IF YOU’VE NEVER had a prostate cancer screening, you may worry that it will be embarrassing and uncomfortable. Doctors say that’s not the case, however. The tests are quick and essential for early detection of the disease. “It’s a very simple process,” says Paul Gittens, M.D., a board-certified urologist and founder of Rockwell Centers for Sexual Medicine and Wellness in Pennsylvania and New York City. “I think a lot of guys are anxious because they’re nervous that the results may indicate they have prostate cancer.” They’re also nervous about the infamous DRE (digital rectal exam), which docs say doesn’t always have to be part of the test.No matter how matter how worried you are about the test itself or the results, getting screened for prostate cancer is vital. “It’s something that you really want to detect early, and with early detection, treatment would be administered earlier, and survival should be at a higher rate,” Dr. Gittens says. Prostate cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death among men, according to the American Cancer Society. This year, the organization projects that about 300,000 new cases will be diagnosed, and 35,250 men will die from the disease. Black men are about 70 percent more likely to get prostate cancer. Often, getting screened just involves a simple blood test, and there’s not really anything you need to do to prepare, explains Felix Feng, M.D., a radiation oncologist at the University of California San Francisco and co-founder of ArteraAI.Finding the dise… Click below to read the full story from Men’s Health
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