Choosing A Healthy Lifestyle To Reduce Your Risk For Prostate Cancer
A recent study suggests that men who regularly engage in vigorous exercise, a nutritious diet and refrain from smoking may dramatically reduce their risk for developing aggressive prostate cancer. Their findings were recently published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Nearly half of lethal prostate cancer cases in the United States would be prevented if men over 60 followed five or more healthy habits, lead author Stacey Kenfield, an assistant professor in the urology department at University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, said in a university news release. Kensfield’s group conducted research to determine whether adopting a healthier lifestyle could potentially help in protecting men from the developing aggressive forms of prostate cancer.
The data researchers analyzed was taken from two large studies which consisted of more than 62,000 men between the ages 40 and 84. Participants of the study were followed over the course of 20 years and all were cancer free at the beginning of the study. Each participant of the study received a point for each healthy habit they assumed. For example, points were awarded if participants engaged in activities such as regular exercise, reducing red meat in their diet and having a low body mass index or BMI.
About 913 cases of lethal prostate cancer were identified by Kensfield and her team. Interestingly researchers found that men who worked up a sweat during vigorous exercise or adopted healthier eating habits had a decreased risk of developing prostate cancer. Participants is one study had a 38% chance of developing the disease, while participants in the second study had about 68% decreased risk. Stacey Kenfield who was with Harvard Medical School when the study first began stated,
“It’s interesting that vigorous activity had the highest potential impact on prevention of lethal prostate cancer. We calculated the population-attributable risk for American men over 60 and estimated that 34 percent of lethal prostate cancer would be reduced if all men exercised to the point of sweating for at least three hours a week.”
Researchers also found that when looking at a participant’s diet alone, men who had at least three healthy habit points were up to 46% percent less likely to develop lethal prostate cancer. They also discovered that eating at least seven servings of tomatoes, which are rich in lycopene, each week would further minimize their risk for developing deadly forms of prostate cancer by as much as 15%. According to the American Cancer Society however, these are associations and do not prove a direct cause-and-effect relationship.
