The prostate is an important male organ that most men don’t think about until problems start showing up, bringing with them the risk of other issues. Without the seminal fluid your prostate creates, sperm would be undernourished and have little to no chance surviving as they leave your body, making any chance of reproducing remote.
While all men over 50 should talk to their doctor about screening for prostate cancer with a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, sometimes this isn’t done until prostate problems arise. At that point, getting screened to find out what’s wrong and what needs to be done is essential, and a PSA test is important for diagnosis.
An elevated PSA level can be cause for concern, and if your PSA levels keep rising, it can mean a greater chance of severe illness. To see what causes these levels to rise, let’s look at what the PSA test does, what causes high PSA levels, and what happens if they are unusually high.
Residents of the Fort Lauderdale, Pompano Beach, and South Florida areas dealing with prostate problems can find help with Drs. Craig Herman and Steven Kester and their experienced medical staff at the Urology Center of Florida.
Prostate-specific antigens are naturally made in your prostate, and those levels change with your age. They’re fairly low up to about age 50 (2.5 nanograms per milliliter of blood) and rise as you age, to 3.5 by age 60, up to 4.5 by 60, and up to 5.5 by 70. You generally get these tests starting at 50 every two or three years, with close observation and other tests done if the levels are found to be abnormally high or low. The test shows if PSA levels indicate prostate cancer. Blood is drawn and then analyzed, and the results are usually available in a week.
Higher levels don’t automatically mean cancer, but PSA levels higher than 4-10 mean a 25% chance of cancer, and over 10 mean a 50% chance of the illness. The higher your level, the greater the risks.
A number of factors can lead to higher levels, including other conditions that affect your prostate, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia (an enlarged prostate, which increases the number of cells creating PSA) and prostatitis (an inflammation of the prostate that causes the levels to rise). They can also rise due to urinary tract infections and even go up mildly after ejaculating. Prolonged biking also leads to higher levels due to pressure on the perineum, the area of the body between the genitals and anus.
Levels high enough for concern mean more screenings like rectal exams, transrectal ultrasounds, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or biopsies to determine if there is cancer. If cancer is confirmed, then the Gleason score is used to determine how aggressive it is and what steps should be taken next. These can range from watching and waiting if the cancer is low-grade to radiation therapy or surgery if it’s more advanced.
While there is no confirmed way to lower PSA levels, research suggests lifestyle and dietary changes may help reduce them. Such changes include:
A high PSA level doesn’t automatically mean cancer, but it does mean you should take care to prevent things from getting worse. Make an appointment with Dr. Herman or Dr. Kester at the Urology Center of Florida today to find out what your PSA levels reveal and how we can help.
