For many years now there has been a great deal of argument about prostate cancer and the subject of preventing prostate cancer in particular is still somewhat controversial. Even though, as with most cancers, men do not themselves cause their own prostate cancer, there are clearly a number of risk factors for developing the disease and there is much that can be done, if not to prevent it, then undoubtedly to reduce the risk of developing it.
The first step in prostate cancer prevention is simply to understand that you are at risk of developing the condition and to know exactly what the various risk factors are.
There is no doubt that men who have a family history of prostate cancer are at higher risk and that the risk for someone with one close relative suffering from prostate cancer is about twice that of someone without any family history. With two close relatives the risk increases to about five times that of somebody without any family history and with three close relatives your risk reaches a staggering ninety-seven percent.
One problem here is that a lot of men are not aware of their family history, commonly because a lot of fathers, grandfathers or brothers have died as a result of other illnesses without even being aware that they were suffering from prostate cancer. This occurs because prostate cancer will often develop late in life and can be a very slow growing cancer. As a result there is a very good chance that individuals will develop other conditions at the same time as their prostate cancer and it is these other conditions which ultimately cause their death.
Accordingly, if you are not sure of your family history, then a good point at which to start is to try to check things out if you can. If it is not possible to do so, then it is probably best to be cautious and to believe that you could be at risk rather than simply assume that you are in the clear.
Another very important factor is that of race. For example, African American men are at more risk than Hispanic men who, in turn, are at greater risk than Caucasian men. For an African American man the risk is approximately sixty percent greater than that for a Caucasian man.
Another risk factor is diet and men who are living in Western countries such as the US or the UK are at higher risk as a result of the high fat levels in many Western diets. Here at last is a risk factor that you can do something about and reducing the fat in your diet and eating such things as more fresh fruit and vegetables can lessen your risk quite dramatically.
Now, at this point we start to run into difficulty as, beyond the basic principle of lowering fat in your diet, opinions start to differ when it comes to other aspects of the diet that may be helpful in preventing prostate cancer.
There is little doubt that levels of such things as minerals and vitamins in your diet can have a dramatic affect on your health generally and will certainly have a role to play when it comes to your prostate health. However, determining exactly which minerals and vitamins play a role is not a simple matter and is certainly a subject all of its own.
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