PSA Test is not effective

March 10, 2010

I read this in the New York Times, and found it very interesting

The Great Prostate Mistake

*

By RICHARD J. ABLIN

Published: March 9, 2010

EACH year some 30 million American men undergo testing for prostate-specific

antigen, an enzyme made by the prostate. Approved by the Food and Drug

Administration in 1994, the P.S.A. test is the most commonly used tool for

detecting prostate cancer.

The test's popularity has led to a hugely expensive public health disaster. It's

an issue I am painfully familiar with. I discovered P.S.A. in 1970. As Congress

searches for ways to cut costs in our health care system, a significant savings

could come from changing the way the antigen is used to screen for prostate

cancer.

Americans spend an enormous amount testing for prostate cancer. The annual bill

for P.S.A. screening is at least $3 billion, with much of it paid for by

Medicare and the Veterans Administration.

Prostate cancer may get a lot of press, but consider the numbers: American men

have a 16 percent lifetime chance of receiving a diagnosis of prostate cancer,

but only a 3 percent chance of dying from it. That's because the majority of

prostate cancers grow slowly. In other words, men lucky enough to reach old age

are much more likely to die with prostate cancer than to die of it.

Even then, the test is hardly more effective than a coin toss. As I've been

trying to make clear for many years now, P.S.A. testing can't detect prostate

cancer and, more important, it can't distinguish between the two types of

prostate cancer - the one that will kill you and the one that won't.

Instead, the test simply reveals how much of the prostate antigen a man has in

his blood. Infections, over-the-counter drugs like ibuprofen, and benign

swelling of the prostate can all elevate a man's P.S.A. levels, but none of

these factors signals cancer. Men with low readings might still harbor dangerous

cancers, while those with high readings might be completely healthy.

For the full article, click here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/opinion/10Ablin.html

J. Ablin is a research professor of immunobiology and pathology at the

University of Arizona College of Medicine and the president of the

Ablin Foundation for Cancer Research.

March 11, 2010

good post, and it true, I agree how on use less a psa test is. I have had

advance prostate cancer, for the last two years I have treated my advance

Prostate cancer with holistic alternatives treatment protocol (it works really

well.) I feel most men don't know, that the Blood PSA test dos not detect

cancer, It only detects the amount of PSA leaking into there blood. from

there very sick prostate. That getting PSA tested every few months wont save

there life, but a lack of sugary processed foods will. ( to me the PSA test all

it is is a marking tool.) I know that right now the only way doctors have to

detect cancer is with the prostrate biopsy. but that same prostate biopsy will

make there prostrate cancer worst. and put them in to a higher risk of getting

cancer metastasis. Ray

March 12, 2010

Hi they say Red Raspberries has ellagic acid which can stop prostate cancer

http://tinyurl.com/88mon

March 12, 2010

true.

The remark that your protocol work really well is crytic though and

not of much use to those who still are fighting the disease

>

> good post, and it true, I agree how on use less a psa test is. I have

had advance prostate cancer, for the last two years I have treated my advance