The United States Preventative Services task force has made the recommendation that healthy men with no signs of prostrate problems should not be getting the P.S.A. screening regularly. The test, which detects prostate specific antigen, cannot determine whether the cancer it finds is life threatening or will ever develop to dangerous extents during the patients lifetime, however the treatment that can follow positive results could cause incontinence, impotence, and even death. Although many health professionals oppose this new recommendation, claiming the test saves lives, there are also many health practitioners who agree that the test does not decrease morbidity from prostate cancer but often does cause serious health problems.
