March is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK

Prostate cancer usually develops slowly, so there may be no signs you have it for many years.

Symptoms often only become apparent when your prostate is large enough to affect the urethra (the tube that carries urine from the bladder to the penis).

When this happens, you may notice things like an increased need to urinate, straining while urinating and a feeling your bladder has not fully emptied.

If you do notice changes in the way you urinate, this is more likely to be a sign of a very common non-cancerous problem called an enlarged prostate, or another health problem. But it’s still a good idea to get it checked out. Possible changes include:

• difficulty starting to urinate or emptying your bladder
• a weak flow when you urinate
• a feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied properly
• dribbling urine after you finish urinating
• needing to urinate more often, especially at night
• a sudden urge to urinate – you may sometimes leak before you get to the toilet.

For more information and advice go to https://prostatecanceruk.org/prostate-information