A trip to a hair restoration physician
may prove a life-saving measure for some men who would otherwise
elude the diagnostic eye of medical professionals.
Martinick Hair Restoration’s Dr
Jennifer Martinick said a hair restoration physician can be the first
port of medical call for men who generally avoided prostate cancer
screening.
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Dr Martinick said a routine procedure
at the clinics she consulted to was to ask all male patients over 40
to take the Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test before she
prescribed the hair loss medication, Finasteride.
While this had been routine practice
among medically-qualified hair restoration professionals for the
past decade, the PSA tests were not normally done in general medical
practice for men under 50.
Dr Jennifer Martinick said test results were
best used to show changes in PSA levels over time with sudden
elevations pointing to a need for further investigation.
A PSA level of 4.0 or below was
considered to be safe among men under 40, however in older men – 65
and above – a PSA reading of up to 5.5 was considered acceptable.
“Despite greater public awareness
about men’s health issues, a lot of men remain reluctant to go to
their general practitioner for regular health checks for things like
prostate cancer,” Dr Martinick said.
“It’s surprising how many men I see
who would never consider prostate screening.
“Prostate cancer is one of the most
common types of cancer in men, yet far too many men ignore the need
for screening.
“When diagnosed and treated early
these patients usually have a good recovery rate.”
Dr Martinick said the importance of
regular screening was highlighted at a clinic she consulted to when a
70-year-old patient’s PSA levels jumped from 5.5 to 8.9 within a
year.
The patient was immediately referred to
a urologist and a biopsy showed he had an aggressive form of prostate
cancer.
The cancer was enclosed in the
prostate, however it had progressed to a point where it was ready to
spread to other parts of the body.
“This situation highlights just how
important it is for men to be screened on an annual basis,” Dr
Martinick said.
“Despite the fact that we live in an
information era, many men remain unaware of the risks of prostate
cancer.”
Dr Martinick said in recent years 15 of
her patients, who showed elevated PSA levels in testing, were
referred to a urologist.
“I’m positive they benefited from
early intervention,” Dr Martinick said.
“In another incident a patient
developed a breast lump after taking Finasteride for six months.
“While increased breast size can be a
side effect of taking Finasteride, the patient was advised to have a
mammogram. This detected a pre-existing breast cancer which would not
have been detected if the patient hadn’t been taking the
medication.”
