Medical musings

Avoiding Prostate Cancer

Anyone seeking advice on how best to avoid Prostate Cancer could be forgiven for being confused. Take your pick from ‘Ten portions of tomatoes a week’, ‘six cups of green tea a day’, soy beans, Brazil nuts and avoid dairy – just for starters. There will no doubt be even more bizarre recommendations based on narrow studies that, when looked at closely, reduce risk by minute percentages.

I am firmly of the opinion that focussing overmuch on specific elements of diet such as tomatoes is misleading. Far better to pursue the classic ‘healthy diet’, one which is low in processed meats and saturated fats but higher in fruits and vegetables. Bangladesh, which has just this style of diet, has one of the lowest incidences of Prostate Cancer.

Like many things in life it is a question of balance rather than excess, good or bad. This is as true for ones good health generally as for the avoidance of Prostate Cancer. Healthy weight, active lifestyle and balanced diet may sound a dull regime compared to stylish excess but in the long run it does mean that your body is better able to deal with whatever life throws at it.

Prostate Cancer is a disease that affects 41,000 men a year and kills10,000 of them. A healthy lifestyle is a good objective for all men but for those over 50 or with a family history of Prostate or other cancers a regular checkup with your GP is a wise precaution. Early diagnosis generally leads to much more positive outcomes.

Tags: cancer, prostate

Comments are closed.