PCEC - Prostate Conditions Education Council
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General Patient Information

What to ask your doctor

Talking to your doctor is one of the best ways to help you understand your medical condition. When sitting in your doctor's office, it can be hard to remember all the questions that you may have. Sometimes it is helpful to write down a list of concerns to discuss with your physician.

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What to ask about Prostate Cancer

If you have been diagnosed with prostate cancer, you and your family probably have a lot of questions about the disease and its treatment. Printing out this list and taking it with you to your doctor's office may help you get the answers you need. Be sure to write out the answers, so that you can review the information as often as you like.

What is the prostate and what does it do?

What is prostate cancer?

How common is prostate cancer?

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

How is prostate cancer detected?

What role does testosterone play in prostate cancer?

Why does prostate cancer spread?

What is Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), and what is a PSA test?

What are the stages of prostate cancer?

How is prostate cancer treated?

What are the advantages or disadvantages of both medical and surgical therapies?

What are the side effects of:

Surgery?

Radiation?

Brachytherapy?

Hormonal therapy?

Is watchful waiting safe?

How does one cope with prostate cancer?

What if the prostate cancer comes back after my initial treatment?

How can I receive more information on prostate cancer?

What will my future look like after treatment?

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What to ask about BPH

WHAT TO ASK ABOUT BPH

If you have been diagnosed with BPH, you and your family probably have a lot of questions about the disease and its treatment.

Printing out this list and taking it with you to your doctor's office may help you get the answers you need. Be sure to write out the answers, so that you can review the information as often as you like.

What is the prostate and what does it do?

What is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)?

What are the symptoms of BPH?

How is BPH diagnosed?

How did I develop BPH?

Who gets BPH?

Does BPH lead to cancer?

Will BPH interfere with sexual functioning?

How does BPH affect urination?

When should BPH be treated?

How is BPH treated?

What is TURP (transurethral resection of the prostate)?

Is watchful waiting safe?

What are the side effects of BPH treatments?

Will BPH affect my lifestyle?

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Incontinence

Urinary incontinence is the inability to control urination. The term may be used interchangeably with OverActive Bladder (OAB), which also includes the same frequency in urination and urinary urge. People who suffer from overactive bladder, or urinary incontinence, can't hold their urine -- they wet themselves. (Leaking urine is normal only in infants; it is not a normal result of aging. If you have this problem, you may be too embarrassed or upset to ask for help. Don't be. It is estimated that over 12 million Americans have urinary incontinence. Incontinence affects all ages, both sexes, and people of every social and economic level. It is also estimated that 15 to 30 percent of people over the age of 60 who live at home have incontinence. Women are twice as likely as men to have this condition. In addition, at least half of the 1.5 million Americans who reside in nursing homes are incontinent. The exact number of people with incontinence is not known, but the total number of people affected may be far greater than current estimates.

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Types of Incontinence

Incontinence is classified by the symptoms of or circumstances occurring at the time of urine leakage.

Stress incontinence may be due to poor bladder support by the pelvic muscles or to a weak or damaged sphincter. This condition allows urine to leak when you do anything that strains or stresses the abdomen, such as coughing, sneezing, laughing, or even walking.

Urge incontinence results when an overactive bladder contracts without your wanting it to do so. You may feel as if you can't wait to reach a toilet. At times, you may leak urine without any warning at all. A bladder can become overactive because of infection that irritates the bladder lining. The nerves that normally control the bladder can also be responsible for an overactive bladder. In other cases, the cause may be unclear.

Mixed incontinence is often a combination of both conditions above -- stress and urge incontinence.

Overflow incontinence occurs when the bladder is allowed to become so full that it simply overflows. This happens when bladder weakness or a blocked urethra prevents normal emptying. An enlarged prostate can result in such blockage. For this reason, overflow incontinence is more common in men that in women. Bladder weakness can develop in both men and women, but it happens most often in people with diabetes, heavy alcohol users, and others with decreased nerve function.

Environmental incontinence (sometimes called functional incontinence) occurs when people cannot get to the toilet or get a bedpan when they need it. The urinary system may work well, but physical or mental disabilities or other circumstances prevent normal toilet usage.

Nocturnal enuresis is incontinence that occurs during sleep.

When individuals have two or more types of incontinence, the causes of each must be found and considered in planning appropriate treatment.

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What to do about Incontinence?

The first step is to locate a health care provider, such as a urologist, who is interested in and well-informed about treating incontinence. He or she will want to become familiar with your medical history and the way in which incontinence affects you. Be sure to come prepared for your visit with: (1) a list of all the medications you are currently taking, including those you purchase without a prescription; (2) the dates and outcomes of any bladder-related tests or surgical procedures you may have had; and (3) a bladder diary.

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Webcasts

The Prostate Cancer Education Council offers the following webcasts: