The PSA Test
references from Harvard.edu and menshealth.com
The prostate specific antigen (PSA) test does not mean you have cancer if your score is elevated. A high score (anything above 4) could mean you were sexually active before the test, you were stressed before the test, you have inflammation in your prostate, your prostate is infected, or other issues.
There are many issues that need to be considered before you decide on surgery, other medical procedures, or alternative medicine.
One factor is, the normal range is the same for every man. This should not be the case! (Stress) Being Happy with your life compared to not liking your job and being in an unfulfilling marriage/relationship. (Weather) Living in northern Alaska and living by the equator in Kenya will have profound effects on your prostate. (Love Life) Being a celibate man verses a loving, sexually active man has a definite effect. (Nutrition) Living on a farm and eating your own healthy crop verses eating only fast food, factors into your prostate health.
At the center of the dispute is a simple glycoprotein (sugar-containing protein) produced by the epithelial cells of every prostate gland, benign or malignant. The prostate secretes a liquid when a man ejaculates and its job is to protect the semen, allowing sperm to reach the egg. Although PSA (the protein) is intended to protect the semen, some of it spills over into the blood, where it can be measured with a simple, inexpensive blood test. But even with a simple test, interpreting its results is not simple. And while the test is inexpensive (about $50), it can lead to high costs in dollars and health.
There are organizations that score the PSA test differently. There is the Gleason scoring system and the World Health Organization (WHO) scoring system. There’s also the Free PSA score. You can have 3 different scores analyzing the same blood. We will discuss the different scores in another article!
Also, an elevated level of glucose in your blood means your testosterone level is high. Young men have elevated testosterone levels but usually do not have prostate cancer. Being over 50 years old and having an elevated level of testosterone is not necessarily a bad thing (ask your smiling wife). Two key factors are exercising your prostate and using your prostate. Some suggestions are listed above.
Few could have anticipated the PSA controversy in 1966, when the protein was first identified with semen. It rapidly became a favored tool for law enforcement agencies, which used it as a marker for the presence of semen in cases of suspected sexual assault. The next important landmark in the history of PSA came in 1979, when doctors identified PSA in blood. Blood PSA levels were first used to screen for prostate cancer in 1987, and FDA approval for PSA as a screening test followed seven years later.
Most American doctors use 4.0 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) as a cutoff, accepting results below that as normal and higher values as abnormal. In fact, though, there is no true normal. For example, one important study reported that 17% of men with PSAs between 1.0 and 2.0 ng/ml had prostate cancer, and 24% of men with readings between 2.1 and 3.0 ng/ml had the disease. At the other end of the spectrum, about one of every four men (25%) with PSAs above 4.0 ng/ml have cancer. That's because benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), infections, inflammation, and other conditions can boost PSA levels.
Remember, a high PSA score does not mean you have cancer. It means to understand your body, exercise your prostate, eat and drink healthy items, reduce stress, get a digital rectal exam (DRE), and get a PSA test regularly (every 6 to 12 months).
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mens-health/the-new-psa-report-understand-the-controversy
https://www.menshealth.com/health/a25572402/psa-test-score-meaning/
Reggie Pittman is a prostate cancer survivor and runs the site MoundTan.com
