Answers to Your Health Questions

Prostate Cancer &

Nutritional Supplements
cont. next page
Dr. Weiss is a member of
both the Enzymatic Therapy and
PhytoPharmica Scientific Advisory
Boards and is considered an expert
in integrative cardiology. Dr. Weiss
performed many hours of internship,
and a cardiology residency at the
Arizona Heart Institute. Dr. Weiss
continues his work in cardiology
becoming one of the first
Naturopathic physicians to have
hospital privileges in a conventional
medical facility by being assigned to
the Department of Medicine in 1998
as a consulting staff physician at the
Arizona Heart Hospital. Dr. Weiss
continues his work by maintaining
his hospital privileges and by seeing
patients and training interns and res-
idents at the Southwest College of
Naturopathic Medicine. Dr. Weiss is
adjunct faculty of the Canadian
College of Naturopathic Medicine.
Prostate Cancer and
Nutritional Supplements
Years of research have discovered that the foods a man chooses to eat (or doesnt eat)
can have a profound impact on the health of his prostate gland.
1-3
Because of this close
nutritional link, prostate cancer may be the most preventable type of cancer (after smoking-
related lung cancers).
4,5
Recently, there has been an incredible amount of research and investigation of prostate
cancer. Many of these studies have explored the use of certain nutrients to prevent and
actually treat prostate cancer. These nutrients, calcium D-glucarate, selenium, broccoli,
green tea, maitake, and lycopene are powerful prostate cancer fighters. All are available as
nutritional supplements that men can take every day as an important part of a healthy diet.
In this issue of Ask the Doctor, we will discuss prostate cancer and how men can actually pre-
vent it with the use of these six nutrients. Plus, if men already have prostate cancer, these
nutrients can be an important part of their treatment regimen in fighting their disease.
Decker Weiss: NMD, AACVPR (member)
Ask the Doctor publications are
available on the Internet at:
www.ATDonline.org
Q. What does the prostate gland do?
A. The prostate is a gland in a man's
reproductive system. It makes and stores
seminal fluid, the milky fluid that nour-
ishes sperm. This fluid is released to form
part of the semen. The prostate is about
the size of a walnut and it is located
below the bladder and in front of the rec-
tum. The prostate actually wraps around
the upper part of the urethra, the tube
that empties urine from the bladder
through the penis.
6
Q. What are the symptoms of
prostate cancer?
A. Early prostate cancer often does
not cause any symptoms. However,
many symptoms of prostate cancer are
also symptoms of other problems with
the prostate, such as an infection or
benign prostatic hyperplasia, a prostate
enlargement associated with age-
related changes.
7,8
A man who has any of these symptoms
should see his health care practitioner
for evaluation:
A need to urinate frequently,
especially at night
Difficulty starting urination
or holding back urine
Inability to urinate
Weak or interrupted flow of urine
Painful or burning urination
Difficulty in having an erection
Painful ejaculation
Blood in urine or semen
Frequent pain or stiffness in the
lower back, hips, or upper thighs.
7,8
Q. Are certain men more prone to get
prostate cancer?
A. Age is the biggest risk factor: most
prostate cancers occur in men over 65
years of age. A man's risk for developing
prostate cancer is higher if his father or
brother has had the disease. African-
Americans are at higher risk for the
disease. Mechanics, farmers, sheet metal
workers, and workers exposed to cadmium
have also have high rates of prostate
cancer.
4,5
Q. How is prostate cancer diagnosed?
A. A man who has any of these risk fac-
tors may want to ask his health care pro-
fessional whether to begin screening for
prostate cancer (even though he does not
have any symptoms), what tests to have,
and how often to have them.
4,5
The usual prostate tests include:
Digital rectal exam: the doctor inserts a
lubricated, gloved finger into the rectum
and feels the prostate through the rectal
wall to check for hard or lumpy areas.
Blood test for prostate-specific antigen
(PSA): a lab measures the levels of PSA
in a blood sample. The level of PSA may
rise in men who have prostate cancer,
benign prostatic hyperplasia ( a non-
cancerous enlargement of the prostate
gland), or an infection in the prostate.
