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There are a whole bunch of different treatments for prostate cancer. This is great news to anyone who might suffer from it at some point (as in, any person who has a prostate). The bad news is, every different method carries with it the potential for side effects, the worst of which being its ultimate opportunity cost. After all, every path taken eliminates many others. And in this life, there is so rarely any going back, especially when it concerns a progressive disease that will literally eat you out of body and breath. So let’s take a look at some of the ways that prostate cancer can be treated.
There is a treatment known as brachytherapy, which has a more than 75% survival rate to it. This is pretty great, especially because it can sometimes be done as an outpatient surgery. You just get a little opening in your gut, and they put in a tiny radioactive seed which burns away the cancer. But of course, there is a down side; you have to be in good health for it to be effective, and there is still the possibility of becoming incontinent and impotent.
Chemotherapy is a hardcore way to treat prostate cancer when the enemy is at the gate, so to speak. When the cancer has begun to spread throughout your system, and it seems as if you should have jacked up your life insurance policy, chemo may be your equivalent of the atom bomb, and end This long, drawn out war. The down side is, you have to wait until the situation is advanced for it to work. And the side effects of chemo (including mouth sores, nausea and hair loss) are pretty bad in themselves.
Cryosurgery is a very modern option that essentially pumps frozen gases in minute amounts into your prostate. The up side is it can be done quickly, relatively painlessly, and with decent effectiveness. The downsides include, as usual, impotence and the possibility that it may recur. Just like most relatively new treatments, its long term effects are not yet well known to doctors.
