Doctor reiterates the importance of having regular prostate cancer screenings

Mike Opelka kicked off his new segment Wellness Wednesday today on "Pure Opelka" with his long time friend, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Today they discussed prostate cancer, which kills 27,000 men a year.

After discussing the location and function of the prostate gland, Dr. Jorge assured listeners that prostate cancer is "very easily detectable" via the combination of the Prostate-Specific antigen (PSA) blood test and digital rectal exam.

Although the PSA sometimes yields false negatives, the doctor urged men to have it anyway. The test is only five dollars even without insurance, and in conjunction with the digital exam, it can save lives.

He and Mike emphasized that men must insist their general practitioner do the screening during annual exams. Prostate cancer is "slow growing," and there are many options for treatment including radiation, partial surgery, or complete surgical removal of the gland.

Dr. Jorge asked men not to risk their health out of fear. Mike channeled their mutual friend Whoopi Goldberg, who once said of the life saving exam: "Shut up, bend over, and live."

To see more from Mike, visit his channel on TheBlaze and listen live to “Pure Opelka” weekdays 12-3 p.m. ET, 7–10 p.m. ET & Saturdays 6–9 a.m. ET, only on TheBlaze Radio Network.