According to the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) using the PSA blood test as a screen for prostate cancer causes more harm than good.
DR. JOE'S TAKE AWAY:
Forget the PSA blood test as a prostate cancer screen. It's worse than useless. I'm not getting it for myself and I'm not advising it for my patients.
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The United States Preventive Services Task Force delivered it's final ruling on the benefits of the blood test PSA in prostate cancer screening. They think the cure is worse than the problem.
Take Home Message: This blood test will do you more harm than good. Stay away from it. I'll revisit PSA in all its non-glory Saturday on the show.
Apparently 81 years old Warren Buffet has prostate cancer. This news is not as sad as it first appears. The chances that prostate cancer will kill Mr. Buffet is remote. Something else will long before then. What is sad is that a man as smart as Mr. Buffet let his doctors do the notoriously unreliable PSA blood test looking for prostate cancer. Why?
There is NO evidence that screening men older than 75 with a PSA test does them any good. What it does do is put them at risk for biopsies and treatments that can cause pain, impotence and incontinence. The realty is autopsies show 70% of all men who die in their eighties have cancer in their prostates. Meaning prostate cancer is common in that age group and it's of no consequence. Berkshire Hathaway's investors sensibly yawned. Mr. Buffet is mortal like the rest of us but his investors realized this is non-news. If only his doctors were as smart.
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