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Prostrate Cancer Patients Scary About Radiation Therapy
 Prostrate cancer patients,
in large numbers, are deeply worried about the side effects of radiation therapy, according to a research paper presented at the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology's Annual Meeting.
The study stressed the fact that such strong negative perceptions about radiation treatment could actually turn away patients from opting for external beam radiation therapy even though studies have proved that this treatment method is as safe as -if not better- than any other similar prostrate cancer treatments in vogue.
Before seeing more about the treatments, here is a bit of info about prostrate cancer: it is the cancer that affects prostrate, which can be due to genetical reasons or lifestyle influenced. The disease is quite curable if diagnosed in time. If not diagnosed properly and treated promptly, prostrate cancer could spread to other parts of the body, eventually leading to the death of the patient.
The bottom line, hence, is to get the disease treated at the earliest. The common treatments employed for the cure of prostrate cancer are external beam radiation therapy, surgery, and radiation seed implants.
The first one, external beam radiation therapy, uses a beam of X-rays to kill the cancer cells. This treatment technique is non-invasive and men, even after undergoing the external beam radiation therapy, could retain their sexual function.
Exactly due to this reasoning, many men in fact are selectively choosing external beam radiation therapy over other treatments. The present study, however, unravels the psyche of another class of men who are frightened by this prospect. After analyzing their mindset and studying the questionnaires answered by them, researchers get the feeling that such people are probably afraid of the notion that radiation could damage the unprotected organs surrounding the prostrate.
Also, the terminology used by doctors such as 'hitting the target' is generating fear in the patient's mind. As a result, such patients, for whom external beam radiation therapy might be the better choice, may simply skip the treatment and opt for other methods such as radiation seeding or surgery. And the patient suffers in the end.
Riccardo Valdagni, one of the researchers, says that it is not the technical aspect of external beam radiation therapy, but it is the personal and cultural prejudices that are responsible for this fear factor. According to him, the only possible solution for this issue is to educate the patients about the treatment method and counsel him/her so as to clear all sorts of misconceptions existing in his/her mind. He finally adds that it is important to keep the patient in a good state of mind for obtaining the desired effect of the treatment.
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