Ghana in Focus Health Special: Prostate Cancer, causes, symptom's and cure

The core distinction many miss is between benign prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. Enlargement is a growth of the gland itself, which can obstruct urine flow and disrupt daily life. Cancer involves uncontrolled cell growth that may spread if not caught early. This difference matters because it changes how we assess risk and choose interventions. Yet both conditions share overlapping symptoms, which is why timely checks, clear information, and honest conversations at home are so important for men over 40 and for the partners and families who support them.

Age, ethnicity, family history, and lifestyle are the big four risk drivers. Incidence rises after 50, and men of African descent face a higher baseline risk globally. If your father or brother had prostate cancer, your risk climbs further, so knowing your family history is ESSENTIAL.  Diet and inactivity compound that risk. High-fat, meat-heavy meals, processed foods, and obesity create a chronic inflammatory environment around the prostate. Long days in cars and offices without a daily walk or gym session become quiet contributors. These forces do not act in isolation; they build over years, nudging the gland toward enlargement and, in some men, malignant change. 

Screening opens a path to earlier action, but access and trust shape whether men use it. The PSA blood test can flag increased risk, MRI and biopsy confirm a diagnosis, and a digital rectal exam can identify irregularities. Each method has limits, from false positives to variability across individuals, and that fuels scepticism. The answer is not to avoid screening, but to approach it with informed consent, second opinions, and a plan that weighs personal risk factors. In Ghana, late presentation is a major driver of mortality. Limited diagnostic centres, cost barriers, and cultural stigma delay help until pain or urinary issues force a visit. Breaking that pattern means normalising prostate conversations, bringing mobile screening to communities, and creating clear, low-cost pathways to follow-up care.

Symptoms should prompt action, not panic. Difficulty starting or maintaining urine flow, frequent night urination, blood in urine or semen, pelvic or back pain, and erectile challenges are all signals to check in.

We examine the pros and cons of mainstream treatments, and a full set of lifestyle levers you can pull today. Think vegetable-forward plates, Ghana’s rich fruits, tomatoes for lycopene, daily walks or short cardio, and cutting down red meat, processed foods, smoking, and heavy drinking. We explore natural options like green tea and pumpkin seeds rich in zinc and selenium. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And New Segment Preview
• 1:21 Subscribe And Platform Announcements
• 2:59 Prostate Enlargement Versus Cancer
• 5:19 How It Develops And Who’s At Risk
• 9:15 Screening Tests And Scepticism
• 12:10 Ghana’s Rising Prostate Mortality
• 16:35 Symptoms Men Should Not Ignore
• 18:33 Mainstream Treatments And Concerns
• 21:06 Prevention Through Lifestyle And Diet
• 23:05 Natural Remedies And Minerals
• 25:07 Policy Steps And Final Takeaways
• 30:00 Closing And Next Week’s Teaser

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:04

Welcome to this week's edition of Ghana in Focus for myself, Kwame, Ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist, entrepreneur, and podcaster. And in this week's edition of Ghanaian Focus, prostate cancer in Ghanaian men or black men generally. So we'll be looking about that. What is prostate cancer? What is the cause? Who's at risk? What can be done? And the treatment, uh, both that we will recommend natural treatment that can be done to uh alleviate the issue of prostate. For me, it's not cancer, but prostate enlargement. Then there's a difference. So before we get into the show today, uh just to make you aware, but before I do that, we'll be starting a new um segment of the show called UK Black, uh, looking at uh issues that affect black or African people in the UK, and we'll be starting that sometime in November. So look out for that. Uh UK Black, Black UK, looking about issues affecting the Black or African community in the UK. So before we start the podcast, uh, just to make you aware, if you like what you hear, please share to your friends, uh, family, social media networks, subscribe to Ghana African Focus on YouTube. Uh, hit the notification bell, uh, meaning that YouTube will notify you every time we upload a new podcast. So please subscribe to Ghana African Focus on YouTube. All right, so uh also we we are on Spotify, so look out for Ghana African Focus on Spotify. Uh, hit the follow bell, uh, meaning that every time we upload a new podcast, Spotify will notify you of that. So it's free to um follow on Spotify, free to subscribe on YouTube. So please tell your friends, your family, your social media networks about this great podcast called Ghana African Focus. We're also uh in on feedspot.com. Uh feedspot.com is a um podcast uh tool that um does charts of the most popular podcast in Ghana, and in that chart, we're in the top 20 uh best listen to podcasts in Ghana. So thank you very much to all my listeners in Ghana who have made uh Ghana African focus one of the most popular uh listen to podcasts in