Many men are upset about the recent decision by the United States Preventative Services Task Force, to give a Grade D to the PSA for prostate cancer screening test to detect the disease. PSA stands for "prostate specific antigen," and Grade D simply means to "discourage the use of this service."
In October of 2011, the United States Preventative Services Task Force invited the public to make comments on their decision to give the PSA test a Grade D. The response was overwhelming. Because there were so many coming to their website, they took it down. The public was not listened to and the recommendation became final in May, 2012.
Years ago before the PSA for prostate cancer screening became the gold standard for testing for the disease, 75 percent of those being newly diagnosed were already in a metastatic situation. At this point, the cancer cannot be controlled and continues to spread to the bone and other organs. The fear is that we will return to the 1980's death rate for prostate cancer.
The recommendation for PSA for prostate cancer screening to be downgraded to a "D" relied on a trial that was contaminated. Some of the control group members who were in the "not screened" group had actually received screening prior to the trial and that was not taken into account. The study was also ended after only seven years which was too short to properly get the best results.
Other trials have been more accurate because of a lack of contamination. The Goteborg trial studied 20,000 men who were between 50 and 64 years of age. They followed the patients for a period of 14 years. It was discovered that there was a 40 percent decrease in mortality in those receiving the PSA test.
Prostate cancer is slow growing and it can be cured if discovered early. The PSA for cancer screening test has reduced deaths from this disease. Research and funding are now going to be reduced. Cries from the public have been ignored up to this point. That does not mean that men should give up the fight. If the public does not fight back, there is no telling what other downgrades we will see in the future.
A great smart list1 H5
A great smart list1 H5
Thank you for your wise and great list. People have to take charge of their health and health screenings. There are times when men need to ask for PSA and digital too even though the latter is not a pleasant one.They save lives.
My wife loves to nag me about getting checked...despite my cries that the region is an exit only area. Since I am now over fifty, I'll have to have it checked out before long.
select one here...