Prostate cancer is a cancer that develops in the male reproductive system gland, Prostate. This is a slow growing cancer, but in many cases, aggressive growth has also been seen. Prostate cancer causes pain and difficulty in urinating and during sexual intercourse.
Treatment of prostate cancer may also have effects on sexual life of the patients after they have been treated. This is the case in the United Kingdom where around 160,000 men have had their sex life affected after the treatment of prostate cancer. Some of the patients lost all of their ability of sexuality according to Macmillan Cancer support Charity.
Number of patients of prostate cancer in Britain is as large as 40,000 annually. The UK has seen an increasing trend in the patients of prostate cancer and the increasing rates suggest that prostate cancer patients could double by 2030. Among many of the other side effects caused by the treatment, erectile dysfunction is one of the most important that affects the sexual life. This dysfunction is caused by the radiotherapy and hormone therapy used in the treatment of prostate cancer. Some of the patients had these erection problems on the temporary basis and recovered after some time and treatment, but there were many cases as well where the nerve damage was permanent and patients’ erection got affected forever. Two in every three prostate cancer patients said that they were unable to get an erection.
Many of the patients have described this treatment and cancer as a lonely journey. They are of the view that no one ever talks about or mentions the side effects of the treatment. Everyone fails to mention the problems of erection, and as a result, the patient never talks to anyone for help. The patient gets self-obsessed, and this problem takes hold of him. The effects of this problem appeared to be more psychological than physical as in many cases, patients over came this problem after proper guidelines. When different patients were interviewed, they expressed that they would have been better able to cope up with this problem, had they been told in advance of the possible outcomes. They said that they had to travel on a long road alone as they could not discuss their problem with others since dissatisfaction in sex life affects your whole routine.
A 63 year old survivor of this cancer said that when he heard about libido-killing drugs and sexual dysfunction as a result of this cancer’s treatment, he was devastated. He said that no professional talked to him about this aspect, and at that time, everyone talked to him about the cure from prostate cancer.
An officer working for cancer support charity was of the view that despite the sheer volume of men affected, little attention was being paid to this issue. He said that in many cases, early intervention can help a great deal. Psychological treatment is also of substantial importance in this regard so that patients should share their problems at an early stage with specialists. This can help to cure the disease at its early stage.
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