Multivitamins May Help Prevent Cancer
Older Men Who Took Vitamins Had Modest Reduction in Cancer, but Experts Can’t Say if Findings Apply to Others
The study followed nearly 15,000 middle-aged and older men for about 11 years. It is not yet clear if the findings would apply to women or younger men.
“The main findings were a reduction in total cancers of 8%,” says researcher J. Michael Gaziano, MD, MPH, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
”Our main message is that the main reason to take a multivitamin is to prevent nutritional deficiency,” Gaziano said at a news briefing today at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting held here.
“It appears there is a modest benefit for cancer reduction in men over 50,” he said.
The findings are also published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Vitamins To Help Prevent Cancerinteresting
The World Health Organization estimates that one out of every six deaths is attributable to cancer. In 2017, the number of new cancer cases reported reached nearly 1.7 million. In this same year, cancer claimed the lives of over 600,000 people.
Many doctors wont admit it, but many cancer treatments do little to eradicate the condition. Consider chemotherapy, for example. It is probably the most widely prescribed treatment of adult cancer in the world. Want to guess the success rate of chemotherapy?
2 to 3 percent. Thats it. Put another way, chemotherapy fails 97 to 98 percent of the time. Take into account the horrible side effects of the treatment, and its little wonder why more cancer patients might choose a different route.
Vitamin K3 And Vitamin C Combination Boosts Chemotherapy
The search for less toxic remedies to prevent and treat prostate cancer has led researchers to consider the possible benefits of vitamin C and . Both vitamins have demonstrated antitumor effects on cancer cell lines in the lab. However, individually these vitamins have therapeutic limitations.
In one study vitamin K3 enhanced the effects of chemotherapy and radiation in cancer patients. But at high doses, 30% of the patients experienced toxic side effects from vitamin K3. Vitamin C increased the efficacy of radiation on cancer cells in patients, but it was difficult to obtain consistent useful dosage levels.
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Why Do Some Women Show More Scalp In Their Part Line
I recently heard from a woman who told me that over the last couple of years, she had noticed her hairs part line widening. In fact, she said that if she compared photos of herself from a few years ago with photos today, her scalp showing through her part line was much more noticeable in the recent photos. She asked: now that I suspect theres an issue with my part, Im starting to notice that some women just show more scalp in their part line. Why does this happen? Is it normal? Should I worry about it? I dont like how it looks and I worry that it will be very noticeable in the future. Ill try to address these concerns in the following article.
Some Women Naturally Have A Wider Part Line: Your part line is that area in your hair right on top of your head where your hair parts and falls on both sides. This doesnt happen if you pull your hair straight back or put it in a ponytail, but most people see their part line unless they purposely style their hair in a different way. If your hair is thicker and you have more of it, your part line will often be quite thin or barely noticeable because there are a lot of strands pushing up on both sides. But, if your hair is thinner or more sparse, you may well have a wider line because there is less hair on both sides.
Aim For A Healthy Eating Pattern
Instead of focusing on specific foods, dietitians, physicians, and researchers tout an overall pattern of healthy eating and healthy eating is easier than you might think. In a nutshell, heres what experts recommend:
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Evaluation Of Cam Therapies
It is important that the same scientific methods used to test conventional therapies are used to test CAM therapies. The National Cancer Institute and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health are sponsoring a number of clinical trials at medical centers to test CAM therapies for use in cancer.
Conventional approaches to cancer treatment have generally been studied for safety and effectiveness through a scientific process that includes clinical trials with large numbers of patients. Less is known about the safety and effectiveness of complementary and alternative methods. Few CAM therapies have been tested using demanding scientific methods. A small number of CAM therapies that were thought to be purely alternative approaches are now being used in cancer treatmentnot as cures, but as complementary therapies that may help patients feel better and recover faster. One example is acupuncture. According to a panel of experts at a National Institutes of Health meeting in November 1997, acupuncture has been found to help control nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy and pain related to surgery. However, some approaches, such as the use of laetrile, have been studied and found not to work and to possibly cause harm.
Questions And Answers About Calcium
Calcium is a mineral that is needed for basic blood vessel, muscle, and nerve functioning, for sending signals from cell to cell, and for releasing hormones. It is the most common mineral in the body. The body stores calcium mainly in bone tissue.
