Customer Reviews

Complete Prostate Book: What Every Man Needs to Know

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When Dr. Jones titled this book... he meant it! It IS complete.

This book is a fantastic resource. All facets of prostate problems are discussed, from the very simple to the very complex, in a manner that is easily understood. Whenever medical terms are utilized they are defined and when possible, examples are given to improve understanding. The section of the book on prostate cancer is phenomenal. If you, or someone you love has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and are overwhelmed with information and treatment options, I would highly recommend reading this book.

There are very few absolutes in medicine, especially regarding individualized medical treatment. Dr. Jones allows the reader to arm himself with information so that he (along with his urologist) can make the best decisions about his care.

I had received an early warning sign. The possibilty existed that I had prostate cancer, a disease that killed my father. In my doctor's office was a book he had written entitled "The Complete Prostate Book". I obtained a copy of the book from Amazon.com so as to study the options available to me. Some months later my cancer was confirmed and I was well prepared to make a decision on my behalf.

The book. while technical in nature, is written with an understanding of the anxiety and emotions that a man will encounter as he decides the treament that is best for him. This is done with facts and actual experiences of men who walked the path of Prostate examination and treatment.

High PSA lab test scores lead me to schedule a (first-time) biopsy of my prostate, a somewhat frightening prospect. Dr. Jones' section on biopsies clearly explained what to expect, and helped to put my mind at ease. His book contains a wealth of additional information on prostate difficulties, clearly written in a style readable to those who are not a medical professionals.

Leading urologist Dr. J. Stephen Jones has been nationally recognized as an authority on prostate problems and their treatment, and here writes the perfect consumer guide on how to understand conditions, therapies, and alternatives. The latest developments on detection and screening of conditions is included in a guide which is much more accessible than competitors. THE COMPLETE PROSTATE BOOK: WHAT EVERY MAN NEEDS TO KNOW is a recommended pick, especially for general lending collections specializing in consumer health.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is one of the best dealing with the prostate. Check out the one published by the Mayo Clinic and the one published by the Johns Hopkins Unversity Press. Be careful of the copyright date. Theories and methods are changing rapidly. I found out that I am ahead of my urologist who, in my opinion should do one of three things: (1) Buy some new books, (2) Go back to medical school or (3) retire because his knowledge is obsolete. BE PREPARED! DOCTORS ARE NOT GOD (some may think they are). This is a serious situations. Do your own homework and don't rely on your doctor to know everything and not screw up. Don't overlook the book about a "headache in the pelvis". If you do not get good results from your urologist, your internist may know more practical solutions and don't hesitate to get a second opinion from a different urologist. I am disgusted with urologists. I go to two, at present, who do not even agree with their own partner. It's scary!

I read the original edition of 2005. There are a zillion books on prostate problems. I made my choice for the splendid reviews and freshest book, which had the word "complete" in its title. By the time you read this review, this book won't be that new anymore, unless updated, which should be done especially in the field of medicine these days. And let me advise you, contrary to some other reviews, this book is NOT complete.

Most readers will find this book helpful and indeed so did I. Not only on the disease problems, but on the dribbling of urine problem as well. However, I would have found it more helpful, if it included more information. Some information, I wasn't looking for personally, but others may. For example, the author reasons that he left out rare forms of prostate cancer, if these were prevalent one percent or less only. Sounds negligible, but in light of the prevalence of prostate cancer in general, even these rare forms of cancer effect millions of people.

Warnings on sexual performance drugs are incomplete. He warns against the usage of Viagra with nitroglycerin and says anything else will be basically fine. He left out the somewhat similar amyl nitrite ("poppers"), which is officially illegal to consume for that purpose, but considering reality, the doctor should have warned that the combined use may cause a stroke.

I appreciated the information on beneficial diet items for the prostate, such as cooked tomatoes, soy and green tea. (If you are interested in more, also for health in general, I recommend The Okinawa Way: How to Improve Your Health and Longevity Dramatically on the longest living people on the planet.) I also liked the information that many negative advice (what NOT to eat) as well as the amounts of what to eat or drink are either unproven or coincidence-prone on some past study with arbitrary amounts. As well as the very welcome information that too FEW ejaculations are bad for your prostate health. From a COMPLETE book I expected the evaluation not only of dietary and ejaculatory studies, but also of the "massage" studies. He briefly refers to manual massage as a placebo effect. (And doesn't seem to wonder about the potentially real reasons, why some patients adamently REQUEST them, always underscoring the usually rectum phobic notions...) Yet he completely leaves out any study on "natural" prostate massage. Meaning "passive" penetration, as in most likely homosexual intercourse. He doesn't seem to like that topic. Frankly, his opinion on this is irrelevant, he is a doctor after all. One who claims to present a complete book about the prostate. I was especially curious about those studies as some claim contradictory results. I learned NOTHING about them from this "complete" book.

If you are interested in a neutral (i.e. not exclusively homosexual) do-it-yourself prostate massage prevention, read the very flawed, but currently market niche filling Prostate Orgasm, Prostate Cure.

Which leads to the next gap. He avers, after procreation, the prostate would serve no useful purpose anymore, but become a setup for mischief. There is such a thing as prostate orgasm, which is equivalent from its source, in intensity and everything else to the female's g-spot orgasm, which most men will not experience, not even many homosexual men. I am surprised, that as an expert on the prostate gland the doctor has never heard of that.

Related to that, his statement that women don't have a prostate is a clear half-truth, as every organ in a male has an homologous one in a female. Sometimes, they are just called differently. This one is called, you guessed it, "g-spot" in females. Though it is differently developed enough not to cause equivalent problems as in males. Maybe that is precisely a reason to look into that issue for medical research...

And vice versa, every female organ has an homologous one in males. The uterus is not developed in males, but remains present, as the "prostatic utricle". This one isn't even included in the anatomy section of the prostate gland. Hardly complete. Frankly, I hoped to learn more about this one as well other than its existence.

Another criticism is his ambivalent stance on when it is considered worthy to treat men with prostate cancer. When they are too old or have another illness, treatment will not be of concern, even though one third of patients with the LOWEST cancer rate on the Gleason Score (50% of the next lowest rate) will die or suffer from metastatic cancer within 10-15 years. In the later part of the book he seems to be a bit more to disagree with that attitude than in the beginning. Let me make this clear: This attitude is prevalent in the US-AMERICAN flawed insurance system. It's not universally agreed upon not to treat some people because for one or another reason, they are not worth it anymore. That gets dangerously close Nazi Germany's attempted "folk economy". A couple of years ago the head of the biggest German political party's youth organisation had to resign, because he said that old people's hip operations wouldn't make any sense any more for the few years they may benefit from that.

Last no least for a 400+ page book, I started to feel bothered by the repetitious writing style after half of it. And once more, also a doctor should know that there aren't any races among humans.

So much for the criticism. Other than that, the book seems to be a winner on anything else concerning the prostate problems. But that has been highlighted by all the other reviews and I want to spare you any repetitions.