prostate cancer in jamaican men
Page 2 Prostate cancer is a significant health problem for middle aged and elderly men. In the United States, it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer, accounting for 36% of all diagnosed cancer cases. Black people have the highest overall rate (294/100,000)of prostate cancer and within the black community, African Caribbean men, particularly Jamaican men (304/100,000)have the highest rate of prostate in the United States and in the world (Keier2003). There is no known cure for the treatment of prostate cancer (“The epidemiology”2003). ... However, there is a deficit knowledge about the dangers prostate cancer especially in the African Caribbean community. In general, Caribbeans (the most endangered group to suffer from prostate cancer) do not know about prostate cancer signs, its dangers to their ethnic group or the importance of early detection in saving lives(Keier2003). ... It is very expensive to treat prostate cancer. Over five billion dollars is spent each year in the United States for direct medical expenses in the treatment of prostate cancer patients. The dispersement of the funds are dependant on the stage of cancer at the time of diagnosis. If the cancer is detected early and can be diagnosed before it becomes malignant or spreads through out the body, only then can the costs of prostate cancer treatment be dramatically reduced. Ten thousand to ninety thousand dollars can be saved per patient, if prostate cancer is detected early enough(Keier2003). ... High risk racial groups (blacks) have to be educated in order to be motivated to work with their healthcare provider to maintain their prostate health . In response to the epidemic , much work has been done to determine the knowledge and perceptions regarding prostate cancer on the broad population pool of African American men . ... In this article, Prostate Cancer In Black Men Of African-Caribbean Descent , the author Dr. Jo Ann Kleier (2003) thesis asserts that , in order to, reduce the health disparities in prostate cancer morbidity and mortality among high risk group we must first have a better understanding of the health care seeking behaviors and knowledge of all the sub ethnicities of the high risk groups. Kleier (2003) describes the current style of cancer research study as being over generalized in its definition of racial groups. ... ” The second study focused on determining the predictors of Jamaican men going to voluntarily have a general medical check. Out of two thousand-five hundred and eighty Jamaican adults from Kingston, Jamaica that were interviewed the, “. ... ” The conclusions that were drawn from that study indicates, that the people that tend to seek medical care within Jamaican population were all over 20 years, mostly women and had a satisfaction with life in general. ... Kleier , asked similar type questions but this time the focus was on Jamaican men and the topic was more specific to prostate health. ... over 59% of the sample to be deficient in the knowledge concerning the signs and symptoms of prostate cancer, risk factors, and screening/treatment modalities.