Docyard | Reduce the risk of prostate cancer

Cancer registries in India indicate a rising trend in prostate cancer incidence particularly in urban than rural areas. It is one of the leading types of cancer prevalent in cities like Delhi, Pune, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram. lifestyle is supposed to be one of the main causes for the rising incidence.

Cancer of any type and lifestyle is wed to each other and scientific research has proved that faulty lifestyle can trigger sleeping cancer cells back to being active and aggressive. Correct lifestyle does prevent these cells from shooting back to action; it helps the body maintain that much-needed equilibrium which prevents disease.

A healthy body is a wonderful system in equilibrium; a state of perfect harmony between various organs and body systems. A balance in the functioning of all organs is necessary and imbalance can lead to disease.

Owing to faulty lifestyle, now prostate cancer has become a major public health problem even in India. Prostate cancer demands a need to reduce the impact of stress and re-establish harmony in a person’s physiology and stimulate the body’s natural defences. Correct lifestyle choices help decrease the risk and prevent the negative cascade of events leading to prostate cancer.

World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF), in the recent past, came up with eight lifestyle recommendations that significantly help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer, including:

• Being lean but not being underweight.
• Thirty minutes of physical activity a day.
• No sugar, but consumption of energy-dense foods.
• More vegetables, whole grains, fruits and legumes.
• No red meat, no processed meat.
• Alcohol avoidance, or limit to 1 drink.
• nlimited salt consumption.
• No use of supplements promising prostate cure.
• On a broader note, this is what you must do to strike the right balance:
• Maximise your intake of fruits and vegetables which are an excellent source of antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, minerals, and fibre. These foods can help reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer.
• Choose plant protein over animal protein. Eat whole and natural foods which help to lower levels of testosterone and lower Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) scores. Some foods and their components have anticancer abilities like lycopene, turmeric/curcumin, folic acid, and vitamin D. Avoid foods with additives and foods with high sugar that might harm the prostate.
• Consume green tea which contains catechins, antioxidants that can slow the cancer cell growth, promote cancer cell death. Men who drink green tea can reduce the risk of developing prostate cancer by as much as 70 per cent when compared with men who don’t drink green tea.
• Eat omega-3 rich foods, which can fight inflammation. Fish are omega-rich.
• Have plenty of fluids and maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese is associated with a higher risk of prostate cancer, lower long-term survival rate, and more aggressive forms of the disease.
• Exercise regularly as it not only helps slow the spread of prostate cancer but also has a preventive effect on prostatitis and other prostate-related diseases.
• Manage stress as long-term stress can weaken the immune system.
• Stay away from chemicals and other substances that can increase the risk of developing cancer.

However, all along remember that adopting proper lifestyle reduces the risk of prostate cancer, but it doesn’t completely eliminate it. If you are 50 or over, or have a family history of prostate cancer, you need more than a good diet. You should consider a yearly rectal examination and PSA test, and you should discuss the risks and benefits of these screening procedures with your doctor.

(The writer is Senior Consultant, Radiation Oncology, Dharamshila Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, New Delhi)