Health Watch is a Public Service of the Office of News and Publications and is intended to provide general information only and should not replace the advice of a medical professional. You should contact your physician if you have questions about any of these topics.

This week on Health Watch, we're talking about men's health issues. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and men with a family history of the disease are most at risk.

Dr. Yair Lotan, a urologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, says prostate cancer is highly curable if it's detected early enough. The best way to detect cancer while it's at its most curable is to be screened regularly. Beginning at age 40, men who have a family history of prostate cancer should have an annual digital rectal exam and prostate-specific antigen test. Men may not like going to the doctor or admitting that there could be a problem, but this is one situation where that kind of reluctance could be deadly.

 Next: A male health issue you may not know about.

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^June 2006

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