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Feeling Down May Up Prostate Cancer Risks
New York Robotic Prostate Surgeon, David B. Samadi, MD, Comments on Trends Among Prostate Cancer Diagnoses and Follow Up Treatments
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jul 31, 2014) - A prostate cancer diagnosis requires immediate care and consultation with a prostate cancer expert to determine the adequate care needed for the condition. Sadly, of the number of individuals diagnosed with prostate cancer in the U.S., many die from the disease. While it is very common to correlate the numbers that have fallen to prostate cancer with socioeconomic, age, or race factors, new findings point to mental illness and depression as reasons for prostate cancer death.
"Prostate cancer is known as the 'silent killer' because symptoms can easily go unnoticed," explains robotic prostate surgeon and prostate cancer expert, Dr. David B. Samadi. "When a person is diagnosed with prostate cancer, they are lucky to have found it. From there, it is of the highest importance for the patient to take the necessary actions to ensure prostate cancer survival."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 200,000 men in the U.S. were diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010. That same year, 30,000 died of prostate cancer. In a time when there are many effective prostate cancer treatments available, including Dr. Samadi's SMART surgery technique, these numbers beg us to ask: why are these men not continuing with treatment?
Why are men not seeking prostate cancer treatment?
"There are many factors that influence prostate cancer survival rate," says Dr. Samadi. "A major reason is the follow up care after diagnosis. Once diagnosed, it is absolutely vital to be proactive in treatment. A patient's next steps will influence the outcome greatly."
"What we're seeing now is that men are not coming back for treatment," the robotic surgeon continues. "And the reason for them not seeking treatment is that they are depressed."
A study in the Journal of Clinical Oncology has found the age, income level, other medical conditions, race, marriage status and location all influenced whether a man would continue with prostate cancer treatment. A further look at these factors unveiled that all of these factors also increased the chances for depression. The common link was that depression in men hampered their desire to seek treatment of their prostate cancer.
The study focused on localized prostate cancer diagnoses of 1,894 Medicare patients between 2004-2007. In the study, these patients had also been diagnosed with depression within two years prior to the study. The results showed that depressed men were less likely to seek treatment than non-depressed men.
"A prostate cancer diagnosis should not fall by the wayside when struggling with a mental illness," says Dr. Samadi. "Using an effective technique, such as robotic prostatectomy for the treatment of cancer, will make survival an option and give you something to smile about."
