Prostate Cancer Impact
With over 10% of men being diagnosed with prostate cancer, it is the most common cancer men deal with. 1 in 8 men in Scotland will get Prostate Cancer making its incidence greater than Breast Cancer and twice the incidence of Lung and Bowel Cancer. We should note that about 3000 men die of this disease in Scotland every year (expected to increase 35% over the next decade). That is more than drug deaths and about a half of Coronavirus during 2020, meaning for men, it matches Coronavirus at its peak in 2020.
What is the impact?
Two areas impact men’s lives who survive treatment for Prostate Cancer, Erectile Dysfunction (ED) And Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI).
Up to 50% of men report ED symptoms one year after radical prostatectomy surgery or radiation therapy.
On the other hand, Stress Urinary Incontinence (SUI) is another possible side effect of Prostate Cancer Treatment. SUI is bladder leakage while performing everyday activities. About 15% of men will develop chronic SUI one year after surgery. It is uncommon during radiation therapy.
Treatment
A penile implant offers 98% of patients with ED erections they can use to preserve their sexual relationship. Revision rates are also low. The implant is contained internally and replicates a natural erection when inflated and a flaccid state upon a deflation.
For SUI artificial urinary sphincter mimics a man’s own healthy urinary sphincter muscle, allowing him to control his urine. It offers most men with a weakened sphincter muscle the ability to achieve urinary continence. It can be used for all severities of incontinence and represents the “gold standard” treatment. The device is placed entirely inside the body and is undetectable from the outside.
