Getting Personal With Our Prostate

An estimated one in nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. Though it is the second leading cause of cancer death among men, preventative screenings like a prostate exam can help catch the disease before it becomes fatal. A prostate exam is a digital or finger exam in the rectum to feel the prostate through the rectal wall where the size of the prostate is estimated. here’s what every man needs to know about a prostate exam:

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•It’s important to do a prostate-specific antigen blood test, which measures the amount of PSA made by the prostate gland, in combination with the rectal exam where a lump or a nodule in the prostate can be detected.

•Men over the age of 50 should have an annual prostate exam, but if you have a family history of the disease, the exam can be performed as early as age 40.

•During a prostate exam the doctor who wears a lubricated glove inserts his index finger into the rectum. He then palpitates the prostate from side-to-side a couple of times, taking a feel for nodules, bumps, lumps or a hard spot, in order to estimate the size of the prostate gland.

•A prostate exam, which takes only three to five seconds to perform, doesn’t hurt, though there may be a bit of discomfort.

• It is important to go for screenings because it is the only way to catch prostate cancer in the early stages and men usually don’t show signs or symptoms of the disease until it’s in a more advanced stage.