The main sources of calcium are in foods and dietary supplements. About one-third of dietary calcium comes from milk and milk products like cheese and yogurt. Vegetable sources include Chinese cabbage, kale, and broccoli. Foods may have calcium added, such as fruit juices and drinks, tofu, and cereals.
Most research about calcium and prostate cancer risk has studied calcium in the diet and not calcium in supplements.
See the Laboratory/Animal/Preclinical Studies section of the health professional version of Prostate Cancer, Nutrition, and Dietary Supplements for information on laboratory and animal studies done using calcium.
Population studies
Clinical trials
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The Facts Of Prostate Cancer
The prostate, an organ located under the bladder, produces semen. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men in the United States. About 1 in 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.
The risk of developing prostate cancer progressively increases with age. About 60 percent of all prostate cancers in the United States are diagnosed in men aged 65 or older. It is rare for men to develop prostate cancer before age 40.
Theres no absolute prostate cancer prevention, but evidence suggests diet plays a key role. Keep reading for diet tips and more information.
General Information And History
Calcium, the most abundant mineral in the body, is found in some foods, added to others, available as a dietary supplement, and present in some medicines . Calcium is required for vascular contraction and vasodilation, muscle function, nerve transmission, intracellular signaling, and hormonal secretion, although less than 1% of total body calcium is needed to support these critical metabolic functions. Serum calcium is very tightly regulated and does not fluctuate with changes in dietary intake; the body uses bone tissue as a reservoir for, and source of, calcium to maintain constant concentrations of calcium in blood, muscle, and intercellular fluids.
To evaluate the association between calcium intake and prostate cancer mortality and morbidity, it may be important to assess objective, biological of calcium, include data that account for nutritional and supplemental calcium intake, and control for other confounding factors. However, studies of the association between calcium and prostate cancer have been limited to nutritional sources of calcium, such as dairy products. Although more than half of the U.S. population uses vitamin and mineral supplements , few studies include supplement use in the association of disease risk, including prostate cancer or mortality rates.
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Five Foods To Protect Your Prostate
Good news if youre worried about your prostate health: What you eat can make a difference. There is plenty of strong evidence that good nutrition and an active lifestyle can reduce the likelihood of prostate cancer and slow its progression, says Mitchell Sokoloff M.D., Chair of the Department of Urology and Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
There are a few categorical changes you can make to your diet that make a big difference in overall health, as well as prostate health. What you eat can potentially disadvantage your prostate health e.g. foods you might want to avoid or protect the prostate in various ways. The Science of Living Well, Beyond Cancer recommends a diet that is high in colorful vegetables, low in sugar and processed carbohydrates, and moderate in animal-based protein . Some might refer to this as a version of the Mediterranean Diet. PCF-funded epidemiologist Lorelei Mucci, M.P.H., Sc.D., at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health notes that people in Mediterranean countries not only eat more vegetables and fruits they also eat less fatty foods, processed food, and red meat categories that can increase insulin resistance, increase inflammation, raise cardiovascular risk and be a part of a dietary pattern that may increase obesity, as well.
High Intake Of Dairy Products Modestly Increases In Prostate Cancer Risk
In a combined analysis of 10 published studies, men with the highest intake of dairy products and calcium were more likely to develop prostate cancer than men with the lowest intakes.
Calcium is a nutrient that has been linked with a decreased risk of osteoporosis, hypertension, and colorectal cancer. Some studies, however, have suggested that high calcium intake may increase the risk of prostate cancer.
The reason for a link between high calcium intake and prostate cancer is unclear, but could potentially involve suppression of plasma 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 or elevation of plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-I .
To evaluate the link between dairy products, calcium, and risk of prostate cancer, researchers combined information from 10 published studies that addressed this question conducted in the U.S. or Europe and were published between 1984 and 2005. Information about consumption of dairy products and calcium was collected by questionnaires completed by the study subjects.
Data from the 10 studies suggest a modestly increased risk of prostate cancer among men with the highest intake of dairy products or calcium:
The researchers conclude that âHigh intake of dairy products and calcium may be associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, although the increase appears to be small.â
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Questions And Answers About Pomegranate
The pomegranate is a fruit grown in Asia and in the Mediterranean, East Indies, Africa, and the United States. Pomegranate has been used as medicine for hundreds of years.
