Explanation of PSA blood test in men by age

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Author of the article

Evgeniy Nikolaevich Konoplev

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The prostate in men synthesizes a large number of substances that affect the quality of sperm and the activity of the gonads. In case of serious diseases, the synthesis of these substances changes, which affects their concentration in the body. Therefore, to assess the activity of the prostate, the doctor may prescribe special tests that will show the concentration of a particular substance. One of the simplest and most effective methods for diagnosing the prostate is taking blood to determine the concentration of PSA in the body. But what is PSA anyway? How to donate blood for prostate PSA? And what rules should a person remember if he has been assigned this test?

Features of the PSA sample collection procedure

PSA is a glycoprotein produced by the epithelial cells of the prostate tubules. It is part of the normal composition of the secretion secreted by the prostate gland with ejaculate. A tumor marker test is a laboratory diagnostic method that uses it to determine the amount of prostate-specific antigen in the blood plasma. A healthy man is characterized by the formation of an insignificant concentration of prostate antigen; if pathological processes develop in the body, then its level in the blood increases.

Blood serum is collected for examination. Normal PSA concentrations in men under 40 years old are 2.5 ng/ml, over 40 years old - up to 4 ng/ml. This takes into account the amount of free and bound tumor markers in the blood.

Important!

The collection of biomaterial for a general and free dog occurs from one portion of blood using identical laboratory diagnostic methods. The preparatory activities for the study are the same.

The biomaterial is taken from the main vein in the arm. The optimal diagnostic volume is 2 ml. If dizziness occurs due to a period of fasting or an emotional factor, blood sampling continues while lying on the couch. At the time of blood sampling, the person should not be cold or languishing from the heat. It is necessary to wait until the body temperature becomes normal.

Test results can usually be collected within 1-2 days. Testing prices vary among clinics, but the accuracy and technique of performing a dog analysis are the same. This diagnostic method can reduce mortality from prostate cancer by more than 25%.

When is a PSA blood test prescribed?

It is worth knowing that in addition to standard preventive examinations, men over the age of 45 are given blood for PSA in the following cases:

• Suspicion of prostatitis, prostate adenoma, prostate cancer;
• Monitoring the development of an already formed malignant tumor in order to make fundamental decisions regarding its removal;
• Monitoring the effectiveness of antitumor treatment already received;
• Frequent urge to urinate and disturbances in the process of urine outflow (stream retention);
• Pain in the perineum, radiating to the testicles, anus, penis and/or sacrum;
• Presence of blood in urine or semen;
• Monitoring the patient's condition after removal of the prostate gland.

Important: not in all cases, an elevated level of prostatic protein is a sign of a malignant or pathological process, just like its low level. Deviations of antigen levels from the norm can be influenced by massage of the prostate on the eve of the test, taking certain medications, etc. If the patient is taking drug therapy, it is worth informing the attending physician about this before testing for a specific protein.

Physiological characteristics and diseases affecting changes in analysis results

Prostate cancer in the first stages is hidden and painless. More often , it is accidentally discovered during the diagnosis of concomitant diseases of the urinary system.

Factors that change the reliability of research results:

• Age of the man;
• Geographical place of residence of a person;
• Height above sea level;
• Climatic conditions of the area.

According to genetic studies, most men have a predisposition to an increase in the size of the prostate gland, which will be normal for the individual, but may fall within the critical average values ​​of the antigen level. Racial characteristics also suggest fluctuations in dog blood values.

Diagnosis of the effectiveness of treatment

PSA analysis allows you to determine the effectiveness of prescribed treatment for prostate cancer and predict the stability of results. Control is carried out according to the following criteria:

• After prostatectomy (on a localized cancer tumor), PSA in the blood decreases to 0.2 units or lower;
• A slower decrease in antigen levels occurs after radiation exposure. If after a course of procedures the PSA level decreases to a value of 1 unit, then a long period of remission can be expected (up to 5 years);
• If after radiation exposure there is a jump in the specific antigen, then we can talk about an upcoming relapse of the disease;
• If the PSA level is more than 50 units, then the development of metastases can be assumed, and an increase in this indicator to 100 units or higher may indicate the spread of metastases to distant organs.

What factors will influence the result?

Nutrition

To prepare for the analysis, your diet should be balanced and include the following foods:

1. Red and white lean meat;
2. Fresh seafood;
3. Sources of proper carbohydrates are cereals: oatmeal, rolled oats, millet, buckwheat;
4. It is recommended to include seasonal vegetables and fruits in every meal;
5. Dairy products;
6. Nuts are allowed as a snack;
7. Freshly squeezed vegetable and fruit juices, fruit drinks, jelly, green tea;
8. The volume of non-carbonated liquid consumed is at least 1.5 liters per day.

2 weeks before donating blood, you need to completely remove unhealthy foods from your diet:

1. Fast carbohydrates in large quantities (cakes, pastries);
2. Fast food, food prepared with the addition of large amounts of oil, mayonnaise, ketchup;
3. Canned foods, fried, smoked, spicy foods, saltiness;
4. Caffeinated drinks, strong tea, especially black varieties, and soda.

Smoking, alcohol

Doctors recommend avoiding alcoholic beverages 24 hours before donating blood; refraining from smoking 1-2 hours before. Carcinogenic substances change the quality of blood serum and affect the reliability of test results.

Physical exercise

It is necessary to stop active physical training, hard work in advance, and it is recommended to postpone sports competitions, as they may affect the result of the examination. If the work involves a strain on the body, then you should take the test during vacation, weekends, or take a few days off. It is worth paying more attention to sports that involve the torso and groin area. During cycling or horse riding, physical and compressive effects on the prostate gland are possible, so they should be avoided. At home, before donating blood, you should not rearrange furniture, push the car, or lift heavy objects.

