JONESBORO, AR (KAIT) - St. Bernards and the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation
teamed up to provide free prostate screenings to the men of Region 8 on
Wednesday.
Men ages 50 to 75 were invited to come to St.
Bernards Auditorium in Jonesboro where there they were given blood pressure
checks, PSA blood test and a digital rectal exam.
Dr. J. Cranfill with the Medical Plaza Urology
says prostate cancer is something men should be taking seriously. "Prostate
Cancer is the number one cancer in men," Dr. Cranfill said. "It
is also the number two cause of death."
Dr. Cranfill says one of the biggest problems
when dealing with cancer are no warning signs. "The problem with prostate
cancer is it has no signs," Cranfill said. "As gentlemen get
older and our prostate grows may have some symptoms from getting up at night
and trouble going. That's an enlarged prostate, that's not cancer.
Cancer has no symptoms. So, the only way we're going to find it is
to get screened. If you can't get out here, then you need to make sure
you're seeing your doctor once a year."
Jonesboro resident Guy Patteson has been
attending the annual prostate screenings at St. Bernards for the past two
years. Patteson says he started getting tested when he first turned 50. "I'm
52," Patteson said. "The risk category, the age group, is 50
and older. So, this is my second time to come. It's sort of a
preventive, free exam."
Patteson says he feels getting screened is the
responsible thing to do. "You know, this is really physical, preventative
maintenance for men," Patteson said. "And when you have
organizations providing free community screenings like this, it's important to
take advantage of this free information."
Dr. Cranfill says the process of getting
screened is a quick one. "You can get in and out of here in 10
minutes," Dr. Cranfill said. "There is some paperwork that you
have to fill out. We have nurses from St. Bernards that are checking
blood pressure and then some young ladies that are drawing blood. Then
the rectal exam takes less than a minute. So, if you can get your
paperwork filled out quickly it's not going to take you long."
Dr. Cranfill says forewarned is forearmed. "Prostate
cancer has no signs or symptoms," Cranfill said. "It's not
something that you're going to see that makes you worry about it. You've
got to get checked."
For more information about prostate screenings,
log onto their website.
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