Prostate
Since it is in the news today - I thought I would encourage the chaps to make sure they DO get checked out properly. My brother had his annual medical a few months ago and he noticed there was no PSA test included in the results. On questioning he was told "we didn't think it necessary" but he said he wanted one. The results came back slightly elevated and he asked again what they were going to do - same response - only marginal nothing to worry about - being the man he is he wasn't satisfied and insisted on a biopsy. It was cancer - hopefully caught early enough he has now had the operation. But how many of you are happy with the "not necessary" or "at your age" etc etc. I think we all need to stand up for ourselves - I am so glad that brother is on the ball so to speak - my other brother would not have followed up I suspect.
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I have to go for a medical check next week, which includes a blood test, so I will enquire about a PSA, provided of course that I remember to ask. Thanks for the heads up, Pippah.
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So how do you go about having this check done? It's nigh on impossible to get an appointment at our GP even if you're ill.
When I was in hospital a few years ago with a kydney stone ('bed blocking' because, despite going in at 6am, they never got around to doing a MRI scan untill about 4pm the next day).
While there, a young lady doctor (possibly a trainee) came and asked if I would mind if she put a finger up my bottom. Being the gent that I am, I naturally agreed. But I've never had any other test done.
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Just ask your doctor for a blood test which will show the level of your PSA. If your doctor won't sanction it then tell them you're going to the toilet a lot more particularly at night and would like a blood test to check on your levels.
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I would have thought your surgery would run a test if you ask - but I see it's possible to get a kit for £15.99 to test at home - that website says men should test yearly after the age of 40 - so it's worth looking into for lots of you fellows. You probably wouldn't need a doctor for the test - at your surgeries a phone call should tell you though?
Test kits here but I know nothing about the company
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Dr Ablin, who discovered PSA, has gone to great lengths to explain that it on its own is NOT a test for cancer. It was a test to see if the prostate gland had been removed successfully. He has expressed dismay that the test has been 'hijacked' for commercial purposes.
This has been set out in his book, "The Great Prostate Hoax: How Big Medicine Hijacked the Psa Test and Caused a Public Health Disaster"
When I have asked about the PSA test, it has always been the same response. It is too unreliable (up to an 80% false positive) and unless there are very good reasons to suspect a problem, it is not offered.
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Uh Oh - not another of those - does Dr Ablin say what WILL help give an early diagnosis? As I said in the OP my brother's medics wanted to ignore his elevated PSA but the biopsy he insisted on proved he had cancer. I see in the news this week that an MRI scan is helpful but nobody is going do do that without lots of symptoms as there aren't enough people to operate those machines
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The test was to establish whether the Prostate was enlarged which is an indication that further tests might be required. I imagine that was not the case with you so no further action was considered necessary. Its incumbent us all to make sure we get the attention from our GP's that we need. Over a certain age you should have at least an annual check up which should include blood tests. If your surgery is not proactive in arranging such tests you need to speak to the Practice Manager to establish what the policy is. I just book my six and twelve monthly appointments online, usually a few weeks in advance of my visit.
David
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A good friend of mine died of prostrate cancer last year. On his deathbed he said to me "make sure you get a regular PSA test done".
So I asked my GP, who said that yes it could be done but if it came back with a raised result then the way forward would be to have a biopsy. He said that this would be intrusive to the prostrate gland and carries a risk of causing impotence and incontinence. And even then, he said the results are not 100% accurate.
So his advice was not to have regular PSA tests, but to just monitor function and only to go back if concerned. Meantime I just try not to think about it - typical male chicken lol.
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That's the response that I got from several GP's and practice managers both when I lived in Hampshire and here in Aberdeenshire.
An accurate, non intrusive test would be good.
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Clearly there are conflicting thoughts here - I agree non-invasive would be good although you chaps might keep in mind that the smear tests we go through are pretty unpleasant not to mention mammography! I am personally certain that prevention is a better and safer option than hoping for a cure too far down the track.
"If in doubt - check it out" might be a good watchword.
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The biopsy proceedure involves sticking a fairly large device up your bum and waggling it into position. It then fires a cluster of needles through the wall of your intestine, the intervening tissue and into the prostate, snapping back with a collection of tissue samples for analysis.
Clinical problem is that a tumour can be between needle positions and missed giving a false negative. Also, needles can rupture blood vessels and sperm duct as there is no way to target them, and there are all these holes in a far from sterile area to heal - or not as the case may be.
I think I prefer the young female doctor test myself.
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I Think I prefer the young female doctor test myself
Navigateur,
Back a little earlier this century when some kind
medics were doing regular Flexi-Sigs, colonoscopies
or similar on yours truly, I, in my ignorance, thought
when they used the term "Digital Tests", they were
just going to use a different type of camera
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I have to say Brian that, as the pain of the kydney stone was lapsing by then (and if you've ever had one, you'll know that the pain is considerable) the intervention by the young lady doctor was considered to be a not-unpleasant interlude.
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I have to say Brian that, as the pain of the kydney stone was lapsing by then (and if you've ever had one, you'll know that the pain is considerable) the intervention by the young lady doctor was considered to be a not-unpleasant interlude.
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A friend of mine had a very painful kidney stone. He was having to get up during the night to use the loo, so in the evenings he reduced his fluid intake, had his supper drink earlier to try and prevent having disturbed nights. The Dr said that because he was drinking less, his urine was stronger, and that probably caused the stone. The Dr's opinion was it was better to get up in the night, rather than getting a stone. As for the PSA test, it can be missleading.
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I was diagnosed with prostate cancer 7 year ago. I had absolutely none of the symptoms and it was only because I'd been reading about it in the news that I asked by GP for the PSA test during my annual check up. Luckily for me he agreed, The result came back with a PSA level of 12, should be about 2-4, and cancer was confirmed by a biopsy. Six months of tablets and 35 sessions of radiotherapy were successful and I'm clear now. The thing is the PSA check is about the best we've got right now , and in my case it probably saved my life.
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My husband had a routine medical for his railway job and they took him aside and told him he had a little blood in is urine sample and suspected kidney stone(s) they also did a PSA test because of this and it came back at 40 !! (normal is up to 4.5) He had absolutely NO symptoms at all of anything wrong. They whipped him in immediately for scans and biopsies and it turned out he had both, stones and cancer. The consultant told us with a level that high it was inoperable and he would certainly expect it to have spread but he was amazed that it appeared to still be contained. We are very lucky to have an excellent oncology department locally and he was immediately put on a clinical trial (that he is still on now) and he put him down for seven and a half weeks of radiotherapy too which he finished in november. We are still waiting for the outcome and he is still taking the medication but they have said that his last PSA blood test showed levels were 'negligible' so we take that as good news. He will now have very regular check ups and our son will have annual checks from his 40th birthday which is just around the corner, so possibly that blood test will save the next generation too.
It may not be infallible but it is better than nothing at all and a false positive is a worry but it would be much worse with nothing at all to give you a heads up.
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In England I have been having six monthly tests since I was about sixty because I had raised BP although controlled by medication. Every year I have a series of blood tests for sugar levels, cholesterol, liver function, kidney function, and PSA levels. It very much depends on your local Health Authority/Surgery policy but it would not harm to ask.
David
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