Movember – what do you know about your prostate? Here is some basic information

Submitted by support on Tue, 04/24/2012 - 00:16

Movember – what do you know about your prostate?

Here is some basic information about:

  • the prostate
  • are the exams actually recommended
  • causes
  • enlargement versus cancer

  • what are the preventions and the treatment

The Prostate:

The prostate is a male organ that is the size of a kiwifruit, weighs about 11 gm; sits just below the urinary bladder and surrounds the urination or urethra tubes. Its function is to secrete a slightly alkaline milky white fluid that usually constitutes 20–30% of the volume of the semen with the spermatoza and seminal vesicle fluid. The alkalinity of semen helps neutralize the acidity of the vaginal tract, prolonging the lifespan of sperm.

Is Testing Recommended:

While some still promote prostate testing, most are not. Many expert organizations like the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the National Cancer Institute and the Canadian Task Force on Periodic Health Exams do not recommend PSA testing. Although the American Cancer Society recommends prostate cancer screening and wants to increase public awareness, the more frequent testing that they recommend has not been shown to prevent prostate cancer deaths. (The American Cancer Society no longer recommends testing, either.)

There are a variety of hypothesizes for prostate issues, whether enlargement or cancer.

1. too much testosterone – "In 2004, when my article in the New England Journal of Medicine was published, there were 15 of these longitudinal studies examining the relationship of hormones and prostate cancer. Since 2004, there have been approximately a half-dozen more. Not one has shown any direct relationship between the level of total testosterone in a man's blood and the subsequent likelihood that he will develop prostate cancer." http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/16/rudi-moerck-on-prostate-ealth.aspx#_=1321226033993&count=horizontal&dnt=&id=twitter&lang=en&original_referer=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.mercola.com%2Fsites%2Farticles%2Farchive%2F2011%2F07%2F16%2Frudi-moerck-on-prostate-health.aspx&related=mercola%3AFollow%20Dr.%20Mercola%20for%20natural%20health%20tips!&text=Saw%20Palmetto%20%7C%20Nutrients%20for%20Prostate%20Health&url=http%3A%2F%2Farticles.mercola.com%2Fsites%2Farticles%2Farchive%2F2011%2F07%2F16%2Frudi-moerck-on-prostate-health.aspx&via=mercola

2. too much DHT (dihydrotestosterone) : the testosterone breakdown product. Abraham Morgentaler's report Destroying the Myth About Testosterone Replacement and Prostate Cancer.

3. too much estrogens: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17786930

Cancer:

Bonnie Liebman, a Nutritionist writes about "Death, taxes... and prostate cancer...," a comment on the prevalence of prostate cancer in our population. Statistics on individuals with pre-cancerous cells, reveal that more than 3/4 of men over the age of 8o show evidence of cancer in their prostate glands.

Nevertheless, the vast majority of men easily outlive prostate cancer. Many do not suffer significant symptoms. While the average age of diagnosis is 72, this slow growing tumor may have started in their 30’s or 40’s. It is the most common type of cancer to occur in men, but death by prostate cancer is less frequent than death by either lung cancer or cancer of the colon.

A derivative of the male hormone, testosterone, DHT,stimulates the prostate to grow, but a recent article in the medical journal, Prostate, suggests that it does this only after the prostate has been sensitized by the female hormone, estrogen. (1) Men with the highest blood levels of estrogen are the ones most likely to get prostate cancer (2). Blood levels of the male hormones, testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, produced by a man's body are not associated with susceptibility to suffer prostate cancer

Enlargement:

Enlargement of the gland often leads to impaired flow from the bladder. Symptoms include: frequent and difficult urination, a weak urinary stream, straining, dribbling, incomplete emptying and recurrent urine infections.

Traditional treatments include: surgical removal of all or part of the prostate;, widening of the urethral passage by such means as scraping or laser surgery; or various drugs that either relax the muscles at the neck of the bladder or actually shrink the prostate – these drugs can actually provoke cancer.

