The Inside Tract
Men's Health UK|July 2019

Prostate cancer now kills more people in the UK than breast cancer. But medical advances promise to curb deaths across the board – we just need to know our enemy. MH spoke to those at the cutting edge of cancer research to ensure you’re armed with the latest facts

The Inside Tract

I AM JACK’S PROSTATE GLAND.

I sit around his urethra, just below his bladder. If I’m in good shape, I’ll be a little bigger than a walnut. I produce an alkaline fluid that is about a third of what makes up his semen, and my muscles help him to ejaculate. One day, if Jack lives long enough, I will get cancer. And it could kill us both.

But will it? Let’s examine the facts. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer for men in the UK, but it does discriminate. Our risk is higher if our father or brother has had it. Black men are more at risk than white men, with a one-in-four chance compared to one in eight, and Asian men have the lowest risk, at one in 13. Obesity can put you in further danger. Whether or not a man develops prostate cancer also depends on how long he lives. There’s plenty of other stuff that can kill us first – heart disease, for example. We’re also not at much risk until our fifties, though it can strike sooner.

Here’s the good news. For those who do develop prostate cancer, it’s no longer an automatic death sentence. Far from it. More than 85% of those diagnosed will survive it (or, to phrase it somewhat less positively, be killed by something else first). In the 1970s, only a quarter of men diagnosed lived beyond 10 years.

Now, with increased screening, men are being diagnosed younger and with less severe symptoms. Not too long ago, if you were over the age of 70, you wouldn’t necessarily be treated at all, because another ailment was likely to get to you first – but this has changed, too. A fit man of 70 today has a fair chance of living another 15 years, and someone with a nasty cancer at 75 can do just as well as a 65-year-old with the same condition.

This story is from the July 2019 edition of Men's Health UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the July 2019 edition of Men's Health UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM MEN'S HEALTH UKView All
Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well
Men's Health UK

Every Question You Ever Had About Really Eating Well

Nutrition is a maddening business. Foods are in one day, compost the next; vitamins that cured ills last week are promptly debunked. We all want to eat better, but who has the time to sift fact from fad? Rest easy because this is your easily digestible, bite-sized guide to doing precisely that

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 2019
The False Prophets Of Wellness
Men's Health UK

The False Prophets Of Wellness

Muscle, fat loss, wisdom… Whatever you seek, there is now an entrepreneurial guru armed with hashtags who claims to have the answer. But is it gospel?

time-read
2 mins  |
June 2019
The Brexit Diet
Men's Health UK

The Brexit Diet

Whether you voted Leave or Remain, the EU has transformed the way we eat – and crashing out threatens to deal a mighty blow to both our palates and our nutritional health. MH spoke to the experts worried that the true impact of Brexit will leave a very bad taste in our mouths.

time-read
8 mins  |
April 2019
Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie
Men's Health UK

Stamina? It's As Easy As Pie

Don’t flake on post-workout pastry. Pie and mash is your new performance enhancer

time-read
1 min  |
July 2018
The Trip Treatment
Men's Health UK

The Trip Treatment

Once the poison of the counterculture, psychedelic drugs are gaining credibility as a powerful, viable mental health tool that could transform the way we understand ourselves. Are you ready to turn on, tune in and dose up?

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2018
Men's Health UK

The Gastropub​ Nutrition Plan

New research suggests you don’t need to cut back on flavour either to satisfy your cravings or to cook off kilos. Better pass that piccalilli

time-read
2 mins  |
April 2018
Your Detox Doner Card
Men's Health UK

Your Detox Doner Card

 The vilified sat fat in your kebab is actually the antidote to offset booze’s impact on your liver. How convenient

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Reach For The Stars
Men's Health UK

Reach For The Stars

He has crossed the Atlantic, from Peckham to Hollywood, carrying multiple blockbusters on his newly broad shoulders. But while John Boyega’s star is in the ascendant, his feet remain firmly on the ground – thanks to a few fundamental life lessons learned along the way. Take note and look up.

time-read
10 mins  |
April 2018
One Word Answer #43
Men's Health UK

One Word Answer #43

As tedious as they might have seemed at the time, most of the lessons our parents taught us as kids were worthy of adherence. Sit up straight at the table; look people in the eye when you thank them; try not to spit at strangers – even as an adult, these are values to live by.

time-read
1 min  |
April 2018
Men's Health UK

Son Of A Gun

For most men, joining the family business is the easier option. Not so for Scott Eastwood, a man whose father might just be the most iconic Hollywood hard man ever. But while he is, in many ways, a chip off the old block, the firebrand’s son has his own life well figured out

time-read
10+ mins  |
May 2017