The Walk-in Prostate Model
Our walk-in prostate model, which includes a partial representation of the bowel, has been developed by a team of doctors. It shows the subtle interplay between the prostate, the bladder, the urethra, the pelvic floor and the bowel. All these organs are in close proximity to one another in the male body. The model makes it possible to visualise complex structures. As well as showing the anatomy of the prostate and its neighbouring organs, the model allows the user both to see and feel benign and malignant diseases.
What is the point of a walk-in prostate model?
Prostate cancer is a male disease. In Germany alone, more than 40,000 carcinomas of the prostate are diagnosed each year. It is the most common form of cancer affecting men, and the third most fatal after lung and bowel cancers. If the cancer is diagnosed sufficiently early, it can be cured in most cases. For this reason, it is vital for men to know what functions the prostate has, how it can have a negative impact on quality of life (or even endanger life), and what methods of early diagnosis exist.
What is the prostate?
The prostate, also known as the prostate gland, is about the size of a chestnut and lies below the urinary bladder, enveloping the urethra. Its chief function is the production of a secretion which serves to transport and activate sperm. Together with the sphincter of the bladder (Blasenschließmuskel), it also ensures that semen is ejaculated through the urethra and out through the penis and does not therefore enter the bladder. On the other hand, it prevents urine from entering the semen canal during urination. The prostate does not reach its full size until a man reaches the age of around 20.
What problems can be caused by the prostate? – Common prostate diseases
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
When a man reaches the age of 40 – 50, the prostate tissue mutates. The muscular and tissue layers around the urethra multiply, and a benign tumor (adenoma) can grow into the urethra, or even into the bladder itself. The enlargement of the prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia – BPH) compresses the urethra like a fist slowly squeezing a straw. Typical symptoms include a more frequent need to urinate, a slow emptying of the bladder (urine not requiring pressure to order to flow), dribbling after urination, occasional pain or a burning sensation during urination and the feeling that it is not possible completely to empty the bladder. A resulting lack of self-confidence or well-being can often have an adverse effect on the sufferer’s sex life. Thus even a benign disease such as this can have a negative impact on the patient’s quality of life.
Prostate carcinoma
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer affecting men, and the third most fatal. Prostate carcinomas are rare in men under the age of 50. In its early stages, prostate cancer causes no discomfort.
There are prostate carcinomas that grow quickly, can be very aggressive, form sister tumors (metastases) and can rapidly prove fatal, but there are also many which grow very slowly, are less aggressive and do not necessarily reduce life expectancy. This means that it is possible to die of prostate cancer, but equally possible to die of other causes while suffering from prostate cancer. Here, overall life expectancy, for example, plays a role.
It can be difficult to assess the aggressiveness of prostate cancer. The patient must therefore consult a specialist in order to decide whether, when and how a case of prostate cancer should be treated.
What can I do? – early diagnosis of a prostate carcinoma
Prostate cancer is a disease with potentially serious, often fatal consequences. The earlier a prostate carcinoma is discovered, however, the better the chances of recovery for the patient.
Digital-rectal examination
One early diagnosis examination funded by the state health insurance scheme involves the probing of the prostate surface through the rectum. However, this digital-rectal method can only identify tumors which can be physically felt and which are therefore at a relatively advanced stage. This method does not therefore fall under the heading of ‘early diagnosis’.
PSA test
A test which is more effective, if medically still controversial, is the so-called prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. This is a test which measures the concentration of PSA in the blood. PSA is a substance produced by the prostate gland which is deposited naturally in the blood. An increase in the concentration of PSA can sometimes be an early indication of prostate cancer. But other complaints (enlargement of the prostate, prostatitis, infection oif the urinary tract) may also lead to an increase in concentration.
Aprroximately two in three men with high concentrations of PSA are prosttae cancer sufferers. The higher the level of PSA is, however, the greater the likelihood that cancer is the cause. In some men, prostate cancer develops in spite of a normal PSA level. An appointment for a PSA test should only be made, therefore, after an extensive consultation in which the advantages and disadvantages are clearly set out.
- The PSA test is a blood test.
- An increase in PSA concentration may be an early symptom of prostate cancer.
- A large number of men with increased concentrations of PSA do not have prostate cancer.
- The PSA test sometimes fails to identify prostate cancer. This is rare, however.
- Regular check-ups are therefore recommended.
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