Health Hub: Don't Skip These Screenings

 

Gentlemen, you have a lot of responsibilities, manage a lot of moving parts, and take care of your home and family. But, are you taking care of business? Men often put off health screenings that could have enormous impact on their health. Two health screenings that could save your life are prostate and colorectal cancer screenings. When prostate or colon cancer are detected early, they can be treatable and beatable.

 

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. Typical screening for prostate cancer starts at 40 for African American men or men with a family history of prostate cancer at a young age. For all other men, yearly PSA screenings for prostate cancer start at age 50 and can continue until age 69. Symptoms associated with prostate cancer could also occur with benign conditions and may include:

 

• Problems urinating
• Blood in the urine or semen
• Erectile dysfunction
• Bone pain including pain in the hips, back, chest wall, ribs, etc.
• Weakness or numbness in the legs or feet
• Loss of bladder/bowel control from cancer spreading on the spinal cord

 

Screening for prostate cancer is so important for men because if it’s found and treated early, the chances of survival are very good.

 

For men of average risk with no family history, it is now recommended that screenings for colon cancer begin at age 45, with follow-up screenings every five to 10 years, even for people who feel perfectly healthy. You are at increased risk if:

 

• you are 45+ years of age
• you are overweight
• you are physically inactive
• you smoke and/or excessively consume alcohol
• you eat a lot of red meat
• you have diagnosed or undiagnosed Type 2 diabetes
• you have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis

 

 

Carlos Alemany, MD, is a board-certified medical oncologist who specializes in genitourinary cancers and breast cancer. Se Habla Español. To learn more information and to make an appointment, visit YourCentralFloridaDoctor.com/Oncology or call 407-988-2226.