Transcript
Carl Zimmer (0:00)
Chasing Life is supported by the World as yous'll Know It, a podcast about the forces shaping the future. In this season, host and science journalist Carl Zimmer speaks to some of the most respected scientists in the field of aging research about the massive changes in human longevity and what comes next. Is our lifespan set or will a breakthrough add decades to our lives? Can older brains be rewired to function like younger ones? Which so called biohacks actually work? The world as you'll know it is available now.
Hay Day Ad (0:30)
This episode is brought to you by Hay Day. Feeling stressed? Take a moment for yourself with Hay Day. Stroll through rows of golden wheat, tend to cute Barnard animals and discover the joys of a digital farm retreat. You don't have to hop in a car or catch a plane. Escape to the farm at the tap of a finger. With Hay Day, you're not just tending to a farm, you're tending to yourself. Hay Day Search Hay Day. That's H a y space D a y in your favorite app store. Hay Day is a free to play mobile game and offers optional in app purchases and rent random rewards.
Sanjay Gupta (1:03)
Welcome to paging Dr. Gupta, one of my favorite times of the week. Thanks so much for joining us. I get a chance to hear from you, which I really enjoy. I also get a chance to try and answer the health questions that you've been thinking about. And I just want to say thank you for sending in so many thoughtful, personal questions, timely questions. For example, you've probably seen the sad headlines. Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, stage 4 prostate cancer. Cancer that has already spread to his bones. It's tough news for sure. And he and his family were thinking a lot about them. We know that they are reviewing treatment options right now. It has generated a lot of questions about prostate cancer. And no surprise, I mean, one in eight men will be diagnosed in their lifetime. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. So let's try and get to as many of these questions as we can. Kira, who are we hearing from first?
Kira (2:00)
Hey, Sanjay, first up, our question is coming from Robert in Seattle asking who should screen for prostate cancer and when.
Sanjay Gupta (2:09)
Okay, Kira, thank you. And Robert from Seattle, thank you. This is really the crux of the whole issue. Who should be screened and when. And a lot of major medical organizations don't necessarily agree with each other when it comes to these recommendations in terms of when to start screening and perhaps most importantly, when to stop screening as well. Now, the U.S. preventative Task Force, they basically say Stop screening After age 70. That's the recommendation. Why? A couple reasons. One is that, you know, typically prostate cancers are slow growing. So if you're already in your 70s, the question is, will this prostate cancer be likely to grow fast enough to be a problem in your lifetime? That's sort of how they approach this. The second thing I think is the fact that the PSA test, the screening blood test, is not a perfect test. It has a high rate of false positive results, up to 70%, according to the American Urological Association. Someone whose results show elevated levels may then need a procedure, a biopsy, to rule out cancer. And most of those patients, the biopsy will come back negative. To give you some context, for people who get a biopsy of their prostate because of an elevated PSA, only about a quarter of them, 25%, will subsequently be found to have cancer. Okay, so that means for a lot of people, they got a procedure that really was not necessary, and they had a lot of concerns and anxiety and worry as well. But that is sort of an explanation as to why the Preventative task Force says 70 years old. Now, as I said, a lot of organizations don't necessarily agree with that. When we looked at all the various recommendations, I think the way that we sort of landed on this was to say that screening should start at age 50 for men who are at average risk of prostate cancer and should continue to the point where you're expected to live at least 10 more years. Now, obviously that's a hard thing to know, and that's why you should talk to your doctor about this. But if you still have at least 10 years of life, if you get into your 70s and you're healthy, no heart disease and no other cancers or dementia, you may say, look, I think I could live a long time still, or at least more than 10 years, I should continue to get screened. It's complicated when it comes to prostate cancer, but worth talking to your doctor about it. When it comes to Biden, for example, keep in mind that he's 82 years old. Average life expectancy for a man in the United states is about 76. But, you know, if you go into your 70s and you're pretty healthy, you may want to consider the screening. Now, the screening typically involves a physical exam, a PSA blood test. We know in the case of President Biden, he also had imaging which showed that the prostate cancer had actually gone to his bones as well. But again, just to reiterate, for most men, Robert, starting around age 50 and continuing till at least the point where you have 10 years of additional life expectancy. Hope that helps. All right, stick around because right after the break, we're gonna answer more of your questions, including how family history factors in and what role your diet may play in lowering risk.