Preventing Prostate Cancer - What Every Man Should Know

Is there a way to prevent prostate cancer? This question is on the mind's of a lot of men, and for good reason. Prostate cancer affects nearly a quarter of a million men each year, so the topic of preventing prostate cancer deserves attention.

First the bad news...

Unfortunately, there is no medical evidence to date that shows how you can prevent prostate cancer entirely. In this regard, prostate cancer is like most other cancers affecting mankind. There's currently no way to prevent it entirely.

Now the good news...

While preventing prostate cancer may be out of reach, you can certainly do things to lower your risk. Namely, you can limit your intake of animal fats and red meat, get plenty of exercise, and eat vegetables on a regular basis (particularly those known to have antioxidant properties.

Dietary Factors

In medical circles, it is widely believed that a diet low in fat and rich with fruits, vegetables and grains may lower the risk of prostate cancer. Specifically, foods that are high in fat from animal sources should be limited. You've probably heard for many years that you should eat five or more fruit and vegetable servings per day. That rule of thumb still holds true today. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables and healthy grains can help lower your risk of prostate cancer.

While this type of diet may not help in preventing prostate cancer entirely, it can still lower your risks and make you healthier overall.

Antioxidants and Cancer Prevention

Antioxidants have become increasingly popular over the years, in tandem with new research that shows how beneficial they can be. Antioxidants occur naturally in certain foods, especially fruits and vegetables.

How do antioxidants help with preventing prostate cancer and other forms of cancer? Well, again, there is not evidence to support the possibility of preventing prostate cancer entirely. But antioxidants can play a role in reducing your risk for this and other forms of cancer. Antioxidants make the DNA within our cells more resistant to damage, which in turn can reduce the risk of certain cancers such as prostate cancer.

Past and current medical research suggests that lycopenes (a type of antioxidant) can lower the risk of prostate cancer. Lycopenes occur naturally in a number of fruits and vegetables [here's that fruit and vegetable plug again] such as spinach, oranges, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and various types of beans.

Preventing Prostate Cancer With Drugs

In the future, there may very well be a drug capable of preventing prostate cancer. But here in the present, that is unfortunately not yet the case. With that being said, there are numerous studies currently underway that hope to identify such a "miracle" drug.

Proscar is one of those drugs currently being studied. But does it help in preventing prostate cancer entirely? As is usually the case, Proscar research is still relatively young, so definitive answers on its capabilities are forthcoming.
Recent studies have shown that men taking this drug were approximately 25% less likely to get prostate cancer (as compared to men taking a placebo instead).

Regardless of early signs of promise, there is no current evidence that Proscar can prevent prostate cancer. Screening and Detection
Because the full-scale prevention of prostate cancer is still out of reach, proper screening is still the first line of defense. When cancer is detected early, the chances of successfully treating the disease are much greater.

* You may republish this article on your website if you keep the author's note below with the active hyperlinks left intact. Copyright 2007, Brandon Cornett.
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Brandon Cornett is the publisher of Prostate Surgery Center, an unbiased guide to prostate cancer and prostate surgery. Learn more about preventing prostate cancer and similar topics by visiting http://www.prostatesurgerycenter.com/

Prostate Cancer and Prevention

I recently attended a meeting of physicians, surgeons, research scientists and concerned individuals for the Pacific Prostate Cancer Conference. Representatives of Oregon Health Sciences University spoke about their state-of-the-art prostate cancer research department. Every man reading this article can benefit from the advances made in prevention, detection and treatment of this disease.

Let's begin with a brief review of our anatomy. The prostate gland is located around the bottom portion of a man's bladder and is positioned behind the pubic bone and in front of the rectum. The prostate's primary function is to produce most of the fluids in semen. Tiny ducts within the prostate convey this fluid to the urethra, the channel that drains urine from the bladder. This fluid is then released through the penis during ejaculation.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. It's estimated that by age 50, up to 1 in 4 men have some cancerous cells in the prostate gland. By age 80, the ratio increases to 1 in 2. So, your risk of prostate cancer increases as you age. The average age at diagnosis is 72.

