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PSA Test? AARP says "Skip it."

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Posted 4/1/2009 8:17 AM (GMT -5)
I am writing AARP today.....That is reprehensible advice and deserves condemnation. Thank you Cragman for this informative thread...
Diane
Posted 4/1/2009 10:29 AM (GMT -5)

Bob D said...
Yea well, now with the old congress and our new leader we will have "free" health care and I will be able to dump my $12,000 a year health insurance premiums. In my dreams.


realziggy said...



lifeguyd said...



Purgatory said...


P.S. I don't understand, it's almost like anti-PSA testing campaign going on in the media now, where before, there was a lot of push. The PSA test, we all know, is a simple, quick, blood test, non-invasive as far as I am concerned.


This is the same AARP who's support help pass a "flawed" Medicare part D legislation. Those laws were set up to provide millions, maybe billions of dollars in excess profit for the insurance and pharmaceutical Giants. While I appreciate some help with my drug costs, the plan was set up to benefit big business, not poor retirees. It never would have passed in that form without AARP support.


I too wonder about the irresponsible reporting regarding PSA tests. 30,000 lives a year is worth something.

It made no difference Dave, that was the bill passed through a republican congress. This was the same congress that forbid medicare negotiating a volume discount from the drug companies like the VA does. With ascent of a democratic congress in 2006 one of the first bills passed was correcting that scheme. The original bill would've passed without aarp support.

I have no idea what will happen in the future Bob. But in the past the republican congress did in FACT pass the supplemental drug bill with a stipulation that medicare could not negotiate a volume discount from the drug companies as the VA does. After 2006 with the election of a new congress that was struck down like it or not. Ask your party why they didn't allow that originally, don't blame the messenger.
Posted 4/1/2009 8:48 PM (GMT -5)
as we say "there they go again....". If you shouldn't get a PSA test why even go to the doctor until you are taken by ambulance. Are they saying you should throw caution to the wind... Just kidding but it pxxxxx me off hearing that we shouldn't get tested because it might not be perfect. What is?
Posted 4/1/2009 9:52 PM (GMT -5)
Realziggy I also do not know what will happen in the future. I do hope the current administration can straighten things out. However the policy of non negotiation with the drug companies while it may have cost medicare more, it pales in comparison to the amount of debt we are in now and will be for years. I will not be eligible for medicare for another five years and I fear that the benefits if they are still available will be greatly reduced. As it is, when I am 62 the social security I am entitled to will be reduced drasticly due to a policy decision from the Carter years. This money I will lose could have paid for my medicare supplement. As far as national heath care, I do not want anyone choosing which doctor will hold a scalpel against my prostate or any other body part. I want to do the research and choose a surgeon as I did for my prostate surgery and get it done when I choose. Getting back to the topic, I agree with most here feeling outrage at the AARP for such a statement. I have an application on my desk asking me to join and was ready to do so. I guess I will wait. After all I am still young, LOL.
Posted 4/2/2009 8:01 AM (GMT -5)
My most recent copy of the AARP magazine just happen to come in the mail yesterday, and I tore it into a million pieces before it ever made it to my house. Even my 81 year old mother mentioned the anti-PSA story to me on her own, and didn't understand why they didnt want men tested.

The group has seen the last of me.

David in SC
Posted 4/3/2009 8:47 AM (GMT -5)

mspt98 said...
smhair  The AARP article just puts salt in my wound I can tell you. So here's the deal, 30,000 men die from prostate cancer each year but the studies show no improvement for 10 year survival whether or not you have PSA testing. So my brothers that means it doesn't matter if we do surgery, radiation, cryo, proton, HIFU, salvage radiation, or chemo. It changes nothing.  It means if you get prostate cancer either you're going to die of prostate cancer or you aren't regardless of what you do.  No treatment helps statistically. It means the gleason scoring on the biopsy or stage is meaningless because nothing we do affects our final outcome, we are doomed to live or die from prostate ca without any control over this disease.  So lets forget about PSA testing all together. I am super pissed about this conclusion since I am now impotent and have to have injections for sex (I guess for absolutely no point) but there it is. If somebody else has another take on these numbers I'd love to hear it.......................BIG mistake looking for prostate cancer, better to not be tested

