03/08/2026
This is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) on PSA testing and screening for men!
Many middle-aged men would have heard of the PSA test, and its relationship to prostate issues such as enlarged prostate and prostate cancer.
However, there’s much misunderstanding about this test and what its results mean. Or how beneficial this test actually is, and would large-scale screening of middle-aged men reduce the rates or deaths from prostate cancer, which is the leading cause of cancer deaths in men?
Interestingly, the scientist who found and identified the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) in 1970 as being related to prostate issues, a Dr Richard Ablin, spent 40 years trying to STOP doctors using the PSA test!
So what is this PSA protein, and what does it mean when you get tested?
PSA is a protein which helps the prostate gland to make the liquid which s***m are found in. EVERY MALE makes PSA! The theory was that if prostate cells make PSA, and that prostate cancer had more prostate cell making more PSA, testing for PSA could be a simple way of identifying cancer. This was an incorrect theory, however…
Dr Ablin found that testing for PSA works brilliantly, for only one group of men – those who were already being treated for prostate cancer! If PSA levels were dropping with their prostate cancer treatment, it was believed that the treatment was working. Or if PSA levels increased then it wasn’t.
But then doctors and laboratories started using the PSA test to screen HEALTHY men. It became a very routine test for men, to potentially catch prostate cancer early and treat it. But Dr Ablin called this “a public health disaster”!
Dr Ablin understood one thing better than all the doctors using the PSA test – that PSA is NOT a prostate CANCER test, but a prostate ACTIVITY test. And a prostate can be more active for a number of reasons other than cancer.
Also, data from many studies and public health statistics show that the increased screening of men for higher PSA was not actually reducing the number of deaths from prostate cancer. The death rates barely moved.
This meant one thing – that high PSA does not mean prostate cancer.
Healthy prostates make PSA. Enlarged prostates make PSA. Prostates with cancer make PSA.
Even men riding a bicycle will elevate PSA, due to the pressure on the prostate from sitting on the bicycle seat!
Or high PSA from inflammation. Or infections. Or a Urinary Tract Infection. Or from having s*x in the previous 24-48 hours before testing!
Another MAJOR issue of the PSA testing, is that many men have “normal” PSA test results, but still have prostate cancer.
Higher PSA just means “something is going on in your prostate”, but not what is going on. Hence the PSA test has some fundamental limitations.
Unfortunately doctors don’t seem to understand this, and if PSA levels are “high”, this can lead to expensive imaging tests such as MRI, invasive and painful biopsies, and potentially, unnecessary surgeries or toxic and damaging chemotherapy or radiation “treatments”, and all the costs and side effects of these interventions including impotence, erectile dysfunction, chronic pain, reduced quality of life, and more. Most of the limited number of cancers found from the PSA testings or screenings are not the faster or aggressive forms.
Another issue of the PSA testing – it’s surprisingly bad at finding the faster or more aggressive types of prostate cancer. It’s better for finding the slower and less dangerous forms.
Based on all the evidence from many studies on millions of men, the UK National Screening Committee voted AGAINST a national screening program for prostate cancer in men. They found that screening every man over 50 years of age for prostate cancer would cause more harm than good. Instead, they recommended screening only for men with a family history of prostate cancer and the BRCA gene mutation – yes this is the BReast CAncer gene, more typically used (badly) in women, but is also associated to prostate cancer in men.
If men have symptoms “down there” such as pelvic pain, erectile dysfunction or impotence, blood in urine or semen, unexplained weight gain, difficulty passing urine, repeated or frequent visits to the bathroom at night, then see your doctor! But be aware that the PSA test isn’t as good or accurate as you (or your doctor) thought.
Other blood tests can and should be used to help with identifying early issues with mens health, s*xual function, prostate function, and reducing risks of prostate cancer. But only if the correct tests are done and interpreted properly. This is where I can help!
Additionally I can help with finding and treating all the root causes and factors behind prostate issue, including prostate cancer, or helping with preventing prostate cancer in men.
Stay healthy!