{"id":1164,"date":"2008-12-09T19:06:02","date_gmt":"2008-12-10T00:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthnews.nchealthplans.com\/?p=1164"},"modified":"2010-06-23T21:19:26","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T02:19:26","slug":"prostate-screening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2008\/12\/prostate-screening\/","title":{"rendered":"Prostate Screening"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Prostate screening<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Detecting prostate cancer earlier rather than later<\/h3>\n

There are two tests utilized to detect prostate cancer before symptoms have developed: the digital rectum exam (DRE) and a blood test often called PSA. The test is called PSA\u00a0because it attempts to detect a substance produced by the prostate called prostate specific antigen. In the the DRE, a doctor feels the prostate through the rectum to find any particularly hard or\u00a0lumpy areas.<\/p>\n

The PSA results are analyzed in a lab and reported back to your doctor. It is possible (and frequent) that men will show elevated PSA levels but do not have cancer. In addition, many men with prostate cancer can show relatively normal levels of PSA. The digital rectal exam (DRE) can also miss some cancers; both tests in combination are better in accurately detecting and assessing prostate cancer.<\/p>\n

The only certain way to diagnose prostate cancer is through a biopsy, the removing of tissue samples (usually with a needle). Often, this procedure can be done in the doctor’s office under local anesthesia. The cells removed are then examined for cancer cells.<\/p>\n

Are there other conditions that can cause similar symptoms to prostate cancer?<\/h4>\n

Yes, definitely. Often as men age, the prostate will grow larger. Sometimes this growth will block or interfere with both urine or sexual function\u2014some of the same symptoms for prostate cancer. It is a fairly common condition called benign prostatic hyperplasia or more commonly, BPH.<\/p>\n

BPH is not prostate cancer, only an enlarged prostate. There are medications that can help treat BPH, and sometimes surgery is required to help relieve the symptoms.<\/p>\n

This content of this post is a reprint from an article in www.healthandwellness.com<\/a><\/p>\n

For more information on North Carolina health insurance<\/a>, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com<\/a> or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional authorized agents.\u00a0 Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina <\/a>through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina\u00a0(BCBSNC)<\/a>.\u00a0 You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health, call all our office for\u00a0details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Prostate screening Detecting prostate cancer earlier rather than later There are two tests utilized to detect prostate cancer before symptoms have developed: the digital rectum exam (DRE) and a blood test often called PSA. The test is called PSA\u00a0because it attempts to detect a substance produced by the prostate called prostate specific antigen. In the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[23,136,375,374,167],"class_list":["post-1164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mens-health","tag-bcbsnc","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-north-carolina","tag-prostate-cancer","tag-prostate-screening","tag-psa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1164"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3001,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1164\/revisions\/3001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}