St. Bernards Medical Center will sponsor its annual prostate screening event on Thursday, Sept. 8, from 7 a.m. until noon at St. Bernards Auditorium.
The event is offered free of charge to men from age 50 to 70.
For more than a decade St. Bernards has sponsored a free annual prostate screening as a way to increase awareness of prostate cancer – and to encourage men to have prostate screenings and digital rectal examinations each year. Local urologists join with St. Bernards, and provide the DREs for participants. Blood is drawn for prostate specific antigen (PSA) testing.
Results will be mailed directly to participants from the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation.
For men who have a family history that includes prostate cancer, screenings should begin at age 40. There is a higher incidence of prostate cancer among African American men, and because of that, they too should begin screenings at age 40.
Free screenings will be offered on one day only. No appointment is necessary.
September is National Prostate Health Month.