(Source: http://www.drmirkin.com/men/9431.html)
An article in the British medical journal, Lancet, offers evidence that lack of vitamin D causes prostate cancer.
Most men meet their needs for vitamin D through exposure to sunlight because they do not get enough from their diet. Men who live in colder climates have a higher incidence of prostate cancer because they get less sunlight. Studies from Harvard School of public Health show that men who drink more than four glasses of milk a day have low blood levels of vitamin D and are at increased risk for prostate cancer. Calcium uses up vitamin D and not enough vitamin D is added to milk to cover the extra calcium used.
This study shows that prostate cancer is associated with not exposing skin to sunlight and not going on holidays to beach resorts. Susceptibility to prostate cancer was not found to be associated with vasectomy, benign prostatic enlargement or eating any particular food.
Visualizzazione post con etichetta prostate. Mostra tutti i post
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mercoledì 27 aprile 2016
High Blood Sugar Linked to Prostate Enlargement, Low Testosterone and Prostate Cancer
(Source: http://www.drmirkin.com/men/high-blood-sugar-linked-to-prostate-enlargement-low-testosterone-and-prostate-cancer.html)
Metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes are characterized by high blood sugar, insulin, and triglycerides, low HDL and a fatty liver and obesity. Of 490 male adults, average age 58 years old, 37 percent with lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTS) had metabolic syndrome (Adv Urol, published online Jan 23, 2014). Of those with:
• mild LUTS, 37.4 percent had metabolic syndrome,
• moderate LUTS , 46.5 percent had metabolic syndrome and
• severe LUTS, 54.1 percent had metabolic syndrome.
The patients with metabolic syndrome had much larger prostates than those who did not have that syndrome. Obese men and those with higher levels of the bad LDL cholesterol also had larger prostates.
Low Testosterone and Prostate Cancer Linked to Metabolic Syndrome
Of 1,150 men aged 30 years or older, the lower the testosterone, the more likely a man is to have metabolic syndrome. (Urology, published online October 08, 2013). The researchers defined Metabolic Syndrome as a waist circumference of 85 cm or more plus any two of the following: triglyceride 150 mg/dl or higher, good HDL cholesterol level below 40 mg/dL, taking statins, systolic blood pressure of 130 mm Hg or higher, diastolic blood pressure of 85 mm Hg or higher, taking high blood pressure medications, fasting blood sugar 110 mg/dL or higher, or use of a drug to lower high blood sugar.
Men who had any three of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome are one and a half times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who do not have metabolic syndrome (European Urology, published online February 24, 2014).
Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes
Metabolic syndrome means you are on your way to becoming diabetic. Diabetes is a disease in which high blood sugar levels damage every cell in your body. When blood sugar levels rise too high (high blood sugar), the pancreas releases large amounts of insulin (high insulin), which converts sugar to a type of fat called triglycerides (high triglycerides). Then your body uses up its good HDL cholesterol to carry triglycerides from the bloodstream to the liver (low HDL). Next, the extra triglycerides carried to the liver are stored in the liver to form a fatty liver. The triglycerides are also stored in your body to make you fat (overweight). These are the components of both metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes.
Metabolic syndrome and type II diabetes are characterized by high blood sugar, insulin, and triglycerides, low HDL and a fatty liver and obesity. Of 490 male adults, average age 58 years old, 37 percent with lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTS) had metabolic syndrome (Adv Urol, published online Jan 23, 2014). Of those with:
• mild LUTS, 37.4 percent had metabolic syndrome,
• moderate LUTS , 46.5 percent had metabolic syndrome and
• severe LUTS, 54.1 percent had metabolic syndrome.
The patients with metabolic syndrome had much larger prostates than those who did not have that syndrome. Obese men and those with higher levels of the bad LDL cholesterol also had larger prostates.
Low Testosterone and Prostate Cancer Linked to Metabolic Syndrome
Of 1,150 men aged 30 years or older, the lower the testosterone, the more likely a man is to have metabolic syndrome. (Urology, published online October 08, 2013). The researchers defined Metabolic Syndrome as a waist circumference of 85 cm or more plus any two of the following: triglyceride 150 mg/dl or higher, good HDL cholesterol level below 40 mg/dL, taking statins, systolic blood pressure of 130 mm Hg or higher, diastolic blood pressure of 85 mm Hg or higher, taking high blood pressure medications, fasting blood sugar 110 mg/dL or higher, or use of a drug to lower high blood sugar.
Men who had any three of the risk factors for metabolic syndrome are one and a half times more likely to develop prostate cancer than those who do not have metabolic syndrome (European Urology, published online February 24, 2014).
Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes
Metabolic syndrome means you are on your way to becoming diabetic. Diabetes is a disease in which high blood sugar levels damage every cell in your body. When blood sugar levels rise too high (high blood sugar), the pancreas releases large amounts of insulin (high insulin), which converts sugar to a type of fat called triglycerides (high triglycerides). Then your body uses up its good HDL cholesterol to carry triglycerides from the bloodstream to the liver (low HDL). Next, the extra triglycerides carried to the liver are stored in the liver to form a fatty liver. The triglycerides are also stored in your body to make you fat (overweight). These are the components of both metabolic syndrome and Type II diabetes.
sabato 7 giugno 2014
Prostate cancer biomarkers identified in seminal fluid
From ScienceDaily website (see original article)
Improved diagnosis and management of one of the most common cancers in men -- prostate cancer -- could result from research at the University of Adelaide, which has discovered that seminal fluid (semen) contains biomarkers for the disease.
Results of a study now published in the journal Endocrine-Related Cancer have shown that the presence of certain molecules in seminal fluid indicates not only whether a man has prostate cancer, but also the severity of the cancer.
Speaking in the lead-up to Men's Health Week (9-15 June), University of Adelaide research fellow and lead author Dr Luke Selth says the commonly used PSA (prostate specific antigen) test is by itself not ideal to test for the cancer.
"While the PSA test is very sensitive, it is not highly specific for prostate cancer," Dr Selth says. "This results in many unnecessary biopsies of non-malignant disease.
More problematically, PSA testing has resulted in substantial over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow growing, non-lethal prostate cancers that could have been safely left alone.
"Biomarkers that can accurately detect prostate cancer at an early stage and identify aggressive tumors are urgently needed to improve patient care.
Identification of such biomarkers is a major focus of our research," he says.
Dr Selth, a Young Investigator of the Prostate Cancer Foundation (USA), is a member of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health at the University of Adelaide and is based in the University's Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories.
Using samples from 60 men, Dr Selth and colleagues discovered a number of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules called microRNAs in seminal fluid that are known to be increased in prostate tumors.
The study showed that some of these microRNAs were surprisingly accurate in detecting cancer.
"The presence of these microRNAs enabled us to more accurately discriminate between patients who had cancer and those who didn't, compared with a standard PSA test," Dr Selth says.
"We also found that the one specific microRNA, miR-200b, could distinguish between men with low grade and higher grade tumors.
This is important because, as a potential prognostic tool, it will help to indicate the urgency and type of treatment required."
This research builds on previous work by Dr Selth's team, published in the British Journal of Cancer, which demonstrated that microRNAs in the blood can predict men who are likely to relapse after surgical removal of their prostate cancer.
"We are excited by the potential clinical application of microRNAs in a range of body fluids," he says.
Improved diagnosis and management of one of the most common cancers in men -- prostate cancer -- could result from research at the University of Adelaide, which has discovered that seminal fluid (semen) contains biomarkers for the disease.
Results of a study now published in the journal Endocrine-Related Cancer have shown that the presence of certain molecules in seminal fluid indicates not only whether a man has prostate cancer, but also the severity of the cancer.
Speaking in the lead-up to Men's Health Week (9-15 June), University of Adelaide research fellow and lead author Dr Luke Selth says the commonly used PSA (prostate specific antigen) test is by itself not ideal to test for the cancer.
"While the PSA test is very sensitive, it is not highly specific for prostate cancer," Dr Selth says. "This results in many unnecessary biopsies of non-malignant disease.
More problematically, PSA testing has resulted in substantial over-diagnosis and over-treatment of slow growing, non-lethal prostate cancers that could have been safely left alone.
"Biomarkers that can accurately detect prostate cancer at an early stage and identify aggressive tumors are urgently needed to improve patient care.
Identification of such biomarkers is a major focus of our research," he says.
Dr Selth, a Young Investigator of the Prostate Cancer Foundation (USA), is a member of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health at the University of Adelaide and is based in the University's Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories.
Using samples from 60 men, Dr Selth and colleagues discovered a number of small ribonucleic acid (RNA) molecules called microRNAs in seminal fluid that are known to be increased in prostate tumors.
The study showed that some of these microRNAs were surprisingly accurate in detecting cancer.
"The presence of these microRNAs enabled us to more accurately discriminate between patients who had cancer and those who didn't, compared with a standard PSA test," Dr Selth says.
"We also found that the one specific microRNA, miR-200b, could distinguish between men with low grade and higher grade tumors.
This is important because, as a potential prognostic tool, it will help to indicate the urgency and type of treatment required."
