MALE TROUBLE: A New Focus on the Prostate

This is a slim book about an organ which is slim enough at birth--the size of a grain of barley--but all too often enlarges to the point of pain and discomfort with age. The prostate gland is a complex multi-functional bit of tissue that encircles the urethra just below the bladder. It has been described as the male equivalent of breast tissue. It can become infected, cancerous, or simply enlarged in the condition called benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH). Gilbert Cant, a former Medical Editor of Time magazine, describes the various ailments and modes of treatment. He makes it clear that opinions vary about the efficacy of medical over surgical interventions. Urologists also differ about the extent to which psychological factors affect prognosis. Cant himself takes issue with the FDA for not clearing for general use a drug that shows promise in the treatment of resistant infections. One of his major points is that prostate troubles are being talked about. For example, Rogers Morton, President Ford's campaign chairman, announced publicly that he was being treated for early stage prostatic cancer. Such publicity could encourage other men to seek earlier diagnosis rather than repress symptoms, and Cant's own book may be a harbinger in this new line of thinking. This should be good news to the 50% of the male population expected to suffer some prostatic difficulty in their lifetimes.