Ghana. So again, look out for feedspot.com to get us on that platform as well. All right, so let's get into this issue looking about prostate enlargement, not prostate cancer in Ghanaian men, straight black men generally. So, first things, what is prostate enlargement? Yeah, so cancer, you know, you know, let's make it you know from the onset that there's a difference between cancer and enlargement, yeah. So prostate enlargement is when your prostate has enlarged, yeah, and it's because your prostate in the size of a walnut, and then when it enlarges, that signifies that you're having problems with the um gland or organ that is called a prostate gland. Cancer is when basically the cells uh while the prostate cancer is a disease where the cells in the prostate gland grow uncontrollably, yeah. So the prostate, and this is very important for all you men out there, and for you ladies who are married, or you got a boyfriend, or you got uncle, or you got um brothers who are over the age of 40. So this is very, very important for you as well. So the prostate is a small gland in men located below the bladder and in front of the retin, you know, your your arsehole. It helps produce sperm, yeah, or rather it helps produce semen, that's which is the fluid that carries sperm in men. Now, how prostate enlargement develops is that, or rather uh cancer develops, rather, is that normal cells mutate and they begin to multiply abnormally. Yeah. So these cancerous cells can then form a tumor. In most aggressive cases, the cancer can spread to nearby organs or bones, yeah. So, what are what are some of the risk elements within or in terms of prostate cancer, straight prostate enlargement? Now, it's most common in men over 50. Yeah. Uh ethnicity. So you are at higher risk if you're an African man. Yeah, so African man, you know, and I mean by African, I'm talking about African descent. So you may be born in Jamaica or St. Kitts or the Caribbean, you may be a black man of African descent born in Brazil or Colombia or Uruguay, Honduras, you may be a black man of African descent born in Germany, in Canada, in the US, in Australia, in India, as long as you're a black man of African descent, you have a high risk of prostate cancer or enlargement. Again, another risk factor is a family history. So if you've got a father or brother who has had prostate cancer, then that increases your risk. Yeah. So if you're a black man and you don't know about your father's history or your brother's history, then I would implore you to ask your father, yeah, or your brother to see if they have prostate cancer or to see if your grandfather had it as well. Because, like I said, if it's in the family, then you are likely, you're more likely to get it than somebody who does not have a family uh history with prostate cancer, prostate enlargement. Also, risk factors. So uh diet and lifestyle plays a very key role in the causes of uh prostate cancer strict enlargement. Now, I listened to a presentation from Dr. Lydafika, one of our great natural homeopaths, and he stated that prostate cancer was basically due to, in terms of diet, in terms of the hormones, yeah, that they put in the meat, in the fish, the milk, and the eggs. Yeah. So if it's not naturally organic eggs, you know, and you eat non-organic, you eat non-organic growing eggs, then you you know be careful. If you eat meat, that's not organic, be careful. If you eat fish, yeah, that's not organic, and even more so because of you know, particularly disease uh undations contaminated with with oil spills and also uh chemicals, yeah, be careful because those if there is a sure-fired way that you can get prostate cancer because you know, um those things I've just mentioned carry hormones that can cause imbalance to the prostate gland, yeah. So uh diet is a very, very big cause, especially high-fat diets. So too much meat, too much processed food, etc. Obesity, yeah. So if you're quite obese, if you're quite overweight, that is a risk of getting prostate cancer, and also low physical activity. So if you're somebody that does not go into the gym, or if you're somebody that does not even do any form of exercise, if you are somebody, and this is particularly true among Ghanaian men, some Ghanaian men, or some most Ghanaian men, that you're in your car all day into the office, you leave the office, you go in your car, you go home, you don't do any form of exercise, even you don't even go for a walk around the block. That is a massive contribution to risk of prostate cancer. So, you know, let's look at before we look at certain nuances around this here, and then we go on to look at natural cures as opposed to their Western type cures or treatment rather, let's look at screening and diagnosis. So you can do a PSA test which measures prostate specific antigen in the blood. High levels uh may indicate uh cancer, but low levels, for example, you've got one, two, or three, or even ten, you know, that's reassuring. Okay, but I'll come on to these tests in a moment. Why I'm a bit skeptical of some of these tests. Also, they can do MRI or biopsy, which is used to confirm diagnosis and assess the severity of possible prostate enlargement stretch cancer. Data rectum exam, DRE for sure. A doctor checks for abnormalities in the prostate using this uh technique. So that's look at so we've looked at you know what