Men encouraged to get tested during Lions Club prostate screening

Men from age 40 to 75 are being encouraged to get tested as the 17th annual Lions Club Prostate Screening initiative is set to take place on Saturday.

Past President Robert “Bobby” Reis is calling on men to stray away “from this macho feeling” as this is a serious matter which affects not only them but those in their circle.

“One of the things I realized is that when the men take this macho feeling that they’re not going to protect themselves, they actually put pressure on their loved ones. I mean, when you’re in pain, you can take a painkiller or a sedative and go to sleep but your loved ones don’t sleep. They’re worried about you.

“So, when men in our society take this attitude, this really asinine attitude, what they’re doing is it’s selfish because they’re affecting other people. So, I just want to appeal,” Reis said.

Prostate cancer is a growth of cells that starts in the prostate. The prostate is a small gland that helps make semen. It’s found just below the bladder. The prostate is part of the male reproductive system.

It ranks as the second most commonly diagnosed cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men globally.

Because of the fact there are no early signs of the cancer, Urologist Dr Dwayne ‘Baba’ Thwaites is adamant in early detection being the key.

“Prostate cancer itself has no symptoms at the early stages and if you have symptoms of prostate cancer, then it is already too late. So, it’s important for us to understand that screening is important and early picking up the disease, we can cure you of the disease 95% of the time,” Thwaites explained.

Testing will run from 7 am to 11:30 am and the two exams are being offered at the Lions Den.

Dr Thwaites is advising men to take both the blood and digital rectal examination.

Most times men defer from undergoing the digital rectal examination but according to Dr. Thwaites, this is a grave mistake.  

“It’s a little bit more sensitive than the examination but what we need to understand, there are entities where you don’t have an elevated PSA, but you have an abnormal digital rectal examination and that too will come back as positive for prostate cancer.

“If when you are doing the examination you find a mass, the only thing that you have to do after if you find a mass is go straight to the biopsy. If I do a PSA or the blood draw and it’s elevated, the teaching is you have to repeat that to be sure that it is an elevated PSA before you move forward to the biopsy. So,people must understand the only direct testing that you do that tells you go straight to the biopsy is the digital rectal examination.

“It is important that you do the two of them and what’s important about the two, the blood draw is about 70 percent sensitive in picking up prostate cancer. The digital rectal examination is about 40, 45, 50 percent sensitive in picking up prostate cancer and so, when you combine the two, you have a sensitivity of over 100 percent by doing both of them. One is less than 100 percent and the other is about 40 percent but the two together will give you more of a chance of making sure you get a good examination for prostate cancer screening,” Thwaites advised.

Registration begins at 7am and cost $35.