“I’ll see how I feel next week.” “It’s probably nothing.” “I’m too busy.”
Sound familiar? In my experience, men are far more likely than women to put off talking about their health, and it’s often the small changes that get brushed aside for months, sometimes years, before anyone mentions them to a GP. I want to talk about one question I get asked all the time, by friends and by patients: why isn’t there a simple screening test for prostate cancer, the way there is for breast cancer with mammograms or cervical cancer with smears?
What is PSA?
PSA stands for prostate specific antigen. It’s a substance that shows up in the blood, and in some men it’s raised because of prostate cancer.
It sounds like it should be straightforward: test everyone, catch problems early. In practice, I don’t think PSA is a reliable enough test to be rolled out to every man regardless of symptoms, for two main reasons.
A normal PSA doesn’t rule out prostate cancer. Some men have a completely normal looking result and still have the disease. If we tested everyone, some of those men would be falsely reassured, and less likely to get checked over if symptoms did appear later, simply because the test was normal so everything must be fine. It may not be.
A raised PSA doesn’t always mean prostate cancer either. It can go up for all sorts of reasons that have nothing to do with cancer, including urinary infections, infections of the prostate, or even something as ordinary as a bike ride. We need a much better test for the men who go on to develop prostate cancer that isn’t picked up until later in life.
Where I do find PSA genuinely useful is once there are symptoms to investigate. That’s the context I would use it in.
Symptoms worth getting checked
My advice is straightforward: if anything in your waterworks has changed, it’s worth a conversation. That includes:
- Getting up more at night
- A change in the flow or strength of your stream
- Needing to go more often during the day
- Sudden urgency
- Dribbling at the end of your stream
- Any other waterworks symptom that doesn’t feel quite right, or that’s changed recently
If any of that sounds familiar, I would want to check your prostate and arrange a PSA test, then refer you on for further investigation if needed, whether that turns out to be prostate cancer or something else entirely. Either way, it isn’t something you should just put up with.
It’s not just prostate symptoms worth watching for
Prostate health is one part of a much wider point: men are more likely to notice something isn’t right and decide to wait it out rather than get it looked at. Alongside waterworks changes, other signs worth paying attention to include:
- Persistent tiredness
- Unexplained weight loss
- Changes in toilet habits
- New lumps or swelling
- Ongoing pain
- Breathlessness
- Blood in your urine or stools
- Simply not feeling like yourself
None of these need to become severe before they’re worth mentioning to a GP. Getting checked early, when something first changes, is what actually makes a difference.
Come and have a chat
At RevitaMed, we offer confidential Private GP appointments, health checks and blood testing, including PSA testing, in a relaxed, professional environment. There’s no need to wait until something feels urgent.
Please, look after your health. Know your body. Watch for the signs. Seek advice early.