These tests will only determine if there
is a problem with a mans prostate gland.
They cannot determine if the
problem is cancer. Only a biopsy
of a sample of prostate tissue
can reveal the presence of actual
prostate cancer.
4,5
Q. What nutrients help prevent
or treat prostate cancer?
A. The prostate health nutrients,
calcium D-glucarate, selenium,
broccoli, green tea, maitake, and
lycopene, each work in unique
ways. Some help mens bodies
work more effectively, some keep
cancer cells from growing, while
others actually kill prostate can-
cer cells. Lets discuss each nutri-
ent and how it works.
Calcium D-Glucarate
It is a troubling fact of modern
life that we are continuously
exposed to cancer-causing chem-
icals and toxins. These toxins
come in part from contaminants
in the food we eat and pollutants in the
air we breathe. There are also natural
toxins that are produced in our bodies.
Excess hormones, such as estrogen and
testosterone, can cause cancer when they
are no longer needed. Cancer causing
chemicals not only initiate cancer, but
exposure to them can also cause existing
cancers to grow bigger, stronger, and
more deadly.
9
Our bodies do a fairly good job of elimi-
nating some of these toxins before they
can cause us harm. In the liver, the toxin
is bound or attached to a chemical called
glucuronic acid. The bound toxin is then
excreted in bile and eventually eliminated
as a waste product in the stool.
10-13
However, yet another chemical,
an enzyme called glucuronidase, can
break this bond between the toxin and
glucuronic acid. When this happens, the
hormone or toxin is released back into
our bodies, capable of causing us harm
once more. The longer the toxins and
excess hormones are in our bodies, the
greater the chances they can make us
seriously sick. Scientists have discovered
that increased glucuronidase activity in
the body is strongly associated with
prostate cancer.
14
Fortunately, scientists have also discov-
ered that a natural substance found
in foods, calcium D-glucarate, can greatly
reduce the activity of glucuronidase.
Calcium D-glucarate helps our bodies
keep the harmful toxins and chemicals
bound to glucuronic acid. While CDG is
found in fruits and vegetables, the
amounts may not be sufficient to main-
tain effective levels to stop beta-
glucuronidase. CDG has been shown in
many experimental studies to significant-
ly stop prostate cancer growth.
10-13
Studies have shown that by taking calci-
um D-glucarate, our bodies can get rid of
the toxic chemicals and excess hormones
that might stimulate cancer formation.
10-14
Selenium
Selenium is an essential trace mineral
found in the soil. Both plant foods like
oatmeal, and meats that we eat, such as
chicken and beef, contain selenium.
How much selenium, however, is difficult
to determine. This is because the amount
of selenium in soil, which varies by
region, determines the amount of seleni-
um in the plant foods that are grown in
that soil. Animals, too, will have varying
levels of selenium in their muscle,
depending on the amount of selenium in
their feed. The actual selenium level in
the grasses and grains that make up
animal feed reflect the amount of the
selenium in the soil where they grew.
15
A major antioxidant, selenium slows
down aging, keeps our skin supple, and
helps prevent dandruff. Selenium also
keeps our blood vessels healthy and pro-
tects us from heart disease.
However, some of seleniums
most powerful effects are on the
prostate gland.
17,18
In a recent study, researchers
recruited 974 men to take part
in a large clinical trial to deter-
mine if selenium could prevent
cancer. Half of the men were
given selenium supplements and
half were given a placebo.
Researchers, who did know
which group got the selenium
and which group got the place-
bo, watched and recorded the
mens progress. The researchers
were amazed to learn that sele-
nium cut the rate of prostate
cancer by 63%!
18
The results of this study were so
impressive that it has led to
many other studies of selenium
and prostate cancer. In fact,
researchers at the Arizona Cancer Center
and the Arizona College of Public Health
in Tucson are currently studying the
effect of selenium on prostate cancer in
four ongoing clinical trials.
