Our guest author today is writing about an issue that concerns ALL men: prostate cancer. It’s good to know the options.
When you get a prostate cancer diagnosis, you want to believe that your doctor is working in your best interest. Truthfully, however, there may be other interests at play that keep you from being told about less invasive treatment options than surgery that take less time away from your regular activities.
Alternative treatments are available that allow you to keep to your regular schedule and keep your body functioning like it always has. Don’t let any doctor tell you otherwise.
While there are dishonest doctors in practice, of course, most don’t intentionally deceive their patients. They may be biased against treatments they don’t fully understand, however. They may also have financial arrangements with specialists or get incentives from facilities or pharmaceutical companies to guide patients toward certain treatments or procedures.
One of the least known alternatives to surgery for prostate cancer patients is proton therapy treatment. Although many doctors never mention it, it’s safer than some other treatment options and proven effective.
In fact, some of the most well-known cancer clinics in the world use proton therapy treatment.
Proton therapy is a form of radiation, but it’s different from the kind you may have heard about. Proton therapy is more precise in sending the radiation to the location of the cancer. This helps limit damage to surrounding tissue.
Less damage to other tissue means less chance that you lose sexual function or become incontinent, both common side effects of surgery.
Proton therapy has a long history as a treatment for prostate cancer despite it not being widely known. Its origins go back to 1946, and some form of the procedure has been used ever since. Modern proton therapy has been available to prostate cancer patients since the first clinic opened in 1990.
Studies have shown that proton therapy works on many types of cancer, but it may be particularly effective for treating prostate cancer. For that reason, as many as one-quarter of all proton therapy treatments are used for prostate cancer treatment. That fact alone indicates confidence in the procedure among medical professionals.
Perhaps it’s no wonder that doctors who don’t understand alternative treatments like proton therapy are reluctant to recommend them. Since they haven’t taken the time to understand these alternatives, they may not understand the benefits.
For patients, however, it makes sense to choose the least invasive treatment plan and one that lessens the chance that you will lose function.
The purpose of cancer treatment is to eliminate the cancer cells and return you to normal life as quickly and as fully as possible. With traditional treatments like surgery to remove the prostate, you may never regain full function and you could be completely out of commission for a while.
With alternative treatments like proton therapy, you lose less time during treatment and are less likely to lose function. Rather than letting an ill-informed or financially motivated doctor determine your treatment, consider your options and chose one that will solve your problem while taking less away from you.
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