SYMPTOMS A MAN SHOULD NEVER IGNORE



SYMPTOMS A MAN SHOULD NEVER IGNORE

Many men are notorious foot-draggers and would never go to the doctor were if not on the insistence of the woman in their lives.

Men, just like women, also benefit greatly from regular screening and being alert to certain cancer symptoms and consulting a doctor about them.

Here are some symptoms a man should never ignore because they could be a sigh of cancer which when diagnosed early is often treatable. Pain

Although most pain complain are not due to cancer, pain can be an early symptom of cancers. Persistent pain should be checked by a doctor and you will benefit from the visit even if there nothing serious because you get to find out the cause of the pain and what to do about it.

Persistent cough

Do not ignore a persistent cough that lasts more than three or four weeks. It warrants a visit to the doctor because it could be a symptom of anything from tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis and acid reflux to lung cancer.

Skin changes

You should be alert to not only changes in moles, which are a well-known sign of skin cancer, but also changes in the skin pigmentation. Sudden bleeding on your skin or excessive scaling are also reasons to check with your doctor.

Strange bleeding

Anytime you see blood coming from a body part or orifice where you have seen it before, see a doctor. Blood in the stool, urine, coughing or spitting up blood is a warning sign. It is a mistake to assume blood in the stool is simply from a hemorrhoid because it could be a colon cancer causing it.

Heartburn

Not all heartburn is a sign of a heart attack especially in older men, but its persistence could be a pointer to cancer of the esophagus, throat, or stomach. Any changes in the movement of your bowels should also raise the red flag especially when you are constipated often or have blood in your stool, which could be an early sign of cancer of the colon.

Swallowing difficulties

Some men have difficulty in swallowing but learn to live with them. Over time, however, their diet changes to liquid one because it gets more difficult to swallow solids. Swallowing difficulty could be a sign of cancer of the esophagus. Other symptoms like the jaundice, a growing pain in the abdomen or a change in the stool color should set the alarm bell ringing.

Urinary Problems

As men age, urinary problems become frequent such as the urge to urinate more often especially at night, a feeling of not completely emptying the bladder, frequency and dribbling of urine. These symptoms become worse when there is a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate glands called Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or BPH, which often happens as a man ages, especially in black men. Prostate cancer symptoms are the same. Any man above the age of 40 needs to see their doctor, who will do a digital rectal exam (DRE), which will tell him whether the prostate glands are enlarged or not. A blood test to check the level of prostate- specific antigen or PSA, a protein produced by the prostate gland, and helps to determine whether the enlargement is cancerous or not. If the PSA is higher than it should be or the glands feels abnormal on DRE, your doctor may order a biopsy of the prostate glands and refers you to the urologist.

Changes in the testicles

Testicular cancer occurs often in men aged 20 to 40. The early signs are the testicle feeling like a hard lump or a feeling of heaviness in the scrotum. These should never be ignored because this cancer is curable if caught in its early stages. Men need to check their testicles themselves at least once a month for any hardness or an increase in their size or shrinkage and then get their testicles examined by a doctor as part of their routine cancer screening once a year. If cancer is suspected, an ultra sound of your testes is done and a biopsy or any sample of testicular tissue taken to examine it for cancer.

Breast lump

Most men never consider the possibility if having breasts cancer, yet it is possible because men can get breast cancer. Any breast lump in a man needs to be checked out. A man also needs to look out for the skin dimpling, nipple retraction, redness or scaling of the breast skin and any nipple discharge.

Mouth changes

If you smoke or chew tobacco, you need to be especially alert for any white patches inside your mouth or white spots on your tongue, which could be leukoplakia, a precancerous condition that can progress to oral cancer. Dark patches too may be a sign of Kaposi’s sarcoma especially in men, with a weakened immune system due to disease like HIV.

Unexplained weight lose

Most of us do not loose weight easily, so unexpected weight lose should be a concern. If a man loses more than 10 percent of his body weight in a matter of weeks, it is time to see a doctor.

Swelling of lymph nodes

Swelling in the lymph nodes in the armpit, neck or anywhere else should never be ignored especially if it gets progressively larger, and has been there longer than a month. Many diseases can cause this tuberculosis being one of them. If there is no infection, your doctor will order a biopsy to rule out other conditions like cancer.

Persistent fever and fatigue

Persistent and unexplained fever could be a sign of an infection or even cancer. Often, fever occurs after the cancer has spread from its original site and invaded another part of the body but can also be caused by blood cancers such as lymphoma that could point to cancer and can set in after the cancer has grown. If you often feel extremely tied and it does not get better with rest, check with your doctor.

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