A peak scientific body (the US Preventative Services Tast Force) that reviews the evidence for many screening recommendations recently released their current advice on Prostate screening.
The following advice has been given to Doctors to consider:
“Prostate cancer is a serious health problem that affects thousands of men and their families. But before getting a PSA test, all men deserve to know what the science tells us about PSA screening: there is a very small potential benefit and significant potential harms. We encourage clinicians to consider this evidence and not screen their patients with a PSA test unless the individual being screened understands what is known about PSA screening and makes the personal decision that even a small possibility of benefit outweighs the known risk of harms”
What this means is that if you have no prostate symptoms and no family history of Prostate cancer then you should probably not have that ‘PSA’ test added to your routine blood tests.
Prostate symptoms include poor urine flow, difficulty starting, difficulty stopping (dribbling) and having to urinate overnight. These symptoms need investigation and should be discussed with your Doctor.
