PR2005 Nov 17

NEWS BRIEF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Wendy Jones 205-391-2310

FREE PROSTATE SCREENING OFFERED AT UNITY CENTER

TUSCALOOSA – The Unity Center on the Fredd Campus of Shelton State Community College, in cooperation with Maude Whatley Health Services and the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, will host a free Prostate Cancer Screening on Wednesday, November 17 from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. No appointment is necessary. The Unity Center is located at 3401 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama ranks fourth in the country in prostate cancer mortality rates. In fact, the state’s death rate is 27 percent above the national average as about two men die every day from the disease. If prostate cancer is caught early, 97 percent of men survive.

The Drive Against Prostate Cancer is a mobile screening unit where local licensed physicians conduct a two-part screening procedure, which includes a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and physical examination. The screenings are conducted in a 39-foot Airstream Land Yacht XL, owned by Thor Industries and designed specifically for prostate cancer screening.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in American men. African American men have double the mortality of prostate cancer which is a significant factor in why Alabama is fourth only to Washington, D.C., Mississippi and South Carolina in the national ranking of death rates of prostate cancer. In Tuscaloosa, there will be about 62 cases and nine deaths in 2004. The National Prostate Cancer Coalition sets the standard for rapidly reducing the burden of prostate cancer on American men and their families through awareness, outreach and advocacy.

Organizations like the American Cancer Society and the American Urological Society recommend that men fifty years or older should be screened yearly. African American men, men with close relatives with prostate cancer and veterans who have been exposed to Agent Orange are at higher risk and should start screenings at age 40 or 45.

Additional information on NPCC is available at www.pcacoalition.org.

For more information on the free November 17 screening in Tuscaloosa, contact Carolyn Edwards at The Unity Center at 205-391-2648 or cedwards@sheltonstate.edu.

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