Vegans are less likely to develop prostate cancer. The diet reduces the risk by around 35 per cent compared with a meat-based one. In addition, it is even better than a vegetarian diet, which includes milk and eggs.
A new study has discovered that a vegan diet – which excludes all animal products and by-products, such as milk, eggs and cheese – is the best one to follow if you are worried about getting prostate cancer.
Researchers from Loma Linda University in California have found, in a study of 26,346 men and their diets, that the incidence of prostate cancer was far lower in the eight per cent following a vegan diet.
The diet seemed to offer greater protection than any of the following diets, including the vegetarian one, the fish-only diet and the semi-vegetarian diet (where only white meat is occasionally eaten). The overall protection of the vegan diet was about 35 per cent, the researchers estimated. They believe that fibre, soy and anti-inflammatory antioxidants from fruit and vegetables combine to create the most protective diet.
Still looking at prostate, men should wait until after they reach the age of 55 before starting PSA (prostate specific antigen) screening for prostate cancer (if at all), says a new study. Some countries recommend an annual test from the age of 50, but the UK believes the test is too inaccurate and has risks that can outweigh any benefits, and this new study agrees.
The PSA is a blood test that ‘sees’ five cancers that aren’t actually there for everyone, say researchers from Erasmus University in Rotterdam. A positive test (assuming it is accurate) triggers treatments that can leave the patient incontinent or impotent, and all for a disease that is often slow growing and usually not an immediate threat to life.
The researchers have tracked the progress of 6,822 men who were screened when they were aged between 55 and 59 and until they reached the age of 75. Initially, screening suggested that 189 of the men had prostate cancer and by the end of the trial 40 had actually died of cancer.
A new treatment for epilepsy in children, based on cannabis, is soon to be approved
The researchers believe that just 10 per cent of men would benefit from screening before the age of 55; the vast majority would not benefit and, indeed, may be subjected to unnecessary treatment that could ruin their life.
Finally, on prostate issues, a standard treatment for prostate cancer seems to be linked to Alzheimer’s. ADT (androgen deprivation therapy) lowers the levels of testosterone, which protects against the brain disorder, and so could double the risk.The researchers say they cannot be absolutely sure there is a direct cause and effect association between ADT and Alzheimer’s.
However, they strongly suspect that it is there. When they looked at the hospital records of 16,888 prostate cancer patients, they discovered that twice the number of men using ADT went on to develop Alzheimer’s, compared with the number of those not using the therapy. The risk also seemed to increase with the dose of ADT given and the length of time it was used.
The researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford Medical School say that earlier research supports their fears; in those studies, men with Alzheimer’s have tended to have lower testosterone levels. Low levels have also been linked to impotence, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and depression (J. Clin. Oncol., 2015).
Cannabis is about to be accepted into the medical mainstream. A new treatment for epilepsy in children, based on the plant, is soon to be approved. Its manufacturer is scaling up production to meet the anticipated demand. America’s drugs regulator, the Food and Drug Administration, is expected to approve Epidiolex (cannabidiol) by 2017 at the latest. It is a liquid formulation of cannabidiol, one of the active ingredients derived from the plant.
Its Salisbury-based manufacturer already has a cannabis-based product approved for treating multiple sclerosis, although it has failed to win a licence in the US. The company’s researchers are also looking at cannabis-based therapies to treat autism, muscular dystrophy, glioma brain tumours, ovarian and pancreatic cancers and schizophrenia. It says the orders have increased 20 times in 2015 and expects the demand to double in 2016.
Research into Epidiolex is producing promising results. In one, 261 epileptic children were given the drug for 12 weeks. During that time, the rate of seizures dropped by 45 per cent on average, while half the participants reported more than a 50 per cent reduction in attacks and nine per cent of them became completely seizure free (presentation at the American Epilepsy Society annual meeting, December 2015).
kathryn@maltanet.net