much summed up this "prison" of a condition. I feel exactly the same about how you describe the prostate flare putting extra pressure on the hemoroids. Im sure without this problem, the hemoroids would be fine.

Your welcome Les. I have a good Kiwi mate living here in Brighton, UK by the seaside. There are also posters in the UK about prostate cancer on many bus stops and in the towns. What's important while suffering from prostatitis is to get a regular (at least annual) DRE (Digital Rectal Examination-or finger up butt in layman's terms..!!), along with a PSA (Prostate Specific Antigen) test. Dr Krongrad assures me that if these tests are done competently by your GP, it is likely to detect it early enough to remove the prostate, before the cancer spreads beyond the prostate into your body. With the PSA test, don't be too concerned about a high number on the first test, as prostatitis can cause this anyway, but be more concerned about a rapidly increasing number on subsequent testing.

PSA rise, also referred to as PSA velocity, is a complicated subject. Some thoughts:

Rapid rise is associated with prostatitis, especially acute prostatitis.
Slow rise is associated with prostate cancer.
Very slow rise is associated with benign enlargement.

For the assessment of prostate cancer risk, one has to look at many variables, of which velocity is arguably not the most important. Among the critical variables of prostate cancer assessment are the current absolute value of the PSA, the DRE, and family history: Do you have five brothers with prostate cancer? There are others but those three are key.

G'day, Les, my new mate. How are you feeling? How is it down under? Did you see the new Dave Radford video interview (top left of home page)? Stay in touch. Hope