What Are The Chances Of Developing Prostate Cancer And What Can Be Done To Prevent It?
October 17th, 2008 | by Clare |
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For many years now there has been a great deal of argument about prostate cancer and the subject of preventing prostate cancer specifically and this is still to some extent controversial. Although, as is the case with most cancers, men do not themselves cause their own prostate cancer, there are clearly various risk factors for developing the disease and there is a lot that can be done, if not to prevent it, then undoubtedly to lessen the risk of developing it.
The initial step in preventing prostate cancer is simply to understand that you are at risk of developing the disease and to know precisely what the various risk factors are.
There can be no question that men who have a family history of prostate cancer are at greater risk and that the risk for someone with one close relative having the disease is about twice that of somebody without any family history. With two close relatives the risk rises to around five times that of someone without any family history and with three close relatives the risk reaches an almost incredible ninety-seven percent.
One difficulty here is that many men are unaware of their family history, commonly because a lot of fathers, grandfathers or brothers have died from other illnesses without ever being aware that they had prostate cancer. This happens because prostate cancer will often develop late in life and can be an extremely slow growing form of cancer. As a consequence there is a good chance that individuals will develop other conditions together with their prostate cancer and it is these other conditions which ultimately cause their death.
Accordingly, if you are uncertain of your family history, then a good starting point is to check things out if at all possible. If this is not possible then it is probably best to err on the side of caution and assume that you might be at risk rather than assume that you are in the clear.
Another important factor is that of race. African American men for instance are at more risk than Hispanic men who, in turn, are at higher risk than Caucasian men. For an African American man the risk is about sixty percent higher than that for a Caucasian man.
Yet another risk factor is diet and men living in Western countries such as the the UK or the US are at increased risk because of the high fat levels in many Western diets. Here at last we have a risk factor that you can do something about and reducing the fat in your diet and eating things like more fresh fruit and vegetables can lessen your risk quite considerably.
At this point we begin to get into difficulty because, beyond the principle of reducing fat levels in your diet, opinions begin to differ when it comes to other areas of the diet that could be helpful in preventing prostate cancer.
There is little if any doubt that levels of such things as vitamins and minerals in your diet can have a significant affect on your health generally and will certainly have a part to play when it comes to your prostate health. However, determining exactly which vitamins and minerals play a part is not an easy matter and is a subject all of its own.
Prostate cancer is just one of a number of prostate health problems which many men will suffer from at some point in their lives and it is important to understand this range of problems and be able to spot prostate cancer symptoms and know what your prostate cancer treatment options are.