I don't have much respect for the man, a very poor PM, but I do now have some sympathy for Lord Cameron: he has prostate cancer.
A powerful article on prostate cancer
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You dont need to respect the man to respect the disease. Book a PSA if you are in the 45 to 50 year danger zone., and have repeat tests every five years at least.
My prostate gives me sporadic trouble. Definitely helps to avoid booze and stay well hydrated. About due for another PSA actually.This Guardian article on prostate cancer is well worth reading:
‘My father’s death saved my life’: director Steve McQueen on grief, gratitude and getting cancer
After his dad died at 67, the 12 Years a Slave film-maker knew it was only a matter of time before he would get prostate cancer, too. The disease kills 12,000 men a year in the UK – a disproportionate number of them black. Now, in a bid to save lives, he is speaking out about his own diagnosis...www.theguardian.com
For reference, I have an enlarged prostate and evident issues so it's actually somewhat comforting.
Get yourselves tested, guys.
I've had some good news on that front: my PSA level has gone down!
I don't agree with this decision at all.
news.sky.com
Sir Chris Hoy 'extremely disappointed' after national prostate cancer screening not recommended on NHS
The National Screening Committee (NSC) has told the government that screening is "likely to cause more harm than good".
I agree with you. Imagine the uproar if the same were done with breast scanning.
But the difference is the breast screening generally works, prostate doesn't. It's far too prone to false positives and false negatives. Screening high-risk patients is one thing, but screening all men over (say) 45 would result in loads of un-necessary invasive biopsies at the minimum. The PSA test simply isn't reliabble enough for a general screen.
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A medical scientist I follow wrote a blog post about this a few months ago, I can't remember the exact figures, but it was something like 100,000 potential false positives a year that would result in men receiving needless surgery and cancer treatment.
A positive result can be followed by a second check rather than immediate surgery or treatment.
I had several PSA tests followed by a biopsy when the PSA reached eleven followed by a second more rigorous biopsy then an MRI scan before any surgery or therapy was proposed.
Yes, but you're talking about massive increase in biopsys, which will likely have a small risk of false positives in itself, but also identify men with benign cancers that would survive just fine without surgery or chemo.
Surely with a biopsy the lab can make a decision on the likelihood that it is benign. Sounds a little better than do nothing.
Currently I am on a 12 monthly PSA which even after surgery is increasing. However I would be well over ninety and past caring at it's present rate of increase.
Plenty of men die with a prostate cancer it is preventing the early deaths that seems important and limiting a test to one or two genes present seems a bit cheap.
And how often do benign cancers turn malign?
I don’t know, maybe the specialists saying it’ll do more harm than good to test every man using PSA testing might know the stats?
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My father had prostate cancer but managed to catch it early enough to get it treated but lots of side effects from treatment but at least he's cancer free.
I do blood tests every 6 months and have been for years. It has a full biomarker profile including PSA and other related things - you can't afford not to look after yourself like this.
I do blood tests every 6 months and have been for years. It has a full biomarker profile including PSA and other related things - you can't afford not to look after yourself like this.
This is what I think I'll have to do. I think I'll start to do yearly tests from 40 so I can baseline it over time. Unfortunately for my Dad, when he had a test, his PSA was over 1000 and the cancer had spread.
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Sorry to hear that.
My father being nearly 80 is struggling with the side effects but actually is overall for his age doing ok.
Other than MSK issues because of sport I've *touches wood* never had so much as a cold so barely ever go to the Dr. Unless I need a referral for PMI (again mainly for MSK issues) - however whenever I do go there's always a prostate check in spite of my blood tests. And honestly, whilst it's not pleasant I'd far rather a professional check as sometimes a blood test may not always tell you the full story.
Where do you get your blood tests done? Do you buy home test kits, if so which? Bit of a minefield with home test kits as to which are going to be any good or not.
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I buy them from medichecks. I'm friends with the local practice nurse who can take the venous sample for me. Otherwise you have to pay a bit extra for someone to do it, or you can ask your GP's phlebotomist if they mind doing it. Don't try to do it yourself! I thought I could, was a bloody (literally) mess!
