Many men are cool and casual, they’re not afraid of anything but the doctor. With great ease they therefore miss every possibility for prevention.
The global health of the men is not ideal. 51.6% of men in Europe are overweight or even obese. Including other risk factors such as smoking (around 43% of Austrian men smoke), lack of exercise, high workload, and stress, the modern man finds himself among the highest risk groups for disease and prostate cancer.
We have learned from autopsy research that up to 80% of people over 70 years of age had latent prostate carcinoma without any symptoms.
ONE IN TEN MEN IN EUROPE SUFFERS FROM PROSTATE CANCER IN THEIR LIVES
The risk of developing prostate cancer over the next 10 years varies from country to country. There is a north-south divide, and the lowest risks are found in the southern countries. In any case, it rises with age: to over 5 % for 70-year-olds. The lifetime risk for a European man to develop prostate cancer at some point in his life is over 10%, which make precautionary actions even more critical.
The optimal amount of sunlight is of great importance in prostate cancer. Researchers in North America and Europe noticed thee north-south divide, which they could only explain by the different tanning of the people. Vitamin D plays a key role here, since 90 % of the vitamin D required by the body is formed in the skin by UV-B radiation. Studies have shown that a sun and vitamin D3 deficiency has increased the risk of prostate cancer by 25%.
However, according to current studies, it is not possible to produce enough vitamin D from October to April, so that a supplemental intake of vitamin D is generally recommended.
Prevention is not a rocket science at all: prostate cancer, metabolic syndrome, burnout and depression are the major problems that can cost men their lives prematurely and one reason why they live shorter than women. In these cases, many precautionary measures can be taken.
Risk Factors of Prostate Cancer
Today, every man should have the prostate checked by a urologist at the latest from the age of 45. In any case, the measurement of the PSA value should be part of the annual routine. If you want to know earlier if you have an increased risk due to a genetic disposition, you can either look into the ancestral line or do a DNA test, which can be done at special prevention centres cheaply.
Being overweight is one of the strongest risk factors for prostate cancer. In a study involving almost 70,000 men, a high body mass index (BMI) was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer. Overweight men with a BMI between 25 and 30 kg/m2 had a 54% higher risk of aggressive prostate cancer compared to less than 25 kg/m2 BMI. This is probably due to changes in estrogen, testosterone, and insulin levels as well as the overall pro-inflammatory metabolic status in obesity.
Predominantly vegetarian or vegan nutrition also brings precaution points. The Adventist Health Study 2 examined the influence of diet on prostate cancer risk in 26,346 male participants. In the course of the study, 1079 participants developed prostate cancer. The results show that an herbal diet reduces the risk of prostate cancer in white men by 37%.
Red meat is just as unfavourable for the prostate as smoking, which should be avoided altogether. A high consumption of red meat was accompanied by a risk increase of 30% in studies.
Animal fats fared even worse, as their share in the diet was too high and the risk of cancer increased by 60%. Slightly less dramatic but still worrying was the increase associated with the frequent consumption of milk protein, which was 22%.
Zinc, boron, and lycopene, and exercise are the best friends of the healthy prostate, and smoking, red meat and obesity should be avoided.
With sufficient zinc, boron and lycopene, one can gain many advantages with respect to prostate cancer. These micronutrients should occur in abundance in men’s diet.
The risk of disease was 54% lower for boron than for the highest group and the lowest group. Decreased zinc levels are repeatedly observed in patients with prostate cancer. A study has shown that the survival rate of men with advanced prostate carcinoma is positively associated with zinc uptake. In a 2015 meta-analysis of 34 studies and about 600,000 participants could show that high lycopene blood levels are associated with a 19% reduced risk of developing prostate cancer. In the dose-dependent evaluation it was found that approx. 1 mg lycopene per day reduces the risk of prostate cancer by 3 %. With a daily intake of 10 mg, a 30 % reduction of the risk would be possible. Lycopene is abundant in cooked tomatoes, so Italians generally experience less prostate cancer.
These recommendations in practice are not always feasible . To make a prostate-friendly diet for men with efficient daily routines much easier, there are now micronutrient preparations that combine the relevant protective substances into a kind of care formula. There are more and more vegetarian or vegan restaurants where you can spend a great evening without steak and cigarettes.
