HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — This Wellness Wednesday, we're discussing a very serious topic for men. It's the importance of regular prostate cancer screenings. According to the Urology Health Foundation, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of male cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
Urology Health Foundation Administrative Assistant Jackie Holliday explained that the sooner prostate cancer can be found and identified, the better a person's outcome could be. "Early detection is the key for treatment. We see men that are age 40 and above or men who have a history in their family of prostate cancer."
This is typically how the process works. "The process in our clinic is to come in and we get some limited information relative to their name and address." After that, the organization will ask if the individual has a family history of prostate cancer or is on any particular drugs for their prostate. "Then we do a venipuncture. A lot of folks will call it like a blood draw. We draw some blood for our evaluation of PSA levels, and then they say the nurse practitioner who does a physical exam."
Furthermore, the good news is this process usually doesn't take long. "It's 10 or 15 minutes." The Urology Health Foundation travels to a variety of different locations around the state that are either underserved or don't have access to healthcare. The group also said that african-americans men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer as white men. "One in six men will have prostate cancer sometime in their lifetime."
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