Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common kind of cancer in American men. Prostate cancer is cancer that starts in the prostate gland. The prostate is a small, walnut-sized structure that makes up part of a man's reproductive system. It wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body. Nearly 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. The PSA screening is simple finger stick test that can detect abnormalities of the prostate including cancer and prostatitis, an inflammation of the prostate gland in men. Because of PSA testing, most prostate cancers are now found before they cause any symptoms.
What is this Test for?
A prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigenin the blood. PSA is released into a man's blood by his prostate gland. Healthy men have low amounts of PSA in the blood. The amount of PSA in the blood normally increases as a man's prostate enlarges with age. PSA may increase because of inflammation of the prostate gland (prostatitis) or prostate cancer. An injury, a digital rectal exam, or sexual activity (ejaculation) may also briefly raise PSA levels.
Prostate cancer often grows very slowly, without causing major problems. Finding prostate cancer early and treating it may prevent some health problems and reduce the risk of dying from the cancer.
How do I know if I need this test?
Since the risk of prostate cancer increases with age, it is recommended that men have an annual prostate screening comprised of a PDA test and a digital rectal exam from age 50.
The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test is done to:
There are other causes of a high PSA level besides prostate cancer. After receiving a high PSA result, it is common to have more testing and then find that cancer is not the cause.
The symptoms listed below can occur with prostate cancer, although most of the time these symptoms are caused by other prostate problems that are not cancer:
What should you expect in your test?
Preparing for your screening is simple. We offer some helpful guidelines and our videos will help you understand what will happen so you can see that our screenings are pleasant experiences and something to look forward to. Our technicians are friendly and professional, and our screenings are painless. Even our blood screening tests, such as the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test only require a quick finger prick, which produces a small amount of blood to be tested.
What can I eat?
What equipment does HealthFair use?
Finger Stick
The finger stick is a test used that lightly sticks your finger to draw a small amount of blood to test different levels in your body. It assists in determining if these levels are too high, too low, or at a healthy point. We use the finger stick for various health screening tests we have at HealthFair, and send the samples to our private laboratories where they process them.
Congratulations! You’re ready to schedule your HealthFair screening appointment and, most importantly, you are on the road to better health. Thank you for reviewing the above information. We look forward to screening you soon!