[Misc] Important for men aged 45 - 80 : Might save your life

[Westdene Seagull]

Thanks. I'm wondering whether it's better to get this blood test, or just go to your doctor for a digital examination.

Why not have the blood test and then if it comes back that you're at risk go for the digital examination ?

 

[Dolph Ins]

Thanks. I'm wondering whether it's better to get this blood test, or just go to your doctor for a digital examination.

Digital exam couldn't find mine. My psa was 6.4. Doctor said they don't get excited until double figures.

 

[Vicar!]

PSA may be unreliable but mine was raised. It was checked quarterly and rising rapidly.
Had IMRT rads, now all clear, twelve years out.
Still have half yearly checks as treatment was very new and experimental.

 

[Jim in the West]

As others have said, the PSA test isn't a reliable indicator. Get a rectal examination too. It's not necessarily pleasant, but it lasts less than a minute and it could save your life.

 

[sydney]

Why not have the blood test and then if it comes back that you're at risk go for the digital examination ?

digital examination is inconclusive ,......i had no symptoms whatsoever , dr gave me a right royal digitalisation .....sent me off for mri as a precaution.......it's an increasingly common ailment but one which is curable if got early.....

 

[Triggaaar]

Why not have the blood test and then if it comes back that you're at risk go for the digital examination ?

I don't know which is best, because I don't know enough about it. Is it a case that a low PSA would mean you just don't need to bother with a digital exam, because a low PSA would mean you don't need to worry?

 

[Dolph Ins]

I don't know which is best, because I don't know enough about it. Is it a case that a low PSA would mean you just don't need to bother with a digital exam, because a low PSA would mean you don't need to worry?

Like I said digital exam couldn't find mine and my psa was only just enough to get me a mri and biopsy where it was diagnosed.

 

[sydney]

I don't know which is best, because I don't know enough about it. Is it a case that a low PSA would mean you just don't need to bother with a digital exam, because a low PSA would mean you don't need to worry?

2.8 is low , i got sent off for precautionary tests , as it turned out if i'd left it till now i may well be ****ed.....your psa should be zero or pretty close to it.

 

[sydney]

Like I said digital exam couldn't find mine and my psa was only just enough to get me a mri and biopsy where it was diagnosed.

ditto

 

[Boroseagull]

An excellent post & I hope all take notice.

We are lucky in Spain, if over 65 all males have a blood/urine test each year and this is automatic. You receive a full print out of the results, 3 pages of them!

Also may I express my deepest sympathy for Lisa and her family. My daughter who lives in Suffolk is also 46 y.o. Her ageing parents (BS & Mrs BS) responded to the government advertising campaign run early this year and badgered her asking if she had been tested recently? Eventually she relented under pressure, went for a smear test and to cut a long story short endured a full hysterectomy within 6 weeks. A tumour of 20mm was discovered on her cervix, fortunately a resulting MRI scan shows the rest of her body clear.

I dread to think what may of happened if we hadn't kept on at her, because as she admitted, it's something that happens to everyone else - so please, a heart felt whether you are male or female if testing is available - do it!

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

Thanks for this. Don't the NHS offer the same? You get health checks when you reach 40, and they'll give you a reach around to check your prostate. I didn't realise they won't do a blood test.

You can get all sorts checked, but you may have to initiate. I get various things checked due to family history, but I have had arguments with GPs about this. Locums in particular can be utter pricks (snooty, asking me why I think I need x or y, quoting NICE guidelines at me, sometimes wrongly, and generally making me feel like I'm on the ear 'ole for something). And I have to initiate retests because the surgery never calls me in. And they screw up; I though there were checking my blood sugar (I was having 12 hour fasts) but found out last year they hadn't checked my blood sugar since 2003, despite taking blood samples (and testing for lipids only). I go to a big GP clinic (there are two in town and no standalone GPs) and you never see the same person twice. Often it's a nurse practitioner. It is pretty scandalous, actually. Preventive medicine is supposed to be the best sort of medicine, but saving money seems to be the order of the day.

Good thread, [MENTION=1365]Westdene Seagull[/MENTION]

 

[Albion my Albion]

Thanks for this. Don't the NHS offer the same? You get health checks when you reach 40, and they'll give you a reach around to check your prostate. I didn't realise they won't do a blood test.

It's not exactly a reach around. I'd call it a poke in.

 

[Albion my Albion]

digital examination is inconclusive ,......i had no symptoms whatsoever , dr gave me a right royal digitalisation .....sent me off for mri as a precaution.......it's an increasingly common ailment but one which is curable if got early.....

Think about this. How do you truly know he only used his digit. You were always looking the other way, correct?

 

[Wellesley]

Think about this. How do you truly know he only used his digit. You were always looking the other way, correct?

Because he only puts his cock in if you go private.

 

[HantsSeagull]

thanks - booked!

 

[Miximate]

Same organisation, this time with Burgess Hill Lions, offering testing at The Triangle, Burgess Hill, on 12th October

Did this test last time round when at the Sally Army Hall in Burgess Hill. Brilliant service and really easy being over before you know it!

 

[Weststander]

I had a prostrate check last autumn, as I had been concerned at weeing so much. Thankfully I got the all clear, but my doctor detected a possible issue in my lower bowel. After scans and endoscopies, it turns out that I had a huge tumour in the lower bowel. I had an 11 hour operation in London in February, imho life saving or least preserving my quality of life.

All thanks to that initial prostrate check.

Thank you NHS.

 

[BN41Albion]

Why 45+, out of interest? I'm between 30 and 40, can I book a slot or is it better to wait till I'm older?

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Why 45+, out of interest? I'm between 30 and 40, can I book a slot or is it better to wait till I'm older?

I'm only guessing here - I'm not a medic - but I assume 45+ is the 'sweet spot' ( can't think of a better term ! ) for prostate cancer. There's nothing stopping you booking a slot though - they don't enforce an age limit.

 

[BN41Albion]

I'm only guessing here - I'm not a medic - but I assume 45+ is the 'sweet spot' ( can't think of a better term ! ) for prostate cancer. There's nothing stopping you booking a slot though - they don't enforce an age limit.

Great, thanks!