Prostate Cancer is unfortunately an increasingly common diagnosis, affecting over 25,000 men every in the United Kingdom alone. It is also increasingly common within the USA The numbers are rising every year as the Prostate specific antigen (PSA) test is increasingly applied.
So then, what causes Prostate Factor and what might be the contributing risk factors?
* Geographical aspects
Within the USA prostate cancer is particularly prevalent amongst black males, where it tends to present about 10 years earlier than it would in North American white males. The reasons for this sad fact are as yet unclear, but would appear to probably be related to a genetic component.
Within older men of African or African Caribbean origin there is a particular risk factor. Those men who have had a close male blood relative, in particular a brother, diagnosed with prostate cancer seem to have an increased risk of receiving a similar diagnosis.
Chinese and Japanese men have a much lower rate of prostate cancer than those of North Americans. Interestingly, it has been identified that Japanese men who have moved from Japan to North America, subsequentlyincrease their risk towards that of the local population.
* Age
The majority of men diagnosed will be in the over 60 age bracket- most commonly in their seventies. However men can be affected from about the age of 45 although this is rare.
As a simple benchmark the risk of getting prostate cancer increases as men get older. It is important to be clear on this point –it is not age itself that causes prostate cancer, more that the longer a man lives, the more chance his prostate’s cells have of going awry.
*Diet
A particular factor may be the westernised diet containing as it does high animal fat content. There is no firm evidence as to how to reduce the risk of prostate cancer.
However, we do know that adopting a healthy diet with more fruit and vegetables, less red meat and more fish, together with appropriate supplementation where appropriate, is good for reducing the risks of other cancers and heart disease, and possible prostate ill health.
Vegetarians are believed to be at much smaller risk of developing prostate cancer, perhaps, by as much as 50 per cent. The body’s fat content affects the handling of testosterone and this may be the link between fat and prostate cancer.
* Industrial exposure
An exposure to cadmium, which can occur in men working in copper smelting, seems to increase the risk of prostate cancer. There have been some claims that exposure ultra violet light increases the risk of prostate cancer, but this is far from proven. In general, though, it is unlikely that their industrial or occupational exposure is responsible for the vast majority of prostate cancers
The reasons why some men get a diagnosis of prostate cancer are complex and there are many other factors we need to consider before we arrive a definitive understanding.
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