Prostate

Nice post Pippah. I have blood tests once every 3 months and I alway make sure PSA is included. They have to take the blood anyway. 

A lot of men are still too reticent.

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.

You are welcome NTH - just hope lots of chaps remember to get it checked properly - it's one of the easiest to cure if caught early. 

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.

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.

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

http://www.stressnomore.co.uk/prostate-disorder-test-psa-prostate-specific-antigen-9035.html?gclid=CJKNkryA1NECFSsz0wodAToBVA

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.

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

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

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.