72

The turnout of 502 men for St. Maarten Medical Center’s annual Men’s Health Day deserves recognition. So do the Positive and Elektralytes Foundations, SMMC and the many partners whose sustained awareness efforts helped convince hundreds of men to get screened. Going from 150 participants the previous year to 502 is not simply a successful event. It is evidence that the message about men taking their health seriously is reaching the community.

But there is another number that demands even more attention: 72.

Of the 502 men screened, 72 recorded PSA levels of 4.0 or higher. That represents approximately 14.3 percent of all the men screened, or roughly one in seven. Fifty-seven recorded levels between 4.0 and 9.9, while another 15 recorded levels of 10 or higher.

Those 72 men MUST follow up.

An elevated PSA does not automatically mean prostate cancer. There are several other reasons PSA levels can rise, including an enlarged prostate, inflammation and infection. That is precisely why follow-up is so important. The screening identifies that something requires further investigation. It does not provide the final answer.

Ignoring an elevated result because a man feels healthy would defeat the purpose of getting tested in the first place.

For those whose elevated PSA turns out not to be cancer, proper medical evaluation can identify what is causing the increase and determine whether treatment or continued monitoring is necessary. For any man whose follow-up does lead to a prostate cancer diagnosis, discovering it early can make an enormous difference. Prostate cancer identified at an earlier stage is generally more treatable, giving men a much stronger opportunity to receive effective treatment and continue living full lives.

That is why families also have a role to play.

Wives, partners, children, brothers and sisters who know that someone received an elevated PSA result should encourage him to keep his appointment. Ask whether he followed up. Remind him. Offer to accompany him if necessary. Do not allow embarrassment, fear, stubbornness or the absence of symptoms to become reasons for avoiding the next step.

Men sometimes treat medical screening as the accomplishment itself. It is not. Screening only works when abnormal results are investigated.

The encouraging part of these results is that 502 men showed up. Hundreds of men made a decision that their health was worth checking. The Positive and Elektralytes Foundations, SMMC and their partners deserve credit because awareness campaigns clearly appear to be changing behavior. That increased participation may already have helped identify health problems that otherwise could have remained undetected.

It is entirely possible that lives will be saved because men decided to take a PSA test when they did.

Now the responsibility shifts to the 72 men whose results require closer attention. They have already taken the first step. They must not stop halfway.

Prostate cancer must be taken seriously not only by men, but by the families who love them. Getting tested matters. Getting the result matters. Following up when that result raises concern matters just as much.

Seventy-two men have been given a warning that deserves an answer.

They should get that answer.

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