Emotional stress

The psyche should be protected from nervous tension and stress. It has been proven that emotional shocks, long-term depression and apathy change the quantitative values ​​of dog levels in biological fluids. Anxiety due to the fear of drawing blood, preoperative stress is often accompanied by hyperventilation, which leads to a violation of the acid-base balance of the blood and distortion of the results of prostate tumor marker testing.

How to prepare for a PSA test

Preparing for the test is quite simple - the rules for taking it are the same as for all tests related to venous blood.

The main condition is not to eat or drink 8-12 hours before the procedure and arrive on time on an empty stomach.

It is best to contact the laboratory in the morning. There is no need to follow a special diet before taking the test. However, a few days before the test, it is necessary to completely eliminate alcohol. You should stop smoking just half an hour before the test. In the medical laboratory, immediately before the test, you are allowed to drink half a glass of water.

Medicinal substances

It is not allowed to take drugs that increase male potency (for example, Viagra) for 2 weeks. Most medicinal drugs enter into chemical reactions with blood components, which can significantly change the analysis values ​​(antibiotics, antipyretics, cardiac glycosides). It is especially worth stopping taking medications used to treat prostate adenoma (for example, Finasteride, Penester).

When does prostatic antigen increase?

The increase in the number of prostatic agents is provoked by the following factors:

• Prostate hyperfunction (increases, adenoma appears), an increase in PSA content is associated with an increase in the production of protein antigen by the gland.
• Inflammatory processes - with prostatitis, swelling of the glandular ducts prevents the passage of antigens into the liquid environment of the prostate, from which they are sent into the blood.
• The appearance of neoplasms - malignant cancer cells lead to the production of prostatic antigen, which binds to serum proteins. Such agents are called PSA tumor markers. They are considered the main indicators for determining the presence of a tumor in a malignant form in the early stages, when metastases have not yet sprouted and the structure of the tumor has not changed.

Prostate

Memo for the patient

Proper preparation for donating blood to a dog will ensure that you receive correct and accurate examination data. The information will help the doctor make a reliable diagnosis and prescribe the necessary treatment. If there are no contraindications, then the best option would be to plan blood donation two weeks in advance. During this time, you should adjust your diet and lifestyle in order to eliminate unreliable results.

To properly donate blood 24 hours before the test, patients should not:

• Exercise;

• Drink alcoholic beverages;
• Take medications. If therapy is necessary during this period of time, the situation should be reported to the attending physician.

A man needs to completely eliminate food after dinner and go to bed as usual. On the day of donating blood, you are allowed to drink about 250 ml of pure water without gas on an empty stomach. You need to get up in the morning several hours before the sample is taken. If you have a bad smoking habit, then abstain from cigarettes until the end of the sample collection. There should be no internal psychological discomfort or physical tension. Blood in hospitals is usually donated before 11 am, on an empty stomach.

Important!

If x-rays, endoscopy, and rectal diagnostics are scheduled on the same day, then you should donate blood first.

Video on the topic

About the PSA blood test in the video:

In conclusion, we can summarize that every man must undergo a routine preventive examination of the condition of the gland, at least once a year. If the patient has detected deviations in the functioning of the muscular-glandular organ, he is prescribed effective therapy.

In this case, a visit to the urologist should occur strictly according to schedule. Only in this way will a specialist be able to determine the effectiveness of the prescribed treatment, preventing the exacerbation of various ailments and pathologies.

When the urologist observes minimal signs of glandular organ dysfunction, then it is the PSA test that will display an accurate picture of a man's health status.

Why is preparation for analysis important?

If the rules for preparing for the analysis are not followed, the test will be false positive, which will lead to the appointment of a repeat test. It’s better to prepare for testing right away without errors than to waste extra time and money.

Immediately before the analysis, you should have 10-15 minutes left so that the body calms down after traveling, transport and climbing stairs.

Prostate cancer is one of the most dangerous malignant neoplasms. The disease occurs without visible symptoms and is difficult to diagnose. Even if a man’s tumor marker concentration is normal, but there are indications indicating a tumor, then he is prescribed a repeat dog test every 3 months.

The role of PSA in the diagnosis of male diseases

Specific prostatic antigen is transported into the prostate ejaculate. If the body is in a healthy state and the prostate functions correctly, then a small part of it is found in the blood. And the PSA is low. The corresponding analysis shows the number of nanograms per unit volume of blood (milliliter).

A nanogram is one billion less than a gram.

Various pathological processes provoke an increase in the weight and size of the gland and an increase in the intensity of PSA production. This increases the content of protein agents in the blood.

What to do to reduce PSA?

You can reduce the level of PSA in the blood at home; you do not need medications for this. You need to eat foods that help relieve inflammation in the prostate:

• Low-fat chicken helps slow down the process of prostate enlargement.
• Seafood and fish - salmon, tuna, herring, shrimp.
• Dark ripe berries and grapes prevent oxidation of tissues and glands in the body.
• Tomatoes, apricots and watermelons protect the prostate and other organs from inflammation thanks to a large amount of vitamins.
• Fresh pomegranate juice prevents the accumulation of cancer cells in the prostate and reduces the amount of protein in the blood. It is enough to drink one glass a day.

PSA study

In laboratory conditions, when a blood test is performed, the molecular states of the agent are taken into account. It can be bound or free. And the overall indicator consists of the sum of free and bound specific protein cells.

For a correct diagnosis, a general PSA analysis is important. What does this study show? It shows the association of the antigen and its free content. When the indicator is higher than normal, it is necessary to conduct a secondary interpretation of the analysis, which separately indicates the antigen in the free state and in connection with other substances. During a laboratory examination, great attention is paid to ensuring that all types of research are performed from a single sample of the patient’s biological material.