Welcome to Urocare Clinic

Urology and Men's Health Care Clinic

Prostate Cancer Screening & Treatment

Cancer screening means one is looking for the cancer before it causes symptoms. The goal of screening for prostate cancer is to find the cancers that are potentially harmful, early before they spread with the goal of achieving cure.

The commonly used tests to screen for prostate cancer are having a blood test drawn to check the levels of prostate specific antigen (PSA). The levels of PSA maybe high in man with prostate cancer. The second test is a digital rectal examination (DRE) in which is when a health care provider inserts a gloved, lubricated finger into a man’s rectum to feel the prostate for anything abnormal, such as cancer.

Early prostate cancer which is curable has no symptoms. It is important to be screened for prostate cancer from the age of 45 years or earlier if you have a father or brother that have been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Advanced prostate cancer symptoms include blood in urine, urinary difficulties and bone pain. At this stage the disease may not be curable.

A sample of the prostate called a biopsy will be needed to confirm a diagnosis of prostate cancer. The biopsy is obtained by the urologist in the office with minor discomfort.

The treatment for prostate cancer will depend on the stage at which it has reached at the time of diagnosis. This ranges from close observation (active surveillance) of the cancer if its deemed small and of low harm to the body. Surgical removal (radical prostatectomy) or radiation therapy is done for cancer potentially harmful that has not spread to any other organs. If cancer is already spread one can receive hormonal injections or surgical removal of the testis/balls to control its rate of spread.

Book an appointment today to get checked for your prostate.

Bladder/Urinary control

The bladder is an organ present in both man and woman with a purpose of storing urine for periods of between 4 to 6 hours. The bladder empties at an appropriate time when it reaches its full capacity of about 300 – 450ml in an adult. The bladder can be affected by disease resulting in symptoms that reduce quality of life. If not taken care of the bladder problems can result in damage of the kidneys. The various symptoms related to bladder problems are:

Urine Storage Problems

a) Urine frequency – more than 6 times during the day

b) increased night time waking up to pass urine

c) inability to hold urine passage before reaching the toilet

d) bed wetting or involuntary loss of urine.

Urine out flow problems

a) weak urine stream

b) waiting for a longer time to start urinating

c) pain on passing urine

d) blood in urine

The causes of these symptoms include prostate disease, urine infection, weak or hyperactive bladder. They are some conditions associated with these disorders that include diabetes mellitus, aging, spinal cord injuries etc.

The various test that are done include urine test for infection, ultrasound imaging of the bladder and kidneys, urodynamics etc.

Book an appointment today if you have any of these problems.

Kidney and Bladder Cancers

Kidney Cancer is an abnormal growth in the kidney that is potentially fatal if not treated. A human being usually has two kidneys with the job of clearing toxic waste in the body, balancing water and acid in the vital to function of all organs in the body. Kidney cancer usually affects one kidney at a time though in rare cases both kidneys may be affected. Kidney cancer affects adults in their 60s or 70s. It is rare in people under the age of 50 years. Smoking is a significant risk factor to the development of kidney cancer. Early kidney cancer is small and does not exhibit symptoms. Advanced kidney cancer may present with symptoms of blood in urine or pain on the side of the abdomen. Kidney cancer can only be cured if it's found early and has not spread.

Bladder cancer is a common type of cancer that begins in the cells of the bladder. The bladder is a hollow muscular organ in your lower abdomen that stores urine. Bladder cancer is commonly associated with cigarrete smoking, previous exposure to bilharzia and contact to industrial or agricultural chemicals. The commonest symptom is passing urine with blood which is usually not painful. The other symptoms include frequency of visiting the toilet or urgency of visiting the toilet. In the late stage of bladder cancer, it causes severe lower abdominal pain or the kidneys to fail to work properly

Most bladder cancers are diagnosed at an early stage, when the cancer is highly treatable. But even early-stage bladder cancers can come back after successful treatment. For this reason, people with bladder cancer typically need follow-up tests for years after treatment to look for bladder cancer that recurs. Advanced bladder cancer requires surgical removal of the bladder and or chemotherapy.

Kidney Stone Disease Treatment

Kidney stones are hard deposits of minerals and acid salts that stick together in concentrated urine. They can be painful when passing through the urinary tract, but usually don't cause permanent damage. The kidney stones may fail to pass out and lodge between the kidney and the bladder in the tube that transport urine called the ureter. This usually cause symptoms of severe side pain of the abdomen, that's often associated with nausea and vomiting. Kidney stones may potentially damage the function of the kidneys or cause urine infection when they block the flow of urine. Kidney stones are common in people with a family history, in those who drink less than 1,5L of water daily, those with diet with high salt and meat intake.

