An interesting video that I first snagged as a BUPA advert shows a panel of experts discussing where diagnoses is going with further understanding of the human genome and sequencing thereof. They interview a renown liver surgeon who was diagnosed with stage four metastatic prostate cancer which shows that there would appear to always be hope, irrespective of you diagnoses With regard to the PSA test being described as “the oh so unreliable test” by one member, there are members contributing to this thread who are further down the path than the one I have quoted who are so thankful that a PSA test then triggered further investigation meaning that they are now unlikely to die from Prostate Cancer. So to that member I say, you are not even on the diagnostic pathway so get a grip and get yourself tested or shut up.
I tell you what, you decide which has financial priority, everyone gets a lovely rainbow lanyard or you get a new knee/hip or life saving prostate drugs? There is NOT limitless money, on that we can agree. I wouldn't give them a penny more, the only provision being and unpredicted 'bug'. A real one this time, even that can be made provision for in an emergency 'war chest'. Cut the waste, no more virtual signaling and get rid of all the inclusivity managers and their ilk. Unless you have very good reason for not paying in, disability etc. You nothing in get nothing out. Injure yourself doing something illegal and you pay your own way. I'm also happy to advise on crime and punishment...
One thing to bear in mind when reading the above NICE publications is their publication date approaching 4 years ago. From the video link I have just posted you will see that advancement in both treatment and diagnoses is advancing so fast that one of the guys was even predicting anti cancer vaccines within five years due entirely to the work done in combating Covid and there is the surgeon who is still operating 4 years after his stage 4 diagnoses.
You have no idea what you are talking about sadly. Plenty of options for private healthcare if you want to ensure you get all the help you want.
I've gone private for another reason, part of the 6 month blood test includes PSA readings. Perhaps money from gender reassignment could go elsewhere? Just a thought.
Re: NHS - who qualifies - at least we are all talking about it, which helps in itself but when it comes to people involved in budget allocation and spending that could make the difference between life or death, you could pay me a million pounds a year and i wouldn't take that job. Whichever way you chose to spend it, it's a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" decision.
So, not decided on a lanyard then? 'Plenty of options for private healthcare if you want to ensure you get all the help you want'. Agreed, please tell that to those that have zero (moral) right to the care. It's time to get back to first principles/core values. Who is the welfare system for? Who should get priority? As for private and getting the care I need, I'm approx £10k in paying for my own scans and guided nerve block injections, that figure will triple if I go ahead with the recommended surgery. What've had from the NHS is mind numbing pain meds, utterly ineffectual physio and after a 2 year wait a referral letter with no date. So yes, I have skin in the game and first hand experience of the shameful mess the system is in.
At least the abomination that was The Tavistock has been closed! As for the billions (their figures) wasted on sub-standard PPE that had to be destroyed, well that's a whole new thread.
Many thanks for this updated NICE information, however it doesn’t go on to say anything about NICE chasing Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine for an evidence submission. It makes you wonder whether they are or are they just sitting on their backsides doing nothing so that they can blame big pharma for not coming up with the goods?
Private healthcare is all very nice, when working I enjoyed the benefits of BUPA with a full MoT every year, thus relieving the welfare state of this burden whilst still paying my full “stamp” together with my employer’s contributions. However, when it has to be paid for out of your own pocket not everyone is able to do so.
I hardly think that making a factual comment on the PSA test based on what established sources say about deserved such at nasty response. You could have easily asked why I made that comment rather than immediately becoming unnecessarily nasty but I guess you have a lot of pent up frustration that you like to take out on strangers on the web. Always a sign of a balanced personality. If you had acted like a decent and well balanced individual then I would have responded: The NHS website states ‘There is a risk a PSA test result may not be accurate, and you may be offered tests and treatment you do not need.’ Macmillan state: ‘There is no UK national screening programme for prostate cancer. The PSA test on its own is not accurate enough to be used in a screening programme to diagnose early prostate cancer. It may falsely diagnose prostate cancer and may also miss some cancers. Some studies show that lives may be saved by PSA screening because it may lead to prostate cancer being diagnosed at an early stage. But they also show that screening may lead to: more invasive tests, such as a prostate biopsy, which can cause complications more treatment of slow growing prostate cancers that would never have caused serious harm. Treatment side effects include: urinary incontinence bowel problems or difficulty getting an erection. For a screening programme to be effective, the benefits need to outweigh the disadvantages.’ I personally find it rather discouraging that such a common cancer does not have a more reliable test - hence my throwaway comment that you found so offensive that you decided it was your right and privilege to attack me over. If you take a moment to think before spouting off in the future you might not sound so foolish.
