The Lagos Medical Laboratory Scientists have called for a holistic approach to men’s health following a notable rise in cases of prostate disorders in the country. The scientists lamented that prostate disorders, including benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer, have been alarming on the increase across the country.
According to a health website, Britannica, a prostatic disorder is any of the abnormalities and diseases that afflict the prostate gland in the male reproductive system. It stated that when production of the male hormone (androgen) decreases, the prostate begins to degenerate.
Speaking at the 59th Annual Scientific Conference of the Association of Medical Lab Scientists of Nigeria, the experts called for a comprehensive strategy that combines medical treatments with lifestyle adjustments and preventive measures.
The Chairman of AMLSN, Lagos State Branch, Mr Abioye Akanji, expressed worry over the prevalence of prostate pathology in recent times across hospitals. According to him, the World Health Organization has described prostate cancer as the leading cancer diagnosis in men and the second leading cause of cancer death in men, with about 299,010 expected cases annually. “Among Nigerian men, it accounts for the most common and deadly cancer with about 16.3 to 32.8 deaths per 100,000 men, hence the need to escalate discussions on the topic,” he added.
While stressing the need for early diagnosis, Akanji said some of the key risk factors of the diseases are non-modifiable.
He explained, “The key risk factors like age, if somebody is ageing, it gets to a point the person begins to experience excessive urination and some other symptoms, but you can’t modify it because you can’t change your age. “There are other key factors like family history but more importantly, if we know all these, we can begin to advocate that there is a need for men to carry out screening once a year to check for prostate. There’s a need to do some other health checks because early presentation of any disease condition and treatment increases the likelihood of survival.” He said to get a definitive diagnosis for any disease condition there must be a multidisciplinary approach because one health care provider alone cannot solve the whole problem.
The lab scientist added, “In recent times, we found out that among men, prostate disorders, be it prostate cancer, prostatitis and some other prostate disorder have been a devil that has befallen men and we also found out that it is beginning to be very alarming in our various hospitals lately. So, that stimulates our thoughts that there’s a need for us to escalate this topic. “In the past, it used to be for older men but now, we found out that as young as a 40-year-old man will wake up in the night to pee more than 15-20 times and this calls for concern and from there, other issues start creeping in.”
While expressing concern over the brain drain in the health sector, the AMLSN chairman said medical lab scientists are not exceptional, especially in Lagos state as a minimum of two Lab scientists out of five leave the country at one point or the other. Akanji stated that the japa syndrome has depleted the manpower to a very alarming degree. “Even in the private sector, people are still leaving. You employ them this month, and the following month they are gone. It is affecting the private sector and the public sector in recent times,” he expressed.
Delivering his keynote address titled, ‘Holistic Approach to Prostate Disorders: Integrating Multidisciplinary Strategies for Precision Diagnosis’, Associate Professor College of Medicine, University of Lagos and Consultant Urological Surgeon, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Dr Rufus Ojewola stressed the need for a scientific approach and accurate diagnosis in medical practice. He noted that in Nigeria’s environment, there are complications from prostatic disease, adding that in a study, it was found that 48.6 per cent of men with symptoms of prostatic disease had never visited any hospital or health facility.
