Our Miami urologist Dr Fernando Bianco will be performing the prostate cancer screening exams for the AUA and NFL Player Care Association. As the Chief of Robotic Surgery for Columbia University Division of Urology at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach doctor Bianco knows the importance of early detection of prostate cancer. This includes starting a baseline blood test at the age of 40.

At 40 years of age you should get your prostate specific antigen (PSA) test done (a blood test) so that you have the amount of PSA that is in your blood to tract for the rest of your life. This very first PSA test is called your PSA baseline. As your life progresses, you will be able to compare the different PSA test results with your original baseline test. Watching the level of PSA in your blood is one of the determining factors that will help your urologist decide if you should have a prostate biopsy performed. Another aspect of your PSA levels that your doctor looks at is the rate that your PSA levels rise in each successive PSA test which is known as PSA velocity. Having a high PSA result can tip you off that there may be caner in your prostate. Prostate enlargement, prostatitis, aging, and even supplements can make your PSA numbers rise. That is why the American Urological Society AUA guidelines include many different factors that the urologists and their patients should look at before deciding to have a prostate biopsy. Some of the other indicators that are considered are a quick one minute digital rectal exam where the doctor uses his finger to feel the prostate to “see” if there are any nodules or unevenness to the prostate. Age is also taken into account along with family history, ethnicity, and medical history.

Mike Hayne’s “Know your Stats about Prostate Cancer ‘All-star team is full of the best stars in the history of the NFL, so in our next post, we will show you who they are. Of course this is Miami, and right now the best in the NFL are getting ready for the Pro Bowl kick off and the Miami urology team is off to watch the game.

Miami urology
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