Nineteenth Annual Prostate Screening at MPMC Nearly Breaks Record
9/19/2011
Nineteenth Annual Prostate Screening at MPMC Nearly Breaks Record
Three local physicians—Urologists Dr. Linga Vijaya and Dr. Adrian Ogle, and Family Practice physician Dr. Gary Smith—didn’t go home to spend the evening with their families after a busy day at their respective practices on September 14. They chose, instead, to assist with a free screening that may enable men in our community to spend more evenings with THEIR families. This is the nineteenth year that Maria Parham Medical Center has offered free complete prostate screenings for local men. Dr. Vijaya has been involved since the very beginning, and Dr. Ogle came to assist after opening his practice in Henderson a few years ago. Dr. Smith was a newcomer to this year’s event. Dr. Kirit Trivedi has helped for many years but happened to be out of town this year on the screening date. These three physicians, along with phlebotomists from Maria Parham, and other clinical staff members from Maria Parham and elsewhere, screened 174 men between 5-7 PM that evening. This number was second only to the number screened in 2009, which was 181.
Research says that men over the age of 50 should see their doctor once a year for a complete medical examination that includes a prostate checkup. The American Cancer Society recommends that men at high risk—African-American men or men who have a father, brother, or son diagnosed with prostate cancer before age 65—begin screenings at age 45. Men at higher risk—those with multiple family members affected by the disease before age 65—should start even earlier, at age 40.
According to the American Cancer Society’s website, prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer found in American men, other than skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in men, behind only lung cancer. One man in 6 will get prostate cancer during his lifetime, and one man in 36 will die of this disease. More than 2 million men in the United States who have had prostate cancer at some point are still alive today.
If you are a male who fits the screening criteria and were not able to come to the event this year, please consider calling your family doctor or urologist to make an appointment. Prostate cancer is much more treatable and the survival rate is much higher when detected early.