By Shaliza Hassanali
Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley yesterday said he was in the best of health after undergoing a battery of tests for prostate cancer and being cleared by his doctors.
With the results coming back negative, Rowley appealed to African men in T&T to get themselves tested for prostate cancer, a disease which has been claiming many lives.
Rowley made the announcement at yesterday’s post-Cabinet media briefing at the Office of the Prime Minister, St Clair.
He broke his silence about his health, following his ten-day trip to California, USA, where he undertook several tests and vacationed briefly. The US check-up was prompted after his local doctors did a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test done locally which showed his score was on the higher limit.
Yesterday, the PM said part of his yearly routine was to undertake physical checks-ups by both local and foreign doctors, adding that should anything be discovered “I would give my doctors and myself the best chance to respond.
“For me, it was a fairly normal arrangement, in that, for the last 25 years or so I have been trying to take good care of myself.
“I still expect as I serve as Prime Minister there is some element of privacy and dignity in this whole matter of personal health,” he said.
Based on Monday’s examinations, Rowley said his doctors have requested that he visit them in nine to 12 months.
He noted, however, although statistics showed African males were prone to such risks, many men would not subject themselves to the medical exam required.
He urged his African brothers “to not be so macho that you do not want to subject yourself to that particular bit of scientific data which requires you to get yourself examined on a regular basis once you pass age 40.”
But giving a personal example, he said he once reasoned with a political friend who had colon cancer and was dying that he should have undertaken tests to detect the disease earlier.
“And even at that stage he said to me, ‘nah, no man ain’t digging up my bottom like that.’ I couldn’t believe it,” he recalled.
He said early detection would allow one to get the best medical care either at home or abroad which would allow them to survive that crippling disease.
Having battled three elections in the last year, Rowley said he kept a disciplined approach by allowing himself to be checked by doctors.
Following a range of tests, Rowley said: “Today, I am pleased to announce that whatever concerns that I might have had, in the way that I may have had them, as part of the ongoing arrangement in me monitoring my health, I am pleased to announce that my doctors have pronounced me in good health … and I have no ailment… I have no symptoms which can prevent me from this point in time, from conducting the duties to which I have been assigned in Trinidad and Tobago.”
One way of keeping the disease at bay, Rowley said, was proper diet and regular exercise, which he had been maintaining, and regular medical examinations.
“I like to believe that I am a disciplined person. Over the years I have always tried to control my intake in terms of quality and quantity,” he said.
Asked if prime ministerial candidates should tell the population if they were medically fit, Rowley said: “I think the population needs to know that because if you are choosing someone to run the country you would want to know.”
What is the psa test?
Prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, is a protein produced by cells of the prostate gland. The PSA test measures the level of PSA in a man’s blood. For this test, a blood sample is sent to a laboratory for analysis. The results are usually reported as nanograms of PSA per milliliter (ng/mL) of blood.
The blood level of PSA is often elevated in men with prostate cancer. The PSA test was originally approved by the FDA in 1986 to monitor the progression of prostate cancer in men who had already been diagnosed with the disease.
According to the American Cancer Society:
Prostate cancer begins when cells in the prostate gland start to grow uncontrollably. The prostate is a gland found only in males. It makes some of the fluid that is part of semen.
The prostate is below the bladder and in front of the rectum. The size of the prostate changes with age. In younger men, it is about the size of a walnut, but it can be much larger in older men.
Just behind the prostate are glands called seminal vesicles that make most of the fluid for semen. The urethra, which is the tube that carries urine and semen out of the body through the penis, goes through the center of the prostate.
In the early stages, there may be no symptoms. But in the later stages, some symptoms of prostate cancer might include:
• Feeling the frequent or sudden need to urinate
• Finding it difficult to urinate
• Discomfort when urinating
• Finding blood in urine or semen
• Pain in the lower back, upper thighs or hips.
These symptoms may not mean you have prostate cancer but if you experience any of them, go and see your doctor. (Trinidad Guardian)
