The MAN VAN will be rolling into Airdrie on September 14, offering free baseline Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) testing.

Ken Rabb, Man Van Program Manager, said the Man Van was started in 2009 to help men who are busy and don't get to the doctor as much as they should.

"We understand that men are notoriously bad for going to the doctor, seems that we only go if something is broken or bleeding, and so to have the Man Van on site and make it readily accessible, just makes it very easy for a man to go and learn these basic health indicators."

In addition to the PSA test, their will also be a blood glucose test, blood pressure reading, and a body mass index measurement. 

The PSA test only takes about 5 minutes and is able to detect protein that is produced by the prostate that is released into the blood stream; elevated levels could be an early indicator for the risk of prostate cancer.

"Everyone will receive their PSA results in the mail, they'll get them about a week after the test," said Rabb. "If it is elevated, we are going to follow up with a phone call, and the first thing that we tell people is that this doesn't mean prostate cancer, but it is elevated for your age group and you'll probably want to find out why."

For anyone who does show higher PSA results, Rabb recommends getting a second PSA test with your doctor for follow up.

It is recommended that men over the age of 50 should get a PSA every year in combination with the digital rectal exam.

Rabb said there is no appointment necessary, it will only take a total of 15 minutes out of your day, and if you aren't able to make it to the one on the 14th, there are over 200 testing sights around Calgary every year.

The MAN VAN will be available from 11 am to 2 pm, at the ATB Financial main branch located at 404 Main Street.

To learn more about the MAN VAN, visit www.getchecked.ca.