The pomegranate is made up of the following:
Pomegranate fruit and juice may be taken as food, drink, or a dietary supplement.
See the Laboratory/Animal/Preclinical Studies section of the health professional version of Prostate Cancer, Nutrition, and Dietary Supplements for information on laboratory and animal studies done using pomegranate.
In a 2015 study, 183 men with recurrentprostate cancer were randomly assigned to receive either pomegranate juice, pomegranate extract, or a placebo. The study found no difference in how fast the prostate-specific antigen level rose between the 3 groups. There is not enough evidence to know whether pomegranate can prevent or treat prostate cancer.
No serious side effects have been reported from the use of pomegranate.
Role Of Vitamins And Nutrients To Prevent Cancer
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Benjamin Franklin
;As mentioned, diet plays a key role in cancer prevention. Eating a well-balanced diet and getting regular exercise can effectively eliminate two risk factors. Being overweight and obesity.
With this in mind, lets discuss five vitamins and nutrients that can help prevent cancer:
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Study Selection And Quality Assessment
The abstracts of the 31 identified papers were reviewed and 14 met our study design, exposure and outcomes criteria. We hand searched the references in these 14 articles and did not find any additional papers that met the search or selection criteria.
The full content of these 14 papers were reviewed independently by each of the two authors using the US Preventive Services Task Force Quality Rating Criteria . This quality rating system has specific features that are considered for each of the types of methodologies that were used in the articles. Using this system, each article is given an overall rating of good, fair or poor. After independently reviewing the 14 articles, the two authors met to discuss differences in their rating. Consensus was reached that all 14 articles were either fair or good and hence all were included in the systematic review.
There were four RCTs, eight cohort studies and two casecontrol studies included in the analysis. All four RCTs were blinded and placebo controlled. Concealed allocation was not specifically discussed in either of the RCTs although the process described suggests that they all used concealment. Details of the each of the studies are listed in including dosages of the vitamins used in the RCTs. The countries in which the studies were conducted are also listed. The content of multivitamins varied from study to study but generally contained a wide range of vitamins and minerals.
Prostate Cancer Nutrition And Dietary Supplements Patient Version
On This Page
Men in the United States get prostate cancer more than any other type of cancer except skin cancer. It occurs mainly in older men. In the United States, about 1 in every 9 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime. Most men with prostate cancer do not die of it.
Complementary and alternative medicine is a form of treatment used in addition to or instead of standard treatments.
CAM use among men with prostate cancer is common. Studies of why men with prostate cancer decide to use CAM show that their choice is based on medical history, beliefs about the safety and side effects of CAM compared to standard treatments, and a need to feel in control of their treatment.
CAM treatments used by men with prostate cancer include certain foods, dietary supplements, herbs, vitamins, and minerals.
Different types of research have been done to study the use of CAM in prostate cancer. These study types include the following:
This PDQ summary has sections about the use of specific foods and dietary supplements to prevent or treat prostate cancer:
Each section includes the following information for each food or dietary supplement:
- How it is given or taken.
- Results of studies done in people.
- Side effects or risks.
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Supplements That Men With Prostate Cancer Need To Know About
I recently had the pleasure of delivering the keynote address at Winthrop University Hospitals Mens Health Seminar, under the directorship of my good colleague, integrative urologist Dr. Aaron Katz.
The main theme of my lecture was that, while weve long known about the preventive effects of diet and lifestyle on cancer, its only recently that weve learned that there are things that men who are already diagnosed with prostate cancer can do to prevent a recurrence and reduce their risk of dying.;
Therefore, prostate cancer has become Ground Zero for an effort to integrate the best of high-tech therapies with the most scientifically-vetted natural approaches. No longer can we dismiss diet, exercise, stress reduction, and targeted supplementation as merely weak alternatives to definitive medical or surgical treatment; they need to be emphasized as vital tools to enhance survival for men with prostate cancer.;
I say to my patients with prostate cancer: Lets pickle you with so many healthy nutrients that no self-respecting cancer cell would dare to hang around in your body!;
The following is a list of plausible supplements that, in addition to diet and lifestyle measures , might help halt or slow the progression of prostate cancer:;
4) Resveratrol: Population studies show that users of resveratrol-rich red wine have a lower incidence of prostate cancer. Resveratrol works through more than a dozen different anticancer mechanisms and selectively targets cancer cells.;