is prostate cancer, what is prostate enlargement, which is enlargement of the prostate gland. We've talked about some of the how it develops, we've talked about some of the risk factors, and we've talked about screening and diagnosis. So on this then, I have my you know reservations in terms of that, and I'm not being um contentious or controversial when I say this, because we all saw, and maybe YouTube will not play this, and Spotify might also not play this element of it, but that's that's fine. But we also during the COVID pandemic, and there was a pandemic because it was planned, yeah, we all saw that the tests during COVID were not conclusive, so there was something called false negatives, yeah, that people were wrongly or misdiagnosed with COVID, yeah, because of this swap test that was not really conclusive, and also other COVID antigen tests that was approved, you know, uh conclusive, yeah. And also, what we have to understand also, particularly when there are something they're checking, like, for example, a day to a return exam, when the doctor checks for anomalies in the prostate, believe it or not, what those um tests are based on is the gland prostate under white man. Yeah, just like they use you know mice in the lab to test their products on, yeah, their their pharmaceuticals on, and the white mice genetics are similar to the white man. Yeah, the white mice genetics are similar to the white man. However, the white mice genetics is 100% diametrically opposed to African people's genes because the mice does not have melanin. You and I, as Africans, we have melanin, high grade come into melanin to boot. So these tests, like I say, are done. For example, the deterritum exam is done using the prostate gland of a white man as the standard. Not understanding, not overstanding that the gland of the white man is different from the prostate gland of a black man, from a Chinese man, from an Asian man. Yeah, all glands are not the same, just as much as all blood are not the same, because black people, most black people, most African people have got O blood. O blood with its own negative or positive. That's your blood, that's our predominant blood type. Most European people, most Caucasians, do not have O blood type. They either have A or B. So if you have different blood types, yeah, you don't think that we're gonna have different um size and shape of a prostate and also different genetical tissue and makeup of the of the prostate gland, yeah. So that is why I'm skeptical about these so-called tests, but I'm not saying don't do them, you have to make your own uh decision based on uh a sound judgment based on the information that is at your disposal, so which is another reason why we are doing this podcast to give you all the information that you need in order for you as a man or as a woman, if you've got a boyfriend, husband, brother, or uncle to make that informed decision based on the information that you have at your disposal. And so for me, you know, I'm skeptical about tests carried out by mainstream um medical practice because they're not based on our in this case our as black man prostate gland. It is based on the prostate gland of a white man. So that's the issue with testing and screening and diagnosis. Now let's come to some treatment, treatment, um, you know, uh treatment options. Yeah, so the treatment depends. Or before I get to treatment here, let's look at prostate can let's let's look at prostate cancer in Ghana to see how in Ghana itself, yeah, you know, uh prostate cancer is becoming a big, big problem in Ghana because essentially, you know, 20, 34 years ago, it was not necessarily a big issue in Ghana, despite the fact that the, as I mentioned many times before, the healthcare system in Ghana leaves a lot to be desired. Prostate was never a big issue 30, 25 years ago. So let's look at Ghana. So prostate cancer is increasingly becoming a major health concern and leading cause of death among men in Ghana. Right? And now let me tell you what the latest data shows, yeah? So prostate cancer in Ghana, the alarming reality. So high mortality rate in 2022, Ghana recorded over 2,300 cases of prostate cancer and 1,233 deaths, which represents a 52% mortality rate. Yeah, that's from the graphic online Ghana. Even high estimates, some estimate some experts like Professor Alex Ajay report that up to 82%, 82% of men with men diagnosed with prostate cancer in Ghana die annually, which is significantly higher than countries like the US or UK, where there's also a high mortality rate of African or black men. Yeah. In Ghana, late diagnosis, many cases in Ghana are detected at an advanced stage due to limited screening and awareness, making treatment less effective. Again, as I mentioned before, in terms of healthcare generally in Ghana, limited access to care. Yeah, so challenges include inadequate diagnostic facilities and also a few specialized prostate cancer centers that can deal specifically with prostate cancer and also high treatment costs. Yeah, because in Ghana you pay for everything, and in particular healthcare, it's very, very expensive in terms of treatment. Yeah. So why is it becoming a silent killer in Ghana? Yeah. So basically, there's lack of routine screening. So PSA tests and data rectum exams are not readily available in Ghana. There's also cultural stigma in Ghana. Some