At Holistic Medical Clinic we strongly recommend that all men over the age of fifty have a prostatic check every year.
Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men over 50. There are over 10,000 deaths per year in the UK of prostate cancer, with 30,000 cases diagnosed each year.
Risks
- Age
- Family history
- Ethnic origin – particularly Afro-Caribbean
- Diet – saturated fats
- Obesity
- Lack of sunlight
- Low vitamin D3 levels
Exercise is an important prevention of prostate disease for instance an intensive exercise programme of 3 hours per week decreases the risk of prostate cancer by 75%.
Other relevant factors are metabolic syndrome and low Total and Free Testosterone levels, both of which may give higher risk to prostate cancer.
Diagnosis
Sequential PSA – any increase in the PSA of more than 2.ug/l over previous readings carries higher risk over the period of one year, of prostate cancer. Monitoring changes in PSA are relevant to the diagnosis of prostate cancer. A one-off PSA reading is not the best way of monitoring a man’s prostate health.
A new, more accurate prostate health check is now available, which is expected to replace the standard PSA test in the future. The test goes under the name PCA3 and looks at the DD3 gene (nucleic acid).
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)
BPH is a benign disease that affects most men in the Western World after the age of forty and will sometimes present with nocturia (frequent nocturnal urination, which often increases with age and with an enlargement of the prostate gland). BPH is a disease of the Western World and is related to diet, obesity and genetic makeup. A diet low in saturated fats and high in phytoestrogens seems to confer a very low incidence of not only prostate cancer but also BPH.
Preventative treatment for prostate cancer and BPH includes a variety of nutritional supplements individually tailored to meet the patient’s needs.