sodium-ethylxanthate and Constipation

The objective was to investigate how prostate cancer and its treatment affects sexual, urinary and bowel functions and to what extent eventual complications cause distress. A questionnaire was sent to 431 men aged 50-80 years with prostate cancer diagnosed in 1992 in the Stockholm area (Sweden) and 435 randomly selected men with a similar age distribution. Sexual function, as compared with their youth, was diminished in a majority of all men. The prostate cancer patients were, however, more likely to report low frequency and/or intensity in all aspects of sexual function. A majority of the men were distressed by a waning sexual capacity. The proportion of men with prostate cancer who were severely distressed owing to a decline in sexual function was larger than in the reference group. The willingness to trade off an intact sexual function for long-term survival varied considerably among the men in the reference group. Urinary and bowel symptoms were less common than a waning sexual function in both groups, and few appeared to be severely distressed by urinary or bowel symptoms. A decline in sexual functions was the most common cause of disease-specific distress in men with prostate cancer.

Topics: Aged; Attitude to Health; Constipation; Defecation; Ejaculation; Fecal Incontinence; Humans; Libido; Male; Middle Aged; Orgasm; Penile Erection; Prostatic Neoplasms; Radiography; Reference Values; Sex; Surveys and Questionnaires; Urinary Incontinence; Urination

Topics: Adult; Aged; Aging; Cathartics; Colonic Neoplasms; Constipation; Defecation; Enema; Environment; Female; Hospitalization; Humans; Longevity; Male; Middle Aged; Occupations; Rectal Neoplasms; Religion; Retrospective Studies; Sex; Smoking; Statistics as Topic