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Written by Steve Smith
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Saturday, 01 March 2008 |
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 My female friends will probably kill me for saying this: why are they grabbing all the attention for breast cancer, while the noise from advocates for prostate cancer research is merely a blip on the radar?
Once a year, the streets of Dallas and other major cities are clogged with women wearing pink ribbons, jogging shoes and Nikki shoes as they participate in the Race for the Cure, the program operated by the Susan G. Komen Foundation in Dallas to raise money for breast-cancer research and education. All four TV stations in town fly their helicopters over the processions for bird’s-eye views, and a picture most likely will wind up on the front page of the newspaper.
I applaud the foundation and women for getting out there and pounding the pavement—literally. Five of my female friends have endured breast cancer, most of them more than once. Alice, for instance, has fought the demon three times. Kristi saw her cancer spread to her liver.
But, I ask, why aren’t all of us prostate-cancer survivors—and there are a ton of us out there—donning our skimpy jogging shorts, our own colored ribbons and taking to the bricks to fight a disease that strikes one in six men? Where are the helicopters?
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Written by Steve Smith
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
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 Here’s another reason for men to drop a shipload of weight:
Too much junk in the trunk may cause results of a man’s PSA blood test—a tool for helping doctors diagnose cancer—to come back inaccurate, which may mean a large number of cancer cases are being missed, according to the latest Johns Hopkins Prostate Bulletin and the journal Urology. The findings should also get men thinking not just about their weights and eating habits for heart health, but also for prostate health. "I am an optimist and I believe people want to take control of their health,” says Dr. Stephen Freedland of Duke University in Durham, N.C., who helped with the study. “Weight loss and exercise are two things patients can do on their own to really take control of their cancer and health. We tell patients to exercise three or four times a week, eat a healthier diet, high in vegetables and fruits, and keep getting screened." The findings also could affect the reliability of blood tests for other cancers and diseases, Freedland warns. Comments (12) |
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Written by Steve Smith
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Monday, 18 February 2008 |
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 A panel of health experts says we should turn to whole foods and not dietary pill and powder supplements to help protect us from cancer.
But wait! Don’t throw them out quite yet. Those same supplements can prove very useful in thwarting other conditions, according to the American Institute for Cancer Research in Washington, D.C.
A review of more than 50 supplements trials and studies was simply too inconsistent to recommend using them to protect against cancer. Under certain conditions, some high-dose supplements seemed protective at specific doses, some did nothing, and some actually increased the risk of cancer, says Karen Collins, a registered dietitian and the institute’s nutrition advisor.
In contrast, she adds, the research was much more consistent when panelists examined more than 440 studies on cancer risk and foods that contained specific vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals.
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