Now that the government panels and medical associations no longer recommend PSA testing, consider this: in the 1980s, before PSA testing, 50,000 men died annually from prostate cancer. In the 1990s, with PSA testing, 30,000 died annually. PSA testing saved 20,000 men each year (about 25,000 now) from slow, painful deaths from prostate cancer. And they are telling us to stop doing this test?
Consider: 50,000 prostatectomies are performed each year for prostate cancer, yet 40,000 of these surgeries are unnecessary. The numbers are similar for radiation therapy.
This is why mainstream medicine has retreated from routine PSA testing. Retreating into the past, meaning 25,000 additional prostate cancer deaths a year, isn’t the answer. Here is what you can do to protect yourself from undiagnosed prostate cancer as well as from overzealous doctors recommending unnecessary treatment.