It killed King Richard of Raheen. Actor Bud Tingwell too. Arnold Palmer has it. So also Colin Powell, Robert De Niro, Nelson Mandela, Rudolph Giuliani, lots of other men who are famous. And many many others who aren’t. Today I’m talking prostate cancer. Forty years ago when I was a medical student, we were taught that most men die with prostate cancer and only a few of it. Prostate cancer’s not my medical speciality so I don’t keep up with state-of-the-art developments. But I doubt much has changed since then. The issue of course is that some prostate cancer types are killers, others are mild and essentially irrelevant, and it’s critical – vital – to decide in each individual case which is which. Age is the main risk factor. As I get older, my urine stream’s not as strong as it once was – no longer can I hit the wall at two paces – I get up at night to piss, and I dribble a bit at the end. I think this is prostatism due to benign prostatic hyperplasia. But I’m not sure it’s not cancer. For the last few years I’ve had an annual prostate specific antigen [PSA] blood test. The results are all normal, and haven’t risen from year to year. And last December during a colonoscopy, Professor Macrae felt my prostate and told me it was normal. So chances are I’m okay. I’m reassured. But ongoing vigilance is indicated. I don’t know why prostate cancer kills those it does. You’d think rich and famous men would have the best medical care. The conundrum continues.
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