Tag: PSA

Question: What’s every man’s favorite medical exam? Answer: Pretty much anything as long as it’s not the Digital Rectal Exam! I know a lot of men who stoically accept the fact that during their annual physical, their primary care doctor or urologist will perform a routine digital rectal exam (DRE). It’s sometimes jokingly called “the keep reading

In astronomy, news of a relatively rare alignment of heavenly bodies tends to generate excitement on planet earth. For example, over an 18-year period, only three or four total lunar eclipses will be visible from beginning to end (depending where you are and assuming the night is clear). I got excited over the convergence of keep reading

When was your last annual physical? If it was less than 12 months ago, skip the rest of this blog. However, if it was more than a year ago—and you don’t have an upcoming appointment on the books— ask yourself why you’re avoiding going to the doctor. Maybe it’s one of the following three reasons: keep reading

As the search continues for the perfect noninvasive diagnostic test for prostate cancer (PCa), investigators are exploring various ways to analyze urine. I want to describe three unique methods that are currently being tested. According to a Johns Hopkins article, dogs may have a new way to be man’s best friend. They can detect PCa keep reading

If you grew up in a northern climate, winter brought snow. As a kid, you quickly learned that some snow was good “packing.” This meant you could make a snowman. A snowman is built from the bottom up, and requires a very large ball as the base. You start with a small sphere, and roll keep reading

A multinational research team, including a urologist, radiologist and pathologist from UCLA, published a recent paper on the value of mpMRI for monitoring and reassessing low-risk prostate cancer patients on Active Surveillance... keep reading

High cholesterol is not your heart’s best friend, right? Everyone knows that! But what you may not know is the impact of high cholesterol on your PSA levels as well as risk of prostate cancer (PCa). As far back as 2014 we began posting blogs about the effects of statins—a class of drugs used to keep reading

Here’s a question you might not think to ask: Can I exercise my worries away? Specifically, if you’re on Active Surveillance for prostate cancer (PCa), what’s the best way to “work out” any anxiety you might be having? For cancer patients, or even people who have a weird symptom and think it might be cancer, keep reading

As far as we know, no one has yet come up with a better mousetrap. This is also true of screening tests for prostate cancer (PCa). As everyone knows, the current PSA (prostate specific antigen) blood test is not specific for PCa. It only registers increased activity/irritation of the gland. Yes, it could mean cancer, keep reading

Few things are more unsettling and stressful than a diagnosis of prostate cancer (PCa). It causes a state of anxiety. Each step of the journey sparks another wave of anxiety: suspicion, tests, diagnosis, choices, decisions, treatment, recovery, follow-up monitoring, and potential recurrence. These stressors trigger an immediate reaction: the fight-flight-freeze response. Most men can’t just flip a switch to let it go, but... keep reading