This research builds on previous work by Dr Selth's team, published in the British Journal of Cancer, which demonstrated that microRNAs in the blood can predict men who are likely to relapse after surgical removal of their prostate cancer.
"We are excited by the potential clinical application of microRNAs in a range of body fluids," he says.
venerdì 29 marzo 2013
Fish Peptide May Inhibit Cancer Metastasis
From Science Daily website (see original article).
Mar. 19, 2013 — Researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have identified a peptide, or protein, derived from Pacific cod that may inhibit prostate cancer and possibly other cancers from spreading, according to preclinical research published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
"The use of natural dietary products with anti-tumor activity is an important and emerging field of research," says senior author Hafiz Ahmed, Ph.D., assistant professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and scientist at the Institute for Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET).
"Understanding how these products work could allow us to develop foods that also act as cancer therapeutics and agents for immunotherapy."
Most people who succumb to cancer die because tumor cells invade the surrounding tissue and migrate into the nearby blood and lymph vessels, a process known as metastasis.
For example, prostate cancer typically spreads to the bones, lungs and liver. Cancer cells that metastasize to other parts of the body grow new blood supplies and eventually overcome the person's organ systems.
"This study is among the first to explore the therapeutic utility of a bioactive cod TFD-containing glycopeptide to inhibit prostate cancer from progressing," says Dr. Ahmed, who also is affiliated with the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center.
The TFD (Thomsen-Friedenreich disaccharide) antigen in the fish protein is hidden in normal human cells but is exposed on the surface of cancer cells and is believed to play a key role in how cancer spreads.
Polar fish, such as northern cod, express glycoproteins that are rich in the TFD antigen, which protect them from freezing.
The research team developed a special form of TFD, called TFD100, purified from Pacific cod.
Using animal models, the researchers found that TFD100 binds to galectin-3, a protein that is overexpressed in prostate cancer cells, and blocks its interaction with the TFD antigen found on the surface of the cells.
Galectin-3 (gal3) enables cancer cells to adhere to the walls of blood vessels and also kills activated T-cells, a type of white blood cell, which helps the cancer cells to spread throughout the body and evade the immune system.
The researchers observed that TFD100 prevents cancer cells from attaching to the vessel walls, suppresses T-cell death and boosts the immune response.
"Because the gal3-TFD interaction is a key factor driving metastasis in most epithelial cancers, this high-affinity TFD100 should be a promising anti-metastatic agent for the treatment of various cancers, including prostate adenocarcinoma," the researchers conclude in the study, which was published online March 11 in PNAS' Early Edition.
"This research breaks new ground in our ongoing quest to discover new ways to prevent cancers from metastasizing to distant parts of the body," says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
"If we could one day offer patients a natural dietary supplement, derived from fish proteins, which could help to block that process, we could have a significant impact on improving patients' outcomes and survival."
Co-investigator Dhan V. Kalvakolanu, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology and immunology at the School of Medicine, notes that additional research is needed to develop a dietary supplement from the cod peptide that could complement chemotherapy and other standard treatments.
"No single drug on its own is going to offer protection against advanced cancers. We need a multi-pronged approach to successfully treat this disease," he adds.
The study was conducted by researchers from Dr. Ahmed's laboratory, in collaboration with Dr. Kalvakolanu and other investigators at the University of Maryland Greenebaum Cancer Center and the IMET. Prasun Guha, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Ahmed's laboratory, was the study's lead author.
venerdì 8 febbraio 2013
Eating Deep-Fried Food Linked to Increased Risk of Prostate Cancer
From Science Daily website (see original article).
Jan. 28, 2013 — Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, and the effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, according to a study by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corresponding author Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D., and colleagues Marni Stott-Miller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow and Marian Neuhouser, Ph.D., all of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, have published their findings online in The Prostate.
While previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, such as grilled meats, may increase the risk of prostate cancer, this is the first study to examine the addition of deep frying to the equation.
From French fries to doughnuts: Eating more than once a week may raise risk.
Specifically, Stanford, co-director of the Hutchinson Center's Program in Prostate Cancer Research, and colleagues found that men who reported eating French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were at an increased risk of prostate cancer as compared to men who said they ate such foods less than once a month.
In particular, men who ate one or more of these foods at least weekly had an increased risk of prostate cancer that ranged from 30 to 37 percent.
Weekly consumption of these foods was associated also with a slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer.
The researchers controlled for factors such as age, race, family history of prostate cancer, body-mass index and PSA screening history when calculating the association between eating deep-fried foods and prostate cancer risk.
"The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption -- defined in our study as more than once a week -- which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer," Stanford said.
Deep frying may trigger formation of carcinogens in food.