Prevention:

Researchers have found that abnormal growth in these tissues often corresponds to deficiencies in glutathione enzymes. One is glutathione S-transferase, which has several subtypes. The balance of these sub-types varies from normal prostate tissue to hypertrophic prostates to cancerous prostates. Several researchers propose that deficiencies in this glutathione enzyme system increase the likelihood of developing both an enlarged prostate and prostate cancer.

One of the more significant series of papers to be published on glutathione and prostate cancer comes from the University of Wisconsin. Research shows that male hormones (androgens) can cause oxidative stress, particularly in cancerous prostate cells. An article in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute claims that androgens both stimulate free radical damage and deplete glutathione. Given the natural decline of glutathione levels with age, the article suggests that "unopposed androgen pro-oxidant stress" contributes to prostate cancer. Oxidative stress increases with the decline of glutathione enzymes.

Another finding links the loss of glutathione activity to prostate cancer. The function of a particular glutathione enzyme (GSTP1) is almost universally lost in both cancerous and pre-cancerous prostate cells. The loss of this enzyme occurs early in the development of prostate cancer. Many studies have linked the loss of GSTP 1 to malignant transformation of prostatic tissues.

Treatment:

DRUGS:

There are many drugs on the market that are used to treat that; some of which have recently had to issue warning labels that if you have a benign prostate hyperplasia or BPH, it may turn into prostate cancer… Some of these drugs can actually increase the cancer [risk] or make it a much more aggressive cancer." (Keep in mind that the average number of side effects per drug today is 70!)

PROTANDIM (click on Protandim for more info) & OGF (Original Glutathione Formula) (click on OGF for more info)

Increasing glutathione levels through either Protandim – works at the genetic level and increases glutathione 300% within one month or OGF – which is like giving a pancake mix to the cell to make glutathione and will increase glutathione 276% within two months.

Oxidative damage and low glutathione levels has been implicated in the onset and development of many prostate problems, including cancer. Glutathione supplementation may provide protection against carcinogenesis in this gland, or at least slow the development of the disease. Male infertility is associated with increased oxidative stress and low glutathione levels. Elevated glutathione levels may enhance the quality of sperm and increase fertility. And glutathione also feeds hair follicles and may prevent or delay hair loss especially that suffered as a side-effect of chemotherapy.

IMMUNOCAL

Studies using whey protein isolates such as Immunocal to raise glutathione levels are underway at several research centers including McGill and Harvard Universities, where its usefulness in the treatment of prostate cancer is being weighed.

SELENIUM

Medical discoveries are often a matter of chance. A very large study was undertaken by the National Cancer Institute (USA) to determine whether selenium could bring down the rate of skin cancer, notoriously caused by strong exposure to sunlight. Researchers L.C. Clarke and G.F. Combs from Cornell University and the University of Arizona already knew of selenium's ability to raise glutathione levels and to oppose cancer-causing free radical damage from ultraviolet light. As it turned out, selenium supplementation did not affect the incidence of skin cancer, but did dramatically diminish the incidence of prostate cancer in the selenium supplementation group.

A more recent study from Harvard University confirms that higher selenium levels go hand-in-hand with a decreased risk of prostate cancer. It measured selenium levels in the toenail clippings of over 51,000 male health professionals between 40 and 75 years of age. Those with the highest selenium levels had the lowest chance of developing advanced prostate cancer. Note that selenium is only biologically active—and only has health benefits—when it is part of the enzyme glutathione peroxidase, through which selenium expresses its positive health benefits.

SAW PALMETTO

Enlarge prostate and prostate cancer is caused, not by testosterone, but by excessive DHT. This is where saw palmetto works and can make a big difference. According to Dr. Moerck, the medical literature contains as many as 100 clinical studies on saw palmetto. One of the first prostate drugs on the US market was actually saw palmetto, released by Eli Lilly Company back in the early 1870's. Saw palmetto is an herbal therapy that is greatly valued by alternative practitioners and is now also gaining acceptance by conventional doctors as an adjunct to shrink prostate tissues

For more information, contact: Dr Holly at holly@choicesunlimited.ca

 Copyright 2011 © Choices Unlimited for Health & Wellness

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References:

For more information, contact: Dr Holly at holly@choicesunlimited.ca

Copyright 2011 © Choices Unlimited for Health & Wellness