lopan
Jul 6th, 2007, 01:59 PM
Some recent reports on prostate cancer by the BBC. If you haven't heard about this, I suggeset further reading. What I find really interesting is the second article, which puts prostate cancer risk up 40% among men who father only daughters. Weird.
What scares me though is the multivitamin warning; i was taking heavy duty Mens' Multis for a few months because I've been training hard. Now i've gone off them completely. I talked to a rep at GNC the other day about the issue -- however he didn't seem to be aware of it. Who knows?
Multivitamin prostate warning
Taking lots of multivitamins may increase the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.
Their study showed taking multivitamins more than seven times a week was associated with an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer.
There was no link with early cancer or localised prostate cancer, the researchers wrote in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Experts advised men to eat a healthy diet to reduce their risk of cancer.
The findings, based on data on nearly 300,000 men, indicated the risk of advanced prostate cancer is 32% higher in men who take multivitamins more than once a day than in those who do not take them at all.
Risk of fatal prostate cancer was almost double.
It's still not entirely clear what factors can affect a man's risk of developing prostate cancer
Liz Baker, Cancer Research UK
The correlation was strongest for men with a family history of the disease, and who also took selenium, beta-carotene or zinc supplements.
It is unclear why the multivitamins may increase the risk of certain types of prostate cancer.
Study leader Dr Karla Lawson from the US National Cancer Institute said: "The possibility that men taking high levels of multivitamins along with other supplements have increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancers is of concern and merits further evaluation."
Because multivitamins contain so many different components and men taking a lot of them were more likely to be taking other supplements, the researchers were unable to tease out what was causing the association.
In an accompanying editorial, European researchers said a high intake of fruit and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.
But it is not clear which nutrients have a positive effect.
Antioxidants
There has been a lot of research into antioxidants such as vitamin C and E because it is believed they may protect cells against damage.
However, some analyses have suggested that beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E supplements may shorten life rather than extend it.
The amounts of antioxidants needed to offer any potential protection are not known and may differ between individuals.
Liz Baker, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "It's still not entirely clear what factors can affect a man's risk of developing prostate cancer.
"And there is conflicting evidence on the pros and cons of vitamin supplements.
"These products don't seem to give us the same benefits as vitamins that naturally occur in our food.
"We encourage people wanting to reduce their risk of cancer to eat a diet rich in fibre, vegetables and fruit, and low in red and processed meat."
Georgia Diebel, a specialist nurse at the Prostate Cancer Charity said: "With all vitamins, we recommend that men do not exceed the daily recommended dose stated on the bottle.
"People often think of them as something 'natural' and do not understand that they still have to be metabolised and used by the body - a study like this suggests they are not safe in larger quantities."
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. It kills one man every hour in the UK.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/6657795.stm
Published: 2007/05/16 06:21:04 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Daughters linked to prostate risk
Men who father daughters, not sons, may be at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer, researchers have said.
The Israeli team found men with three daughters and no sons were up to 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer.
But the Journal of the National Cancer Institute study suggests the cause may be the male "Y" sex chromosome, not the act of having either a son or daughter.
UK experts said a common genetic cause may affect both cancer risk and the chance a man will father girls.
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer, with more than 30,000 new cases in the UK in 2003.
It affects the prostate gland, which is found near the bladder in men, and produces one component of semen.
Health aware
The Israeli research looked at more than 38,000 men, and compared the families of the 712 diagnosed with prostate cancer with those of the other men.
Overall, compared with men who had at least one son, those with only daughters were 40% more likely to develop prostate cancer.
The risk increased when a man had three or more daughters and no sons.
The researchers looked for alternative explanations for the apparent difference.
Since prostate problems are often only detected when a man attends for routine health screening, they suggested that it was possible that having a predominantly female family might encourage a man to be more health-conscious.
No-one should rush off with the idea that girls give their fathers prostate cancer
Chris Hiley
Prostate Cancer Charity
Another possibility was that men having daughter after daughter might go to the doctor to find out if there was any problem stopping them from fathering a son.
Poor conception
However, there was no evidence to support these explanations, and the researchers suggested that a genetic cause could be contributing to both the birth of daughters and the risk of cancer.
Men supply one sex chromosome in their sperm - this can be either a Y, producing a male embryo, or an X, producing a female embryo.
Faults on the man's Y chromosome might not only affect the likelihood of conception or development of male offspring, but also lead to cancer development, it was suggested.
The Prostate Cancer Charity head of policy and research Chris Hiley said: "This is an interesting study - it certainly attracts the attention, but it doesn't yet translate into useful advice for men until other complex genetic studies are done.
"Further research to confirm these findings in men from other parts of the world is needed.
"We also need to uncover exactly what it is about the Y chromosome, which only men have, that might make men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer also more likely to have fathered girls rather than boys.
