Health & Fitness

Many men are reluctant to have prostate exams because they think they are invasive and embarrassing. It is probably more invasive and embarrassing to ignore nagging health problems and be diagnosed when its too late to do anything. For someone who has been diagnosed with cancer, if they had had regular annual physicals, the cancer may have been caught in its early stages and his prognosis might possibly have been better. Of course, if you have already been diagnosed, there still may be a number of treatment options.

Dont Be Afraid of Prostate Exams
This sad case is often what happens and men alone arent to blame. Women put off annual exams, too. There is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to prostate exams. Doctors are trained to be efficient, professional, and gentle. Women go through more invasive testing with their annual PAP smears and even PAP smears are no big deal. There are studies indicating that thousands of lives have been saved with PAP smears and men should be just as vigilant with annual prostate testing.

Early detection can definitely save lives, so dont be afraid to have annual prostate exams. If there is cancer in your family, start annual exams at age 35. A blood test and what is called a digital rectal exam takes only minutes. The doctor has a chart so he can read the PSA, which stands for Prostate Specific Antigen in your blood. The great thing about this chart is that cancer can be diagnosed long before symptoms appear, sometimes years before symptoms would appear.

We should feel lucky that we live in a time where prostate exams exist and charts can be made to track prostate health. Every man is prone to prostate cancer regardless of family history if he lives long enough. Eating healthy, exercising, keeping weight well below obese levels, taking vitamins such as vitamin E, selenium, saw palmetto and calcium can also help. Prostate health herbal supplements are available as well.