Articles

MEN’S HEALTH

Speaking of Prostate Cancer - Red Wine

Garden of Healing®

July 2007

It appears that red wine could be good for your prostate as well as the heart.

One well designed study found that men who drank four or more glasses of red wine per week saw a reduction in their prostate cancer risk by 50 percent. The same study saw a 60 percent lower incidence of higher stage prostate cancers in these men.

A glass or two of red wine per day appears to protect against prostate cancer.  No similar effects could be found with other forms of alcohol including beer and hard liquor.

Other research has studied the effects of resveratrol (the “active” ingredient in red wine) on several pathways of prostate cancer development. Most interesting was the change in the expression of a number of important genes in the PSA and AR (androgen) pathways. Resveratrol slowed down the proliferation and cell cycle speeds causing the cancer cells to take longer before they reproduce.

Studies on resveratrol have also demonstrated that it stimulated cell apoptosis in the prostate cancer cells, causing them to die.

Moderation is the key. Four to eight glasses of red wine per week, not all in the same day, of course(!), would implement the recommendations of the study.

Be sure that it is red wine you drink, as whites, blushes and other forms of alcohol did not demonstrate the same prostate protective effect.

© 2007 Garden of Healing®. All rights reserved.

MEN’S HEALTH

Your Prostate-Specific Antigen Test

By Mark Isaac Thyss

July 8, 2007

No information discussing prevention or treatment of prostate cancer should go without mentioning the PSA test. Your PSA test.

Many men don’t stay on top of their PSA testing, partly because they think they’re protected by eating right and/or taking supplements. This is a mistake.

The pervasive attitude that prostate cancer is simply more benign than other cancers is dangerous. While it’s true that the tumor is often relatively slow growing, sometimes it’s not. Don’t allow yourself a shred of false confidence. Know your PSA and what it means. Don’t be one of the ‘healthy eating types’ who simply waited too long to get tested.

Too many men let awareness of their PSA levels slide, and they depend on their doctors to spot any problems. If you miss even one year of PSA testing, things can change within short periods of time.

There are two standard tests used to diagnose for prostate cancer, the Digital Rectal Exam (DRE) and the PSA Test.

PSA Testing

Your doctor will perform a blood test measuring the level of prostate-specific antigen (PSA), a protein produced in the prostate gland that keeps semen in liquid form. Because prostate cancer cells produce elevated quantities of PSA, measuring PSA levels will allow your physician to detect cancer while it is still microscopic.

Unfortunately, the test is not accurate enough to definitively rule out or confirm cancer.

If either the DRE or PSA test suggests the possible presence of cancer, more tests will be performed to make an accurate diagnosis and plan of action.

Preventive Care Measures

Regular screening with the DRE and PSA exams by your doctor may help detect prostate cancer in the early stages, before it has spread. It is recommended that men between the ages of 50 - 70 should have annual DRE or PSA tests.

No matter how well you take care of yourself, if you don’t get your PSA tested annually and you don’t take responsibility for what that test shows, you could die. With the more aggressive type of prostate cancer, metastasis can occur at any point.

There are men who do all the right things, including Lycopene, green tea, lots of fruit and vegetables, yet who end up showing an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

No man should assume he is protected just because he’s been eating well and/or taking supplements. Know what your PSA is.

Remember, prostate cancer is still a leading cause of death in men, second only to lung cancer. Good foods and supplements can benefit your prostate, but your annual PSA test is essential. It’s a simple test that saves lives. Be proactive and discuss your results with your doctor, so nothing will be overlooked should there ever be a problem.

© 2007 Garden of Healing®. All rights reserved.

MEN’S HEALTH

Prostate Cancer
Seek the protection of Lycopene and Green Tea

By Mark Isaac Thyss
Garden of Healing®

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer found in men in developed countries. It is the most frequent type of cancer in American men. In 2002, more than 30,000 men died of the disease. The risk of prostate cancer increases rapidly after age 50, and the tumor is especially prevalent in Western populations.

Because the tumor is often relatively slow growing, most men die “with prostate cancer” as opposed to “of prostate cancer”. Even so, this form of cancer can cause significant suffering because of such symptoms as urinary retention and bone pain.

Due to the large impact of prostate cancer, there is great interest in new methods of prevention and treatment. For example, men can lower the risk of prostate cancer by drinking green tea and eating foods containing high amounts of lycopene.

No studies have assessed the appropriate age to begin lycopene supplement therapy. Such a study would be difficult to conduct; most lycopene consumption originates from the diet, a variable nearly impossible to control over long periods. Clearly, getting protection from the foods you eat is ideal.

The latest dietary guidelines call for five to thirteen servings of fruits and vegetables a day, depending on one’s caloric intake. The 5-a-Day message is now quietly changing to 5 to 9 a day, and this is supported in part by the National Cancer Institute.

In the case of heart disease, increasing fruit and vegetable intake by as little as one serving per day can have a real impact.

You can find lycopene in supplement form, but first start by eating lycopene-rich foods such as tomatoes, grapefruit and watermelon.

To investigate the possible joint effect of lycopene and green tea on prostate cancer risk, a case-control study was conducted in Hangzhou, China, with 130 prostate cancer patients and 274 hospital controls. Prostate cancer risk was reduced with increased consumption of green tea, and together, lycopene and green tea have an even stronger preventive effect than either component taken separately. Therefore, the protective effect from tea and lycopene consumption was synergistic.

Many studies suggests that habitual tea drinking can reduce your risk of many diseases, and as green tea is so simple to use, this is a good place to start.

So much information is available about the right things to do and foods to eat, but the central question remains, will you do any of them?

Let simplicity serve you; make one change until it has become part of your new regular routine. How about green tea?

Even though green tea comes from the same tea plant as black teas, they are not the same. Traditional black tea has been processed in a manner that removes the ingredients which work to reduce prostate cancer.

It is well known that Asian men have a low incidence of prostate cancer, and noteworthy, is that green tea has always been a part of their diet. Green tea is nothing new to the American diet; the new thing is making a change, any change.

It might be difficult to study, purchase and then integrate a number of new prostate-cancer specific foods into your diet, but making a cup of green tea is easy and it can go a long, long way to improving your health.

© 2007 Garden of Healing®. All rights reserved.