For many years now there has been considerable discussion about prostate cancer and the subject of prostate cancer prevention in particular remains to some extent controversial. Even though, as is the case with many cancers, men do not themselves cause their own prostate cancer, there are clearly various risk factors for developing the disease and there is a great deal which can be done, if not to prevent it, then without question to lessen the risk of developing it.

The initial step in preventing prostate cancer is to understand that you are at risk of getting the condition and also to know exactly why you are at risk.

There is no doubt that men with a family history of prostate cancer are at greater risk and that the risk for a man with one close relative suffering from the condition is roughly twice that of a man without any family history. With two close relatives then this risk increases to approximately five times that of somebody without any family history and with three close relatives the risk reaches a staggering ninety-seven percent.

One problem here is that many men are unaware of their family history, frequently because many grandfathers, fathers or brothers have died from other illnesses without ever knowing they were suffering from prostate cancer. This happens because prostate cancer will frequently develop late in life and can be an extremely slow growing cancer. As a consequence there is a very good chance that individuals will develop other conditions alongside their prostate cancer and it is these other conditions which ultimately result in their death.

So, if you are uncertain of your family history, then a good point at which to start is to check things out if you can. If this is not possible, then it is probably best to err on the side of caution and to assume that you might be at risk rather than assume that you are in the clear.

The next very important factor is that of race. African American men for example are at higher risk than Hispanic men who, in turn, are at greater risk than Caucasian men. For an African American man the risk is roughly sixty percent higher than that of a Caucasian man.

Yet another risk factor is diet and men living in Western countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom are at greater risk as a result of the high levels of fat in many Western diets. Here for the first time we have a risk factor which you can do something about and reducing the fat in your diet and eating such things as more fresh fruit and vegetables can lower your risk quite dramatically.

Now, at this point we begin to get into difficulty because, after the principle of lowering levels of fat in the diet, opinions begin to differ when it comes to other areas of the diet which might be helpful in prostate cancer prevention.

There is very little doubt that levels of such things as vitamins and minerals in your diet can have a significant affect on your health generally and will without doubt have a role to play when it comes to your prostate health. But, determining exactly which vitamins and minerals have a role to play is not an easy matter and is a subject all of its own.