You (men) hit 50/55/60 and you are getting your PSA checked to see if you have prostate-related issues, particularly prostate cancer. According to the ACS, men should explore the risks and benefits of the PSA test starting at age 50 if they are at average risk of prostate cancer and have at least a 10-year life expectancy, at age 45 if they are at high risk and at age 40 if they are at very high risk (based on family history.)

If your levels are high or rising, you probably will get referred to an urologist and if he is concerned he may order a biopsy of samples taken from your prostate to see if there is any cancer. If they do find something, in many cases they will go into the "active surveillance” period where they will probably have you retake PSA tests every 3 months, meet with the urologist at 6 months for a rectal exam, and maybe have more samples taken and biopsied in a year.

You'll probably start right away consulting Dr Google and speaking to your friends to see who knows what. You'll come up with many types of procedures and surgeries and treatments if you do have an amount of prostate cancer that requires something be done about it. The good thing about prostate cancer is that it is one of the most treatable forms of cancer if detected early. One of the challenges is that there are many different approaches to treatment of diagnosed cancer including, "traditional" surgery, cyberknife surgery, and cryo-surgery which involves freezing of the detected cancer. It can be mind-boggling to digest all the information out there, and doctors can be challenged when their patients show up to urology appointments armed with printouts from Dr Google research.

Aaron Katz, MD, is the head of Urology at Winthrop University Hospital on Long Island, NY. I've been listening to Dr Katz's 30 minute radio show for a couple of months now and find the information shared on that show to be very level-headed and "cutting edge" as far as I can determine. He takes a holistic approach in that he does not seem to be surgery-happy, though surgery is certainly part of a holistic approach if appropriate. He is knowledgeable about diet and nutrition and supplements that promote healthy prostates. It's an enjoyable 30 minutes of interviews with doctors and calls from men "of a certain age." The show is on WABC-AM radio out of NY at 7am Eastern Time every Sunday morning. Later in the day it is available as a podcast, which can be found at http://www.wabcradio.com/2013/08/21/katzs-corner/ You can also listen to podcasts of previous shows. Though the focus seems to be on prostate care, other subjects related to men's health are covered. It's a quick half hour that you or maybe someone you know could benefit from.