 An imaging test in the form of an ultrasound of the kidneys or computer tomography of the abdomen is used to detect kidney stones. Kidney stones less than 5mm in size usually pass out by themselves or with aid of medication and drinking fluids. Surgical procedures may be required to remove or break up larger stones. The stones that do not pass on their own are removed with shock wave lithotripsy or an endoscopic technique.

Male Sexual Health problems,

Male sexual health problems include lack of sexual desire, weak or inability to have an erection (erectile dysfunction) and or difficulties of ejaculation (pain or absence of ejaculation). Erectile dysfunction (ED) is inability to get or maintain an erection to achieve successful sexual intercourse. It is the commonest sexual disorder amongst man.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) may be temporary during times of stress or anxiety. All man undergoes brief periods of erectile dysfunction which resolves with the relief of stress or anxiety. Permanent or frequent erectile dysfunction (ED) has many possible cause which is either physical or psychological or both. The common physical causes of ED are hypertension or cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, high cholesterol and drugs. Some psychosocial problems associated with ED include relationship problems, performance anxiety, smoking and excessive alcohol use. They are various drugs that reduce libido or cause erectile dysfunction. Discuss with your doctor about the potential long term effects of some prescribed medication.

Treatment for ED will depend on the underlying cause. You may need to use a combination of treatments which include medication or talk therapy. Medications like sildenafil, tadalafil have become the main stay in the treatment of erectile dysfunction.Discuss today with your doctor or book an appointment for an evaluation.

Male Infertility and Contraception

Male infertility is a health condition in which a man has a cause that reduces the chances of his female partner getting pregnant. There are many causes of infertility in both man and women of which some are reversible. The causes infertility may be due to genetics, ill health, diseases, and dietary contaminants or blockages of the tubes.

In over a third of infertility cases, the problem is with the man. This is most often due to problems with his sperm production or with the sperm delivery. While infertility is not always treatable, there are some things you can do to boost your chances of conceiving. Fertility can sometimes be improved with a healthy diet, supplements, and other lifestyle strategies. A healthy diet rich in Vitamin C, E and zinc reduces sperm damage and may improve sperm count and quality.

It’s important to reduce stress and anxiety, exercise regularly when one is try to have a baby.

When a man can no longer make sperm (for any reason) he is infertile. He cannot have a biologically-related child. If you are at risk, you may be able to save sperm for future fertility. Fertility preservation improves a man’s chance of having a child using his own sperm in the future.

Male contraception also known as male birth control are methods used to prevent pregnancy that are relying in blocking the sperm from reaching the egg of a female. The common available methods are male condoms and vasectomy.

Vasectomy is a permanent method of male contraception done in man who do not desire to have any children in the future. This small procedure involves tying the tube in the man that carries sperm from the testis to the penis so that the ejaculate of the man does not contain sperm. It’s usually done by injection of a local anaesthetic at the base of the penis. This procedure does not make man lose his erection or fail to ejaculate.

Make an appointment today to discuss your fertility issues

Childhood (Paediatric) urology conditions (foreskin problems, undescended testis, bed wetting)

Childhood urology/Pediatric urology involves management of genital and urinary problems that occur in children of all ages, with a special emphasis on developmental problems that affect the kidneys, bladder, urethra and genital tract.

The common developmental problems are undescended testis, foreskin problems and penile abnormalities.

Undescended testis is a condition in which the testis fails to reach the scrotum and it cannot be felt in its position. It affects 3% of all new-born male children. It requires surgical correction if it has not natural gone down by the age of 6 months. The parents should get their boys checked for the presence of both testis in the scrotum. Failure of this results in potential loss in sperm production by the testis, development of cancer and more susceptibility to twisting and trauma.

Foreskin problems include failure to retract the foreskin fully. More than 95% of boys are born with unretractable foreskin. However, in the majority of the boys by the age of 5, the foreskin will have undergone a process of opening by repeated erections at night that children have when growing up. In some children the foreskin does not open requiring a surgical procedure called circumcision for the for skin to open up. Some children have foreskin abnormalities in condition called hypospadias/epispadias in which the urethral opening is abnormally sited. This requires surgical correction at an early age.

Bedwetting/ Nocturnal Enuresis is the problem of urinating in bed while asleep and is commonly associated with children. The condition gets better as the children grow up as the bladder grows larger and mature. The majority of children have night time control of the bladder by school going age. This condition in the child should be evaluated by the doctor, with parents playing a critical role in the treatment of this problem. The treatment includes scheduled waking of the child with alarms, rewarding the child, restricting fluids at night and prescribed medication.

Book an appointment today to have your child evaluated for any of these problems.