Current research suggests theres a 50 percent chance youll experience prostate problems by the time you reach 60. In fact, by your 65th birthday, you most likely have an enlarged prostate alreadywhether you know it or not!
If you feel sudden urges to pee more often experience a dribble of urine when you thought youd finished and make frequent nightly bathroom trips that leave you exhausted by daybreak these could be signs that you have an enlarged, inflamed or sick prostate.
But scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) think theyve discovered a promising new therapy for treating abnormal cell growth in the prostate. According to an SRI statement, the new therapy may offer a quick and more precise treatment than existing clinical alternativeswith fewer side effects!
The new treatment is called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided transurethral ultrasound. This therapy uses ultrasound heat rays to zap prostate cancer cells. And the great news isthe treatment spares non-cancerous tissues that you need for healthy urinary, bowel and sexual function!
The ultrasound heat therapy is minimally invasiveunlike prostate surgery that may involve cutting or burning excess prostate tissue or the prostate gland to reduce pressure.
Whats more, after surgery you may end up suffering from years of incontinence uncontrollable urination and even IMPOTENCE!
The new treatment reduces the high level of incontinence and impotence associated with current treatments. You have to make an ultrasound heating applicator work inside a magnetic resonance imager, without the two technologies interfering with each other, said co-lead researcher Michael J. Bronskill, Ph.D.
The prostate cancer site is a natural for this technology because its surrounded by structures you want to spare, he added.
Clinicians at Sunnybrook plan to conduct preliminary tests with the new therapy in preparation for a clinical trial.