Prostate Health & Disease
Prevent Prostate Cancer
Prostate Health Supplements
The prostate is an organ that sits snuggled up under the bladder.
Its biological purpose is to produce semen. As time goes on,
however, many men have an enlargement of their prostates, causing
annoying and sometimes painful urinary problems. The prostate is
also the number-one cancer spot in a man’s body.
These problems are not inevitable. They depend in part on what men
eat. Like so many other parts of our biology, the mixture of
nutrients we choose every day can encourage prostate cells to grow
into an aggravating mass or can help them stay put.
The bladder empties into a tube called the urethra, which passes
through the prostate gland, where it is joined by another tube
carrying sperm from the testes. Starting at about age 30, the
prostate cells alongside the urethra start to multiply. If this
continues, they can pinch off the urethra, causing a poor urinary
stream, dribbling, pressure, and, ultimately, infection and kidney
damage. Irritation of the urethra causes the urge to urinate and
repeated nighttime trips to the bathroom. It does not take much
prostate growth before the urinary symptoms begin. The technical
term for an enlarged prostate is “benign prostatic hyperplasia.” It
is not cancer, because these cells will not invade neighboring
tissues or spread to other organs.
By age 80, some cell multiplication has occurred in most men. Only
about half of them actually have significant enlargement of the
gland, and only a quarter have any urinary symptoms. In many men,
the prostate actually shrinks as they get older.
Mild prostate symptoms sometimes improve with no treatment at all.
In one research study, men with mild prostate enlargement were
followed for five years, by which time a quarter of them had
improved without treatment. About half stayed the same, and another
quarter had become worse. However, men with difficulty urinating
should not defer medical treatment because they can end up with
serious kidney problems, not to mention continued discomfort.
Doctors sometimes prescribe drugs to relax the pressure in the
prostate or to block the hormones that lead to enlargement.
Finasteride (Proscar) is in the latter category. It shrinks the
prostate and is well tolerated. In more severe cases, urologists
remove a bit of prostate tissue, which, with modern techniques, can
be done through the penis. The operation is called a TURP, or
transurethral resection of the prostate, and is very common.4 In
some cases, a simpler procedure that makes only small incisions in
the prostate (transurethral incision of the prostate, or TUIP) is
effective. A researcher named Burhenne developed a balloon device
for dilating the prostate (transurethral balloon dilation of the
prostate, TUDP) and actually tried it on himself. Similarly, other
researchers are trying out a transurethral laser-induced
prostatectomy (TULIP). Balloon and laser procedures are still
experimental.
Although male readers have undoubtedly crossed their legs by this
point in the discussion, a TURP is actually a fairly easy procedure,
particularly compared to treatments used in times past. The main
downside of the TURP is that, by eight years after the operation, up
to 16 percent have to be repeated.
Your Prostate Would Rather Be a Vegetarian
Changing your eating habits can help prevent prostate problems. The
reason is not hard to imagine. The prostate is under hormonal
control. In the prostate cells, testosterone is turned into a
powerful hormone called DHT (dihydrotestosterone), and DHT is what
drives prostate enlargement. This is the conversion that finasteride
blocks.
Foods can strongly influence sex hormones, including testosterone.
Could it be that cutting out meats and dairy products and adding
more vegetables to our plates could turn down the hormonal
stimulation of the prostate and prevent prostate problems? That is,
in fact, exactly what researchers have found. Daily meat consumption
triples the risk of prostate enlargement. Regular milk consumption
doubles the risk and failing to consume vegetables regularly nearly
quadruples the risk. Prostate hyperplasia is reportedly increasing
in Asian countries, paralleling the westernization of the diet that
has occurred in recent decades.
The meat-based diet that has become routine in Western countries and
is now spreading to other parts of the world encourages many
hormone-related conditions, and prostate enlargement is no
exception. Even if you grew up as a meat-eater, your prostate would
rather be a vegetarian.
By the way, the enzyme (5-alphareductase) that turns testosterone
into DHT is also found in the scalp, where it works mischief of a
different sort. DHT plays a critical role in baldness. Without it,
men will not lose their hair, no matter what their genetics may
dictate. DHT activity in the scalp may be subject to dietary
manipulation.
Nutritional treatments for prostate enlargement are being explored
by an increasing number of practitioners. The first step is a
low-fat, vegetarian diet. Physician and medical author David
Perlmutter, M.D., has reported success in reducing prostate symptoms
using the following regimen (all listed supplements can be found at
health food stores) in addition to a vigorous program of dietary
changes. Note, these are for prostate enlargement, not cancer:
* Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), a natural plant extract, taken in a
dose of 160 milligrams twice a day.
* Cold-pressed flaxseed oil, two tablespoons per day. If this causes
loosening of the stool, the problem usually abates after a week or
so.
* Vitamin E, 400 IU per day with food. Reduce to 100 IU per day if
you have high blood pressure.
* Vitamin B6, 100 milligrams per day.
* Avoid caffeine and keep alcohol consumption to a minimum.
Saw palmetto is extracted from a type of palm tree and has been
shown to prevent the conversion of testosterone to DHT and to reduce
prostate symptoms in clinical tests. The flax oil provides essential
fatty acids and vitamin E is used to protect the flax oil against
oxidation.
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