"In the meantime no-one should rush off with the idea that girls give their fathers prostate cancer."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/6225891.stm
Published: 2007/01/03 09:06:35 GMT
© BBC MMVII
What scares me though is the multivitamin warning; i was taking heavy duty Mens' Multis for a few months because I've been training hard. Now i've gone off them completely. I talked to a rep at GNC the other day about the issue -- however he didn't seem to be aware of it. Who knows?
Multivitamin prostate warning
Taking lots of multivitamins may increase the risk of deadly prostate cancer, say US researchers.
Their study showed taking multivitamins more than seven times a week was associated with an increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancer.
There was no link with early cancer or localised prostate cancer, the researchers wrote in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Experts advised men to eat a healthy diet to reduce their risk of cancer.
The findings, based on data on nearly 300,000 men, indicated the risk of advanced prostate cancer is 32% higher in men who take multivitamins more than once a day than in those who do not take them at all.
Risk of fatal prostate cancer was almost double.
It's still not entirely clear what factors can affect a man's risk of developing prostate cancer
Liz Baker, Cancer Research UK
The correlation was strongest for men with a family history of the disease, and who also took selenium, beta-carotene or zinc supplements.
It is unclear why the multivitamins may increase the risk of certain types of prostate cancer.
Study leader Dr Karla Lawson from the US National Cancer Institute said: "The possibility that men taking high levels of multivitamins along with other supplements have increased risk of advanced and fatal prostate cancers is of concern and merits further evaluation."
Because multivitamins contain so many different components and men taking a lot of them were more likely to be taking other supplements, the researchers were unable to tease out what was causing the association.
In an accompanying editorial, European researchers said a high intake of fruit and vegetables has been shown to reduce the risk of cancer.
But it is not clear which nutrients have a positive effect.
Antioxidants
There has been a lot of research into antioxidants such as vitamin C and E because it is believed they may protect cells against damage.
However, some analyses have suggested that beta-carotene, vitamin A and vitamin E supplements may shorten life rather than extend it.
The amounts of antioxidants needed to offer any potential protection are not known and may differ between individuals.
Liz Baker, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "It's still not entirely clear what factors can affect a man's risk of developing prostate cancer.
"And there is conflicting evidence on the pros and cons of vitamin supplements.
"These products don't seem to give us the same benefits as vitamins that naturally occur in our food.
"We encourage people wanting to reduce their risk of cancer to eat a diet rich in fibre, vegetables and fruit, and low in red and processed meat."
Georgia Diebel, a specialist nurse at the Prostate Cancer Charity said: "With all vitamins, we recommend that men do not exceed the daily recommended dose stated on the bottle.
"People often think of them as something 'natural' and do not understand that they still have to be metabolised and used by the body - a study like this suggests they are not safe in larger quantities."
Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men. It kills one man every hour in the UK.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/6657795.stm
Published: 2007/05/16 06:21:04 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Daughters linked to prostate risk
Men who father daughters, not sons, may be at a greater risk of developing prostate cancer, researchers have said.
The Israeli team found men with three daughters and no sons were up to 60% more likely to develop prostate cancer.
But the Journal of the National Cancer Institute study suggests the cause may be the male "Y" sex chromosome, not the act of having either a son or daughter.
UK experts said a common genetic cause may affect both cancer risk and the chance a man will father girls.
Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer, with more than 30,000 new cases in the UK in 2003.
It affects the prostate gland, which is found near the bladder in men, and produces one component of semen.
Health aware
The Israeli research looked at more than 38,000 men, and compared the families of the 712 diagnosed with prostate cancer with those of the other men.
Overall, compared with men who had at least one son, those with only daughters were 40% more likely to develop prostate cancer.
The risk increased when a man had three or more daughters and no sons.
The researchers looked for alternative explanations for the apparent difference.
Since prostate problems are often only detected when a man attends for routine health screening, they suggested that it was possible that having a predominantly female family might encourage a man to be more health-conscious.
No-one should rush off with the idea that girls give their fathers prostate cancer
Chris Hiley
Prostate Cancer Charity
Another possibility was that men having daughter after daughter might go to the doctor to find out if there was any problem stopping them from fathering a son.
Poor conception
However, there was no evidence to support these explanations, and the researchers suggested that a genetic cause could be contributing to both the birth of daughters and the risk of cancer.
Men supply one sex chromosome in their sperm - this can be either a Y, producing a male embryo, or an X, producing a female embryo.
Faults on the man's Y chromosome might not only affect the likelihood of conception or development of male offspring, but also lead to cancer development, it was suggested.
The Prostate Cancer Charity head of policy and research Chris Hiley said: "This is an interesting study - it certainly attracts the attention, but it doesn't yet translate into useful advice for men until other complex genetic studies are done.
"Further research to confirm these findings in men from other parts of the world is needed.
"We also need to uncover exactly what it is about the Y chromosome, which only men have, that might make men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer also more likely to have fathered girls rather than boys.
"In the meantime no-one should rush off with the idea that girls give their fathers prostate cancer."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/6225891.stm
Published: 2007/01/03 09:06:35 GMT
© BBC MMVII