The prostate gland is intimately involved in the health and wellbeing of any man. It is the most common problem impacting men’s lives for decades.
Reality is that the prostate function is not only is impacting men’s health, but it is also impacting the wellbeing of their spouses and family.
There are well known multiple factors that influence prostate health: age, family history, genes, ethnicity, as well as diet and lifestyle.
What we know is that the majority of men over 50 are starting to suffer from prostate enlargement also called Benign Prostate Hyperplasia (BPH).
These are basic questions every man over 50 should consider:
- Do you wish you could sleep without interruptions?
- Is your prostate effecting your intimacy and relationships?
- Are you always looking for the closest bathroom?
If the answer is yes, to any of these questions, it is time for a prostate health check. As prostate cancer is affecting 1 in 6 men, and 1 in 4 men of African descent, these symptoms also defined as Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUS) should not be neglected.
These are the Prostate Screenings every man should know about.
The prostate physical examination in the doctor’s office digital rectal examination (DRE) – unpleasant but necessary- is a first step in assessing possible conditions.
For more than 30 years, the Prostate Specific antigen (PSA) test has been the gold standard in prostate cancer screening. This simple blood test measures how much prostate-specific antigen is in your blood. Unfortunately, it is not very specific and cannot offer conclusive results.
In case the PSA values are higher (4-10) a new FDA approved blood test is used called Prostate Health Index (PHI) that assesses men’s cancer risk.(1)
The newest and most accurate test so far is Prostate Cancer Urine Test or PCA3 that checks a gene in your urine and can help better assess your prostate cancer risk. The practicality of this test is that it should be done in doctor’s office, after the doctor applies pressure on the prostate. It is painless and has a very high accuracy.
PCA3 is a prostate-specific noncoding RNA. It’s a gene that’s only in your prostate. If the gene is “overexpressed” (meaning there are too many copies of it), then there’s a greater chance you have prostate cancer.
Like PSA and PHI tests, this isn’t definitive, either. But data suggest that when cancer is present, the PCA3 will be positive 80 percent of the time. This test can also help your doctor determine whether a biopsy is necessary.
Both of these new tests are more accurate than the PSA test, and lead to less biopsies that can have serious side effects.
The University of East Anglia develops an experimental new test – ‘ExoGrail’-that assesses men before an invasive biopsy, the assumption is this test could reduce the number biopsies by 35%.(2)
According to the renown Royal Marsden Hospital that offers complete prostate screening privately, an initial 2020 study with 72 participants found that a new blood test can diagnose prostate cancer, and identify its stage, with 99 percent accuracy, but it might take many years before routinely used in practice.(3)
The dynamic field of prostate checks reflect the urgent need to focus on much neglected prostate health in order to avoid Prostate Cancer development.
A novel patent pending prostate care supplement developed and manufactured in the UK- Prostate360 – offers complete prostate care and urinary support for men at all ages.
“Men would benefit from taking care of their prostate health from the age of 50, before prostate enlargement starts causing symptoms that can get worse over time. Prevention is the best approach. I recommend PROSTATE360 for men over 50.” Dr N. Patel GP, BSc, MBBS, DCH, MRCGP
- https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/prostate-cancer/prostate-cancer-advancements-in-screenings
- https://www.uea.ac.uk/news/-/article/new-prostate-cancer-urine-test-shows-how-aggressive-disease-is-and-could-reduce-invasive-biopsies
- https://www.royalmarsden.nhs.uk/what-most-accurate-test-prostate-cancer