This is a PSA about PSA via The Radio National Hour’s Michael Rowland. As he says below, it’s worth it.

Michael talked on the show last month about the lowering of the age that you can be tested for prostate cancer, meaning men in their 40s are now able to. The conversation included father-of-two Tim Weale who was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer at the age of 44 and Professor Damien Bolton (main image on the right of Michael Rowland), the President of the Urological Association of Australia and New Zealand. They both wanted to get the message out to men, particularly younger men, to get a baseline PSA as cases were on the rise.

You can listen to that conversation via this link: https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/the-radio-national-hour/psa-prostate-cancer-screening-age-set-to-be-lowered/105718814

After the conversation Professor Bolton reached out to Michael again with another story that demonstrates how sharing information can change, or save, a life.

A friend of the Professor who is a GP in Victoria listened to the interview. One of his patients was a 54-year-old man whose prostate cancer had already spread to other parts of his body. Realising the accessibility now of early testing this doctor encouraged the man’s brothers, both in their forties, to be tested. Both had prostate cancer but luckily in the early stages and treatable.

But this GP went a step further. As the men all had BRCA genes, a warning sign of cancer for men and women, he also got their older sister to do some tests. The tests showed she had breast cancer. She too is now undergoing treatment.

Professor Bolton told Michael that if his doctor friend hadn’t heard that conversation, on the radio, and was then inspired to take action, the future of that family could have followed a significantly different road.

As Michael said, the media can really be a force for good.

Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.