Prostate cancer also is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American men. Yet unlike other cancers, you're more likely to die with prostate cancer than you are to die from it. On average, an American man has about a 30 percent risk of having prostate cancer in his lifetime, but only about a 3 percent risk of dying of the disease.

The risk of prostate cancer is dramatically higher among blacks, intermediate among whites, and lowest among native Japanese. However, this increase in risk may be due to factors other than those associated with race. Studies have shown a link between levels of testosterone and prostate cancer risk, with black men having the highest levels.

Symptoms of prostate cancer include frequent urination, inability to urinate, blood in urine or semen, or painful ejaculation. Frequent low back pain, burning urination or a weak urine flow are also very common.

There is another condition of the prostate known as Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia or BPH. This is basically an enlarged prostate with no cancerous lesions. Symptoms for this condition are similar in many respects to prostate cancer. For example, Prostate-Specific Antigen or PSA levels can become elevated in both BPH and prostatic cancer.

Chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery are the three most common approaches to treatment of prostate cancer. The selection of which method is used depends largely upon the extent of the disease. With the surgical removal of the prostate, there is an increased risk of osteoporosis similar to that of menopause in women. This problem is most often handled by using hormone replacement therapy postoperatively. Calcium and Vitamin D supplements have also been shown to be helpful in reducing this type of bone loss.

Natural measures for the prevention of prostate cancer include chemoprevention, changes in diet and lifestyle, and hormonal prevention. Chemoprevention is the use of specific natural or man-made drugs, vitamins, or other agents in order to reverse, suppress, or prevent cancer growth. Several agents, including difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), isoflavonoids, selenium, vitamins D and E, and lycopene have shown potential benefit according to studies. Further tests are needed to confirm this.

The herb, saw palmetto, was once thought to be the best natural supplement for prevention of prostate cancer. Recent studies lead researchers to believe saw palmetto to be much less powerful in its preventive effect.

A diet high in fat, especially animal fat, may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. So, reducing red meat, cheese and other dairy products, salad dressings, and gravies is a good step. Increasing the dietary intake of fruits and vegetables has been associated with a reduced risk of prostate cancer in some studies. Adding soy products such as tofu and soy milk can be helpful in regulating hormonal balance. Exercise, even just plain old walking, has been shown to reduce the incidence of prostate and of practically all other cancers.

Since prostate cancer has a link to testosterone levels, studies are underway to discover the role of certain drugs, such as finasteride, that reduce the amount of male hormone as preventive agents for prostate cancer.

If you think you have experienced any of the symptoms listed in this article, check with your health care provider. Early detection of prostate cancer is very important in managing its damaging effects.

If you would like more information on any topic discussed in this column or to suggest ideas for an article, you can contact me my website.
Jerry Ryan, Ph.D. is a Natural Health Coach who teaches individuals and group classes on the scientifically documented benefits of natural health techniques. He is also an internationally published author and has been a guest speaker at such places as NIKE World Headquarters. For more information, his website is http://www.JerryRyanPhD.com

Selenium May Help to Prevent Prostate Cancer

According to a federally sponsored study, published by a Stanford University urologist, men with abnormally low levels of Selenium in their blood are four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer. Selenium is a trace element that is supplied in certain foods and supplements.

The study suggests that making a point of eating Selenium-rich foods, such as Brazil nuts and tuna, or taking a Selenium supplement, may help reduce the risk of prostate cancer. Supplementation is especially useful for older men, as Selenium blood content has been found to decrease with patient age.

Although there are no solid statistics regarding exactly how greatly levels of Selenium in the blood are improved by supplementation, the head researcher of this study, James D. Brooks, MD is decidedly optimistic about the subject. He believes that supplementation has the potential to be of great benefit in preventing prostate cancer, but goes on to comment that more precise research is needed in order to discern exact statistics on the extent of those benefits.

Overall, the researchers who conducted this study believe that they have made some very interesting discoveries, and that increasing levels of Selenium in the blood can significantly reduce a patient's risk of developing the most common form of cancer affecting men.
Jeremy Maddock is the webmaster of Immune Wellness, your source for high quality information about Selenium and other health products.