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Prostate Problem Guide
The Prostate Aging Problem And Prostate Cancer Prevention
There is considerable debate about the whole subject of the prostate aging problem and that part of the debate which is focused upon prostate cancer prevention is especially controversial.
Two facts however are certain and they are that there are a number of risk factors for developing prostate cancer and there is also a great deal that can be done, if not to prevent it, then certainly to lower the risk of developing it.
The first step on the road to preventing prostate cancer is to understand that you are at risk of developing the condition (about one man in six will develop prostate cancer) and to know just why you are at risk.
It is a simple fact that men with a family history of prostate cancer are at greater risk and a man with one close relative with prostate cancer is about twice as likely to contract the disease as a man without any family history. With two close relatives this risk rises to about five times that of someone with no family history and with three close relatives the risk of contracting the disease rises to ninety-seven percent.
Unfortunately many men are not aware of their family history, largely because many grandfathers and fathers have died from other illnesses and were unaware of the fact they have prostate cancer. This occurs because prostate cancer often develops late in life and can be very slow growing. As a result there is a good chance of developing other conditions alongside prostate cancer on which attention is focused and which ultimately causes death.
If you are not sure of your family history therefore, then a good starting point is to check into it if at all possible. If this is not possible, then it's a good idea to be cautious and to assume that you might be at risk, rather than assume that you're in the clear.
COWPER'S GLANDS: a pair of pea-sized glands that lie beneath the prostate gland, named after the English surgeon William Cowper (1660-1709). Cowper's glands secrete an alkaline fluid that forms part of the semen. This fluid neutralizes the acidic environment of the urethra, thereby protecting the sperm.
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION (ED): the inability to have or to maintain an erection; also known as impotence.
PSA RELAPSE-FREE SURVIVAL: survival of the prostate cancer patient that relates to no evidence of biochemical relapse based on a rising PSA as seen in 3 consecutive determinations; also called biochemical relapse-free survival (bRFS).
RECEPTOR: a docking site which interacts with a ligand; receptors may be on the cell membrane or within the cell cytoplasm or nucleus; estrogen receptors and androgen receptors are examples; all cells have multiple receptors.
Another important factor is race. African American men, and men of African descent, are at a greater risk than Hispanic men who, in turn, are at more risk than Caucasian men. An African American man has about a sixty percent higher chance of contracting prostate cancer than a Caucasian man.
Another important risk factor is diet and men living in Western countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom have a greater risk because of the high levels of fat in many Western diets. Here at last is one risk factor that you can do something about and reducing the fat in your diet can lessen your risk quite considerably.
Now, however, we begin to run into difficulty as, beyond the basic advice of reducing your consumption of fat, opinions start to differ when it comes to advice on other aspects of the diet which might be helpful in prostate cancer prevention.
Having said this, there can be little doubt that levels of such things as vitamins and minerals in your diet can have a significant effect on your health generally and will undoubtedly play a part when it comes to the prostate aging problem. However, determining just which vitamins and minerals play a part, and to what extent, is not an easy matter and is certainly a subject for greater and more detailed consideration.
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