men avoid discussing prostate health or seeking help. And there's also healthcare gaps. So rural areas often lack access to specialists or early detection programs. Yeah. Now going forward, what can be done in Ghana to ensure that prostate cancer, prostate enlargement is not the killer that it is? Yeah. So what we recommend for Ghana is annual screening. So the government of Ghana needs to invest in the indigenous local healthcare. Not just a private, because obviously many Ghanaians can't offer private. And the issues as serious as prostate enlargement or prostate cancer, the government needs to intervene, yeah, by introducing screening tests, like we mentioned previously, and also early diagnosis, yeah, especially for men over 50 or those with family history. Again, every quarter, not just once a year, every quarter, there needs to be public awareness campaigns to educate men in Ghana about symptoms and prevention. And also government support. So investment is meant, as I mentioned before, investment in cancer care infrastructure, particularly, specifically, and subsidised treatment, treatment that can be paid by in part by the government, subsidies. Yeah, because like I said, you know, healthcare in Ghana can be very, very expensive. So, you know, seeing that many Ghanaian men cannot afford uh treatment, yeah, the government subsidized um, you know, treatment. So what are some of the symptoms? Because that's something I didn't go through earlier with you. What are some of the symptoms of uh an enlarged prostate? So let's look at some of the um, you know, before you look at the treatment options, let's look at some of the um symptoms of prostate cancer. So one of the symptoms of prostate cancer is difficulty urinating or weak urine flow. Yeah, frequent urination, especially in the night. You may get up in the night, in the middle of the night, and urinate three or four times during that night. Okay, if there's blood in your urine or semen, that's a big red flag. Then you've got prostate enlargement, prostate cancer, also pain in the hips, in the back, or pelvis is another red flag, and also erectile dysfunction. However, if you've got erectile dysfunction, that doesn't that does not necessarily mean that you've got prostate cancer, yeah. So these are some of the symptoms that you know uh are prevalent in men who are experiencing the early signs of either enough prostate or potentially prostate cancer. So, like I said, let's look at some of the treatment options in terms of the you know the you know mainstream medicine. So they've got surgery, you know, removal of the prostate, they've got radiation therapy, they've got hormone therapy, and they've got chemotherapy. Yeah, but as you know, you know, for me, I am the natural way, I like the natural way. So we're gonna also look at you know natural medicines in a minute. Yeah, but for me, you know, these um chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgery, etc. For me, it is not good for black men. I'll tell you why, not good for black men. When they do surgery, right, and remove the prostate, which is called prostatectomy, that essentially is castration. When they remove the prostate, you can forget ever getting an erection. Yeah, you can forget getting erection, and that's the first thing the European medical system wants to do to black men who have got either an enlarged prostate or cancerous cells that are developing to prostate cancer. They want to remove the prostate instead of giving you natural remedy. Yeah, so by removing the prostate by surgery, right, that is castration, that is the modern-day castration, yeah, for me. And we we need to stop that again. Radiation therapy, particularly as black people, African people, right? We've got a high grade carbonate melanin, radiation or chemotherapy, yeah, is basically the same thing because the radiation in the radiotherapy and the chemotherapy chemotherapy, they align, or they don't align with melonites. High radiation, high distance of radiation in the chemotherapy and the radiotherapy can actually destroy the melonitis. And I've seen black men who have gone through that, yeah, and part of and that has destroyed their melanin. And I see a lot of white patches. One of my friends did radiation therapy, yeah, and he ended up like um, you know, looking like Michael Jackson, yeah, because of the the the radiation that destroyed the melanin, yeah, and that didn't work for that person. My you know, my friend died after that, not so long after that therapy of radiation. So that shows you, right, that this European um treatment is not necessarily for African people, like I said, I'm just putting it out there so you can make an informed decision based on the information that you have available that you feel is going to be the best for you. So I'm not saying don't do this or don't do that. I personally will not go down the radiation therapy, hormone therapy, or the chemotherapy because it plays havoc with our ability to produce melanin via melanasites, and radiation definitely destroys our melanin. So let's look at natural remedies here that can be used to you know eliminate prostate cancer. Yeah. But before we get there, let's look at some preventive measures that you as a man can take to ensure that the cancer doesn't spread and to ensure that your um gland does not get bigger. And the