Possible mechanisms behind the increased cancer risk, Stanford hypothesizes, include the fact that when oil is heated to temperatures suitable for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the fried food.
They include acrylamide (found in carbohydrate-rich foods such as French fries), heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (chemicals formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures), aldehyde (an organic compound found in perfume) and acrolein (a chemical found in herbicides).
These toxic compounds are increased with re-use of oil and increased length of frying time.
Foods cooked with high heat also contain high levels of advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs, which have been associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Deep-fried foods are among the highest in AGE content.
A chicken breast deep fried for 20 minutes contains more than nine times the amount of AGEs as a chicken breast boiled for an hour, for example.
For the study, Stanford and colleagues analyzed data from two prior population-based case-control studies involving a total of 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,492 age-matched healthy controls.
The men were Caucasian and African-American Seattle-area residents and ranged in age from 35 to 74 years.
Participants were asked to fill out a dietary questionnaire about their usual food intake, including specific deep-fried foods.
The first study of its kind "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the association between intake of deep-fried food and risk of prostate cancer," Stanford said.
However, deep-fried foods have previously been linked to cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas, head and neck, and esophagus.
Because deep-fried foods are primarily eaten outside the home, it is possible that the link between these foods and prostate cancer risk may be a sign of high consumption of fast foods in general, the authors wrote, citing the dramatic increase in fast-food restaurants and fast-food consumption in the U.S. in the past several decades.
Jan. 28, 2013 — Regular consumption of deep-fried foods such as French fries, fried chicken and doughnuts is associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer, and the effect appears to be slightly stronger with regard to more aggressive forms of the disease, according to a study by investigators at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Corresponding author Janet L. Stanford, Ph.D., and colleagues Marni Stott-Miller, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow and Marian Neuhouser, Ph.D., all of the Hutchinson Center's Public Health Sciences Division, have published their findings online in The Prostate.
While previous studies have suggested that eating foods made with high-heat cooking methods, such as grilled meats, may increase the risk of prostate cancer, this is the first study to examine the addition of deep frying to the equation.
From French fries to doughnuts: Eating more than once a week may raise risk.
Specifically, Stanford, co-director of the Hutchinson Center's Program in Prostate Cancer Research, and colleagues found that men who reported eating French fries, fried chicken, fried fish and/or doughnuts at least once a week were at an increased risk of prostate cancer as compared to men who said they ate such foods less than once a month.
In particular, men who ate one or more of these foods at least weekly had an increased risk of prostate cancer that ranged from 30 to 37 percent.
Weekly consumption of these foods was associated also with a slightly greater risk of more aggressive prostate cancer.
The researchers controlled for factors such as age, race, family history of prostate cancer, body-mass index and PSA screening history when calculating the association between eating deep-fried foods and prostate cancer risk.
"The link between prostate cancer and select deep-fried foods appeared to be limited to the highest level of consumption -- defined in our study as more than once a week -- which suggests that regular consumption of deep-fried foods confers particular risk for developing prostate cancer," Stanford said.
Deep frying may trigger formation of carcinogens in food.
Possible mechanisms behind the increased cancer risk, Stanford hypothesizes, include the fact that when oil is heated to temperatures suitable for deep frying, potentially carcinogenic compounds can form in the fried food.
They include acrylamide (found in carbohydrate-rich foods such as French fries), heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (chemicals formed when meat is cooked at high temperatures), aldehyde (an organic compound found in perfume) and acrolein (a chemical found in herbicides).
These toxic compounds are increased with re-use of oil and increased length of frying time.
Foods cooked with high heat also contain high levels of advanced glycation endproducts, or AGEs, which have been associated with chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.
Deep-fried foods are among the highest in AGE content.
A chicken breast deep fried for 20 minutes contains more than nine times the amount of AGEs as a chicken breast boiled for an hour, for example.
For the study, Stanford and colleagues analyzed data from two prior population-based case-control studies involving a total of 1,549 men diagnosed with prostate cancer and 1,492 age-matched healthy controls.
The men were Caucasian and African-American Seattle-area residents and ranged in age from 35 to 74 years.
Participants were asked to fill out a dietary questionnaire about their usual food intake, including specific deep-fried foods.
The first study of its kind "To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to look at the association between intake of deep-fried food and risk of prostate cancer," Stanford said.
However, deep-fried foods have previously been linked to cancers of the breast, lung, pancreas, head and neck, and esophagus.
Because deep-fried foods are primarily eaten outside the home, it is possible that the link between these foods and prostate cancer risk may be a sign of high consumption of fast foods in general, the authors wrote, citing the dramatic increase in fast-food restaurants and fast-food consumption in the U.S. in the past several decades.
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