One scare story about vasectomy is that it causes prostate cancer. This began when two new studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that men who had a vasectomy more than 20 years earlier faced an 89 percent greater risk of prostate cancer than those who have not undergone the procedure.
Vasectomy
- Thread starterhathway
- Start date
Hathway,
You really should do a little more research before coming up with stuff like this. People here the word cancer sometimes and all mental reasoning shuts down. You should be aware that if you scare people into not having vasectomies without foundation, the result will be more women dying from otherwise unnecessary abortions. Be aware of some facts. Prostate cancer kills thousands of men each year for two principal reasons.
1. Men develop the rare but fast growing cancer which breaks out of the prostate capsule and spreads into the bones. From there it kills. Not good but definitely NOT linked to vasectomy either. Shit happens.
2. Men develop the very common but slow growing version of the cancer which may take 2 or 25 years to grow outside of the prostate capsule. The issue here is DETECTION. Seek and ye shall find. Get tested and watch it. Carefully. If its on the move, it will show up. If it gets to the point where it is growing to detectable levels on an MRI, by all means have surgery (or other techniques) to remove / kill it. But it can be simply watched, and for a long time.
Around 80% of men over 80 years of age will have prostate cancer but it won't be the cause of their death. It is VERY common but not something to panic about. So long as it stays inside the prostate capsule, it will not kill you, no matter how long it is there for. The problem really is that many men develop it, with no symptoms and it grows slowly for years. Finally it MAY break out and then it kills. The solution is testing and techniques are evolving all the time here to get better positives and reduce false negatives. Testing can catch this growth before break out (which may be many years after first detection). You are better off knowing than not knowing.
As to the issue with vasectomy, the answer is that the real survey results do NOT reveal a link between the two issues. Their comments are as follows :
"If you focused on the studies that linked prostate cancer and vasectomy, you would not have an explanation as to why the two are linked.
In all the studies that have been performed that link vasectomy and prostate cancer, there has been one critical and unavoidable piece of bias that makes their results difficult to accept: Because men who have had vasectomies are already familiar with the medical system, their urologist or other physician, and the need for health maintenance accomplished through doctor visits, exams, and testing, they are far more likely than other men to go to their doctors for prostate cancer screening.
Men with prior vasectomies have more contact with their urologist than average men and are more likely to get PSA testing at the appropriate age. This increases their chances of having prostate cancer detected simply because they are being tested for it.
What it does not mean is that men with vasectomies necessarily actually have more prostate cancer, just that they are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer (in other words, more likely that their prostate cancer will be found).
Additionally, the major urological and cancer organizations no longer suggest that physicians discuss the risk of prostate cancer with men who are thinking about vasectomy."
So there you have it Hathway. If you look for it in all 50 year old men, you WILL find it. This does NOT mean they will then die from it. Many of them will live into old age and die from something else. Some will require medical intervention before then, but that can be dealt with IF they have been diagnosed. I hope this clears this up a little.
In case you were wondering, I am NOT a doctor but I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 years ago. Then and now, I have no symptoms whatsoever, and so far it is extremely small and fully contained. I watch it, but it does not rule my life. Don't let scare stories rule yours.
You really should do a little more research before coming up with stuff like this. People here the word cancer sometimes and all mental reasoning shuts down. You should be aware that if you scare people into not having vasectomies without foundation, the result will be more women dying from otherwise unnecessary abortions. Be aware of some facts. Prostate cancer kills thousands of men each year for two principal reasons.
1. Men develop the rare but fast growing cancer which breaks out of the prostate capsule and spreads into the bones. From there it kills. Not good but definitely NOT linked to vasectomy either. Shit happens.
2. Men develop the very common but slow growing version of the cancer which may take 2 or 25 years to grow outside of the prostate capsule. The issue here is DETECTION. Seek and ye shall find. Get tested and watch it. Carefully. If its on the move, it will show up. If it gets to the point where it is growing to detectable levels on an MRI, by all means have surgery (or other techniques) to remove / kill it. But it can be simply watched, and for a long time.
Around 80% of men over 80 years of age will have prostate cancer but it won't be the cause of their death. It is VERY common but not something to panic about. So long as it stays inside the prostate capsule, it will not kill you, no matter how long it is there for. The problem really is that many men develop it, with no symptoms and it grows slowly for years. Finally it MAY break out and then it kills. The solution is testing and techniques are evolving all the time here to get better positives and reduce false negatives. Testing can catch this growth before break out (which may be many years after first detection). You are better off knowing than not knowing.
As to the issue with vasectomy, the answer is that the real survey results do NOT reveal a link between the two issues. Their comments are as follows :
"If you focused on the studies that linked prostate cancer and vasectomy, you would not have an explanation as to why the two are linked.
In all the studies that have been performed that link vasectomy and prostate cancer, there has been one critical and unavoidable piece of bias that makes their results difficult to accept: Because men who have had vasectomies are already familiar with the medical system, their urologist or other physician, and the need for health maintenance accomplished through doctor visits, exams, and testing, they are far more likely than other men to go to their doctors for prostate cancer screening.
Men with prior vasectomies have more contact with their urologist than average men and are more likely to get PSA testing at the appropriate age. This increases their chances of having prostate cancer detected simply because they are being tested for it.
What it does not mean is that men with vasectomies necessarily actually have more prostate cancer, just that they are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer (in other words, more likely that their prostate cancer will be found).
Additionally, the major urological and cancer organizations no longer suggest that physicians discuss the risk of prostate cancer with men who are thinking about vasectomy."
So there you have it Hathway. If you look for it in all 50 year old men, you WILL find it. This does NOT mean they will then die from it. Many of them will live into old age and die from something else. Some will require medical intervention before then, but that can be dealt with IF they have been diagnosed. I hope this clears this up a little.
In case you were wondering, I am NOT a doctor but I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 3 years ago. Then and now, I have no symptoms whatsoever, and so far it is extremely small and fully contained. I watch it, but it does not rule my life. Don't let scare stories rule yours.
I looked into a double orchiectomy, " both testes surgically removed" it cost $5,000 just for the operation, and another $500 a month for hormone thereapy, I am still thinking of doing it maybe, I wanted to give my testes to my wifes boyfriend as a gift so he would know how committed i am to thier relationship,
One last attempt.
Orchiectomy only works at reducing prostate cancer because it cuts off the supply of testosterone which actually feeds the cancer. If you haven't got the cancer, and aren't going to, it is pointless. If you have got it, it will prevent it growing. It's a bit of an extreme control but I suppose there are extreme people around. However, if you then take testosterone as a replacement therapy, the cancer will just as easily feed on that, so I'm afraid its all or nothing.
Orchiectomy only works at reducing prostate cancer because it cuts off the supply of testosterone which actually feeds the cancer. If you haven't got the cancer, and aren't going to, it is pointless. If you have got it, it will prevent it growing. It's a bit of an extreme control but I suppose there are extreme people around. However, if you then take testosterone as a replacement therapy, the cancer will just as easily feed on that, so I'm afraid its all or nothing.