gland itself is caused by inflammation because of the diet, i.e., lack of exercise, high sugar diet, high salt diet, high meat, yeah. So what you can do to prevent that is eat a more balanced diet, rich in vegetables, yeah, particularly green is vegetables, fruits, yeah. That's it's got a lot of vitamin C. You know, your own, particularly in Ghana, where we're in the tropics, right? Your pineapple, your papaya, you know, bofre, watermelon, yeah, sugar cane. These are rich, rich in antidoxinants and vitamin C. And also healthy fats like avocado or pear, as we call it in Ghana. Again, exercise regularly, at least every day, do a brisk walk, yeah, or go to a gym and do like a cardio for 15 minutes, 10-15 minutes, yeah. Again, limit red meat and processed foods in Ghana. Too much meat. Every meal Ghanaians eat meat, where it's lamb, mutton, goat, chicken, too much meat. Ghanaians limit the red meat, particularly. Avoid smoking and excessive alcohol, particularly among young men. That's now becoming a trend within young, well-to-do Ghanaian men and some middle-class men, yeah, who are smoking and drinking a lot, particularly at the weekend. That is a big factor, this risk factor in combine to prostate enlargement or prostate cancer. Yeah, so these are some of the um, you know, prevention and lifestyle choices that I would make, I would recommend that you do to avoid prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. Now, finally, let's look at natural um remedies as opposed to the mainstream remedies that can be used if you do suffer from prostate enlargement or prostate cancer. Green tea extract. Yeah, now green tea is very, very good. Green tea contains antioxidants that support say other health. Like a pin, like a pinning, that's sound in tomatoes, that is linked to lower prostate cancer risk. That is shown in some studies. So instead of insane, you know, tomatoes are very, very good for you. So rather than boil your tomatoes, right, like in your stew, right? You can eat it raw as part of the salad. Yeah, so have some in contumbere, but boil some in cantumbere, right? Or some dandelion, raw dandelion from your back garden, yeah. Get some lettuce, get some cucumber, yeah, get some tomato, get some onion, get some garlic, do it as a salad, eat that, add tomatoes with that, and that is a very, very surefire way of um you know uh preventing prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. Also, zinc and selenium, very, very important minerals for prostate function. Zinc and selenium is found in foods like banana and um pumpkin seeds. These are very, very good for prostate function, yeah? And finally, turmeric. Turmeric, yeah, or coccoumin has anti-inflammatory properties that helps reduce cancer risk. Yeah. So if you drink turmeric tea, just put just get some hot water, yeah. Mix it with a teaspoon of turmeric powder, mix it and then drink it. Add a bit of lime as well, and then black pepper that will reduce inflammation within the prostate. Yeah. So if there are some for me natural remedies that are proven that is much, much better for you as a black man than you allowing the mainstream authorities to take out your prostate with surgery, or worse still, radiotherapy or chemotherapy. Yeah. So um, in closing, so as black men, we've got to understand that you know prostate cancer is not a death sentence, it can be cured, particularly you going down the natural route, yeah. The risk factors are there in terms of if you're ever 50 and if you are a man who's got a family history of prostate cancer, risk factors are there. And what I would recommend is that you can probably do the PSA test, yeah. Or, like I said, change diet and lifestyle, which are big factors in contributing to prostate cancer. And governments of Ghana, you need to invest in screening tests for black men, prostate cancer screening tests. Also, invest a lot in um you know outreach programs and awareness programs on TV and radio, put it in the in the in, you know, put a one-page ad in you know in all the main papers in Ghana, you know, the Ghanaian Times, The Observer, you know, Daily Graphic, etc., to inform our men about some of the risks and uh lifestyle uh choices that you know uh contribute to prostate cancer. So these are things that the government can do, and these are things that we as African men, Ghanaian men can do to help reduce our chances of prostate enlargement as well as prostate cancer. So thank you very much for listening to this special edition of Ghana in Focus with myself, Kwan. Ghanaian writer, broadcaster, journalist, historian, and entrepreneur. In next week's uh podcast, we're gonna do our black history because it's black history in the UK. So we're gonna talk to you or tell you about some great uh black women, yeah, that contributed to black history, and also we're gonna tell you about some kindness in Europe that were once we are black people, yes? Believe it or not, black people actually with Europe. Contrary to what you know in Ghana, black people, African people actually boot Europe, and we'll tell you that in the show next week. So for myself, Kwame, and from all the crew here on Ghana African Focus. Don't forget to subscribe to Ghana African Fix on YouTube, subscribe to Ghana, African Fix on Spotify. Until next week, look after yourselves, and we see you in the next edition of Ghana in Focus.