I am trying to find some fault with your logic and cannot. If I had my time back I would not have had the DRE. I guess the numbers also say that for those of us who have recently made the mistake of looking and have found prostate cancer, we are better off  not treating it. Can that be true ? Statistically it seems so, but can we apply statistics to the reality of the situation for those of us who have been diagnosed and are trying to make a decision on a treatment option?
Posted 4/3/2009 9:27 AM (GMT -5)
mjluke, i share the same frustration and anger that your post and the one from brother mspt98 posted, but we know in our heart it's not that simple. Death by cancer is not a pleasant way to go, regardless of what type of cancer. Not getting DRE's and PSA's is the worse possible form of denialism one could do, and I know we are each too responsible to act that way in reality. We don't always choose what life deals us, that's for sure, but we usually deal with it head on when it is all said and done. And anger based on loaded reports and statistics from other sources, doesn't help anyone dealing with PC. It is not their personal life they are talking about. Think of your own life, your own family, the things you like and love in this world, and only you can decide if they are worth fighting for. I get down on the whole thing myself, as this PC is cancer #4 for me, and I am only 56. My first serious medical bout almost took me out of this world when I was 28, as I was being taken to the ER in Dallas TX laid out in pain trying to hold onto my 2 week old daughter. I am twice that age now, and I beat that episode, and 3 other bouts of cancers not counting the PC. I consider myself a tough old bird, and I won't go down without a hell of a fight. Then when its really my time, I will be ready to leave this place in peace. That's my take, don't let ever changing numbers and opinions influence you or diminish the quality of life you do have.

David in SC
Posted 4/3/2009 9:31 AM (GMT -5)
P.S> And guys, go talk to the widows, the mothers and sisters, the sons and daugthers, of all the 30,000 men that die of this horrible disease every year. Think of the men that had agressive cancer and didn't know because they either didn't test, or didn't know to test, how many times would they beg to have a second chance to have had an early warning of their cancer. Sometimes, I think in this age of mass enlightment from the internet, we can know too much, get our heads too fool of data and facts and percentages, and lose sight of the real battle and what is really important. And for every opinion out there with PC, there is a counter opinion from another "sound" source that will contridict it. For you men, like myself, that have had treatment, bravo for us, at least we have sense enough to try to save ourselves.
Posted 4/3/2009 10:03 AM (GMT -5)

Purgatory:

Your last two posts seem to have disappeared

Posted 4/3/2009 10:07 AM (GMT -5)
My local urologist had another article in our paper today and I quote:"The American Urological Association has come out strongly in favor of PSA testing. Unlike some of the agencies questioning PSA testing , AUA members are largely practicing urologists who actually treat patients face to face. It is fine for bureaucrats to condemn PSA testing, but it is the urologists actually treating patients who have to watch a patient with advanced cancer die a slow horrible death. Is a human life worth less than the cost of a PSA test ?"

As one who found advanced prostate cancer because I took Arnold Palmer's advice and asked specifically for a PSA test, I think every man deserves the right to preserve his health. The treatment he chooses is no one else's business and should be supported by all of us. Our only responsibility is to try and impress the value of an educated treatment decision. It is sad that the medical community places the onus of prostate cancer treatment on the patient without first apprising him of all available options and side effects. I understand the time one must take to fully understand these treatment options and why the individual physician cannot economically assume the educational responsibility. This is why forums such as this are important.

Good day.
Posted 4/3/2009 11:39 PM (GMT -5)
I am with you purgatory. Ignoring cancer can lead to a painful and horrible death. I also had skin cancer. I do not mind the scar if it meant eliminating what would eventually get worse and fatal. Treatment is a call we all must make individually. I have no regrets.
Posted 4/4/2009 2:29 PM (GMT -5)

Purgatory said...
mjluke, i share the same frustration and anger that your post and the one from brother mspt98 posted, but we know in our heart it's not that simple. Death by cancer is not a pleasant way to go, regardless of what type of cancer. Not getting DRE's and PSA's is the worse possible form of denialism one could do, and I know we are each too responsible to act that way in reality. We don't always choose what life deals us, that's for sure, but we usually deal with it head on when it is all said and done. And anger based on loaded reports and statistics from other sources, doesn't help anyone dealing with PC. It is not their personal life they are talking about. Think of your own life, your own family, the things you like and love in this world, and only you can decide if they are worth fighting for. I get down on the whole thing myself, as this PC is cancer #4 for me, and I am only 56. My first serious medical bout almost took me out of this world when I was 28, as I was being taken to the ER in Dallas TX laid out in pain trying to hold onto my 2 week old daughter. I am twice that age now, and I beat that episode, and 3 other bouts of cancers not counting the PC. I consider myself a tough old bird, and I won't go down without a hell of a fight. Then when its really my time, I will be ready to leave this place in peace. That's my take, don't let ever changing numbers and opinions influence you or diminish the quality of life you do have.

David in SC

Good day Purgatory.It took me awhile to figure out what happened to your posts. I accidently put you on "ignore" and have just now figured out how to undo it. Thanks for your advice and I know that you are well- informed and respected around here. I agree that we all share the same frustration in relation to these latest studies and conclusions about postate cancer testing- very frustating and confusing for those of us recently diagnosed and trying to do the right thing.

Posted 4/5/2009 12:35 PM (GMT -5)
I think that AARP is probably controlled by big health insurance companies. Think about it, no PSA testing, no treatment. I'm sure it will save them billions. I'ts sad that profit probably motivated these surveys. My PSA saved me. I had surgery and I might need radiation. I hope it costs them a bundle in my case.
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