Pharmaceutical companies are a profit driven entity with shareholders expecting a dividend. It’s in their interest to provide a drug that requires continuous consumption rather than a cure.
Yes Yes, I did find your throwaway comment offensive and potentially misleading to others coming to this thread anew. You've used the lame excuse that getting a doctors appointment and then convincing the Dr to give you a PSA test is the reason why you haven't got a grip and organised a test. As you are not even on the pathway you have no actual experience to substantiate your statements. Getting a doctors appointment, a hassle, really, do you not own a telephone? Convincing the Dr to give you a PSA test, you quote the NHS but you missed the point that being over 50 the NHS constitution states that you are entitled to a PSA test, even if you have no symptoms. So where is the hassle? Yes the PSA is not 100% accurate but that and the DRE, which will only confirm the size and texture of the prostate, is all we have at the moment but at least the result will mean that it stands a chance of being investigated further. That or you die in ignorance. "Some studies show" what studies? Yes more invasive tests, such as a prostate biopsy could give rise to complications. But such invasive tests would not be part of a screening program but part of a treatment program and would only have been triggered by a scan such as an MRI, not the PSA result, showing that there is something that needs to be investigated further . I strongly suspect that you are unaware that there are two types of biopsy that can be performed on the prostate. The one carrying the higher risk of further problems being carried out under a local anaesthetic and the other requiring a general anaesthetic. It is obvious which is the cheapest and therefore the most common, however there is a trend moving away from it not only on the infection risk front but also that the more expensive method allows better access to the prostate for taking tissue samples. Yes you can continue to live with untreated prostate cancer until you die of other causes, but until a tissue sample has been examined the decision to treat or not treat cannot be made. Yes treatment will definitely have side effects but your choice is simply have the treatment and live longer or do nothing and die younger. Your family members may well have something to say about that. So your "head in the sand" attitude could be interpreted as not having the guts to face the possible consequences of a positive diagnosis and for people so inclined I have no time whatsoever for.
You seem to have attributed passages quoted from specific websites as my personal opinion?? My point was that as someone googling for information for the very first time the information that immediately comes up is quite discouraging. I then quoted some of that information as an example. So imagine i’m speaking very slowly here - no - I don’t know much about it - I never claimed to. My ‘head in the sand’ attitude as you call it has absolutely nothing to do with fear of positive diagnosis. It’s due to previous negative experience with the NHS & the resulting psychological issues I have associated with interactions with my GP. I will attempt to wrestle with my mental block and then navigate the challenge that getting an appointment with my GP represents. No I can’t just pick up the phone and call them - this is actively discouraged. You may be lucky enough to be registered with a practice that treats patients like human beings - I am not. You could try not being so judgmental about others, as you have no idea what other problems they may have or how you might negatively affect them.
As I lamented above, I'm having to 'go private' and pay from my own purse to get the treatment I need. The difference between private care and the NHS is beyond staggering. For example, during my first consultation I was walked down to the MRI team and scanned the same day, then immediately back to the consultant to view the images. I have since taken out my own BUPA policy, sadly it doesn't cover pre-existing issues <2 years old. I've always been active/sporty and the idea of having to wait years for a new knee or hip (if needed) scares the life outta me. IIRC Wiltshire NHS won't even consider you for a knee until you're over 70. There's always the option of going abroad for surgery, which many are now doing.