19
Broccoli
Scientists have observed over for a long
period of time, that men who eat lots of
broccoli have a lower risk of getting
prostate cancer. It seems that sulfora-
phane, a compound abundant in broccoli,
is the secret ingredient responsible for
this connection.
20,21
Sulforaphane increas-
es certain enzymes in the body, called
phase 2 enzymes, that deactivate cancer-
causing chemicals.
22
In lab experiments,
Rectum
Bladder
Penis
Prostate
Urethra
Testis
prostate cancer cells that were exposed
to sulforaphane, the compound inhibited
the growth of the cancer cells up to 80
percent.
23
Green Tea
There is a potent plant substance in
green tea that is a very effective killer
of prostate cancer cells. A recent study
tested four common components of green
tea and determined that one of these
compounds, epigallocatechin gallate or
EGCG, has a special affinity for prostate
cancer cells. Scientists discovered that
EGCG can stop the growth of prostate
cancer dead in its tracks. The chemical
structure of EGCG is very similar to
substances in red wine and cruciferous
vegetables, known cancer killers.
24-26
Maitake mushroom
For many years, maitake mushrooms have
been linked to good health in those who
eat them. Called dancing mushrooms
(possibly due to their wavy, rippling
appearance or possibly due to the little
dance of joy mushroom hunters perform
when they find them in the woods),
maitakes contain an important com-
pound called D-fraction.
27,28
A recent study at New York Medical
College showed that maitake D-fraction
destroyed 95% of human prostate cancer
cells in lab experiments.
29
Lycopene
Some of the most exciting nutritional
news in relation to prostate health
involves lycopene. This carotenoid is
found primarily in tomatoes, and men
who eat lots of cooked tomatoes have
very low rates of prostate cancer.
30,31
Because promising preliminary reports
demonstrate that lycopene can actually
kill prostate cancer cells, there has been
an explosion of lycopene and prostate
cancer studies.
32-34
In one of these studies, 32 prostate can-
cer patients ate a pasta meal covered
with three-fourths cup of tomato sauce
every day for three weeks. Results
showed their PSA levels dropped two
points. Even signs of DNA damage
dropped sharply. The ability of lycopene
to drop these levels in just three weeks
has impressed researchers and scientists
worldwide.
34
Q. Do I have to
take each nutrient
separately?
A. While you can pur-
chase each one of these
nutrients and take
them separately, all of
these nutrients are
available in prostate
health formulas. Make
sure the formula you
buy contains calcium d-glucarate,
lycopene, selenium, broccoli standardized
to contain a minimum of 125 mcg sul-
foraphane, green tea, and maitake mush-
room extract. Standardized ingredients
provide consistently effective nutrients.
Q. What else can men do to
prevent prostate cancer?
A. Adopting a healthy diet,
including eating 5 to 9 servings
of fruits and vegetables every
day, eating several servings of
whole grain cereals and bread,
and reducing red meat consump-
tion to 2 or 3 servings per week
has been shown to reduce the
risk of all kinds of cancer. In
addition, the recent lycopene
studies suggest that a diet that
regularly includes tomato-based
foods may help protect men from
prostate cancer.
34
Men 50 years and older should
have a digital rectal exam (DRE)
and PSA test each year. African-
Americans and those at higher
risk should begin at age 40.
4,5
Talk with your health care profes-
sional to determine how fre-
quently the test should be done.
Conclusion
This year doctors expect to find
180,000 new cases of prostate
cancer is the United States and
37,000 men will die
of it. Prostate cancer is the second
leading cause of cancer death in men.
5
But there is hope.
More cancers are caught early and new
treatments might help make it possible
for men to live long and healthy lives
following their diagnosis. By taking a few
simple steps, men diagnosed with prostate
cancer can take charge of their lives and
overcome much of the fear and anxiety
that accompany a cancer diagnosis.
HEALTH FACT:
Age is the biggest risk factor: most prostate cancers happen
in men over 65 years of age. A man's risk for developing
prostate cancer is higher if his father or brother has had
the disease.
Adopting a healthy diet, including eating 5 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables
every day...has been shown to reduce the risk of all kinds of cancer.
T3223X702
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