Many men, especially those later in life have made the decision with their doctors to simply watch and wait. About 80 percent of men who reach the age of 80 have prostate cancer. At an advanced age, the risks of surgery for prostate cancer or other more radical treatments may actually be worse than the disease.
One prostate cancer symptom is difficulty starting urination or holding back urine. Having one or more cancer symptoms does not necessarily mean that you have prostate cancer. One of the most common symptoms is the inability to urinate, get checked right away.
The need to urinate frequently, especially at night is another symptom. There are other symptoms that may not be mentioned here. Some men will experience symptoms that might indicate the presence of prostate cancer.
A urinalysis may indicate if there is blood in the urine, which may or may not be related. A PSA test with a high level can also be from a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland. Another test usually used when prostate cancer symptoms are present is a digital rectal exam (DRE) performed by the doctor, proctologist or oncologist.
A chest x-ray may be done to see if there's a spread of cancer. A bone scan can indicate whether the cancer has spread or not. A number of tests may be done to confirm a diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer that has spread (metastasized) may be treated conventionally with drugs to reduce testosterone levels, surgery to remove the testes, chemotherapy or nothing at all. Since prostate tumors require testosterone to grow, reducing the testosterone level is used to prevent further growth and spread of the cancer. Medicines can be used to adjust the levels of testosterone; called hormonal manipulation.
Treatment options can vary based on the stage of the tumor. Besides hormonal drugs, hormone manipulation may also be done by surgically removing the testes. Surgery, radiation, hormonal therapy and chemotherapy all have significant side effects; know fully what they are before you proceed.
A new therapy is on the forefront that recruits the body's own immune system cells to destroy tumors that could become a new way to treat men with advanced prostate cancer -- if the FDA approves the highly individualized treatment. Side effects of chemotherapy drugs depend on which ones you're taking and how often and how long they're taken. The approaches to treatment include: just ever watchful waiting to see whether the cancer is growing slowly and not causing any symptoms.
The conventional treatment of prostate cancer is often controversial. Recent improvements in surgical procedures have made complications occur less often. Anyone considering surgery should be aware of the benefits, risks and the extent of the procedure.
Supplements that help any disease or ailment include vitamin B12 -- the methylcobalamin type not cyanocobalamin, and sub-lingual -- dissolves slowly under the tongue; and vitamin D3 - especially if you can't get a daily dose of 15 to 20 minutes of sun on your arms and legs so you can make your own vitamin D3. For natural treatment for the prostate make an appointment with a naturopathic doctor, called a naturopath; ask around for referrals. If you're not already doing so, make a serious effort to watch your diet closely.
For snacks, choose raw nuts without salt instead of lifeless roasted nuts. Studies done on antioxidant vitamins question their value when not contained in food; it's clearly better to consume these antioxidants in living foods because they may also need to work with other nutrients present in the foods to work properly. Many men have lowered their PSA levels by eating a diet of living foods.
Eat a lot of fruits and veggies every day, not just a token banana or apple. A good dietary, natural treatment approach is to avoid all acidic inflammatory foods; those are foods that aren't alive. Some foods and beverages to avoid that are inflammatory are: caffeine, salt, sugar, meat, dairy products, additives, soft drinks, white flour, white rice, alcoholic beverages, fast food, processed vegetable oils, and refined, packaged and processed food.
Evidence indicates that many patients detect cancer at an earlier stage because of annual screening, so make sure to get a good exam. The one thing that you should not do however is rely on information obtained from the Internet to make your final decision; double-check everything. Make sure to read everything you can about natural and conventional treatment online and offline.
One of the biggest risk factors associated with the incidence of prostate cancer is diet. The Westernized diet of red meat and saturated fat is thought to significantly contribute to the probability of an individual developing prostate cancer and so a prostate cancer diet should be started as early on in life as possible.
Men living in Eastern countries and especially Asia have a much lower incidence rate of prostate cancer than American men for example. This is possibly because Asian men eat a much healthier diet than most Americans. In addition, when Asian men relocate to a Westernized country the probability of them developing the condition gradually rises until it equals that of native men.
Hence, it would seem logical that the prostate cancer diet needs to contain all of the ingredients that are commonly found in an Eastern diet while cutting out the unhealthy saturated fats and simple carbohydrates that are found in so many Westernized foods i.e. fast foods, take-aways etc. This simple change in diet may have a tremendous effect on prostate health in general.
Researchers are currently devoting a lot of time to analysing the Eastern diet and trying to find out what it contains that makes it a good prostate cancer nutrition diet. So far the emphasis is being placed on two particular nutrients; isoflavones and polyphenols which are found in soy and green tea respectively.
Isoflavones are thought to stop the process of abnormal cell growth and so if ingested in relatively concentrated amounts can reduce the incidence of cancer which is, in simple terms, a mass of abnormal cells. They do this by inhibiting the effects of the sex hormones and in particular testosterone on the prostate gland meaning that it is less likely to become cancerous.
Isoflavones can be found in soy and so a prostate cancer nutrition diet should contain a larger than normal amount of soy products. Even if further research finds that isoflavones are not an effective prostate cancer nutrition supplement they are still a necessary part of the diet and should be included either way.
Polyphenols are also thought to hinder the growth process of abnormal cells so that tumours grow and form blood supplies a lot slower than normal. Polyphenols are found in relatively large quantities in green tea, another suggested ingredient for an effective prostate cancer nutrition diet. Just how much tea needs to be drunk for the polyphenols to have an effect is as yet unknown however researchers are currently trying to isolate the nutrient and make it more potent, meaning that less would have to be ingested per day.
Thus, it is possible to boost your immunity to prostate cancer by making a few changes and eating a prostate cancer diet. Start including isoflavones and polyphenols in your meals today!
Both Helen Hecker & Khim Lim are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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