BRANSON –– More than 217,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed and another 32,000 men will die from prostate cancer in 2010, according to the American Cancer Society.
Modern methods of detection and treatment, such as regular prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood screenings, mean that many prostate cancers are now found earlier and can be treated more effectively.
Skaggs Regional Medical Center is hosting a free PSA blood screening, Thursday, Sept. 23, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Tri-Lakes Urology, located on the third floor of Skaggs Outpatient Center.
“It’s important for every man over the age of 50 to have a yearly PSA screening,” says Dr. Jerry Givens, Urologist with Tri-Lakes Urology. “I also recommend that starting at 40 years of age a man gets a baseline screening. This way we can compare it with his screening numbers a few years down the road and determine if there is a change in his numbers.”
Dr. Givens explains there’s no magic number, “It’s not the number we’re looking at – it’s the change in the number, so it is extremely important men get screened regularly.”
Skaggs Regional Medical Center is a 165-bed community-owned and supported healthcare facility dedicated to improving the health of all area residents.
Skaggs holds the highest national accreditation available for medical facilities from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and for five years in a row has been named a Distinguished Hospital for Clinical Excellence™ by HealthGrades®.
