What Are The Chances Of Developing Prostate Cancer And What Can You Do By Way Of Prevention

For some years now there has been a great deal of debate about prostate cancer and the subject of preventing prostate cancer in particular is still somewhat controversial. Although, as is the case with many cancers, men are not themselves the cause of their own prostate cancer, there are clearly a variety of risk factors for developing the disease and there is a great deal which can be done, if not to prevent it, then without question to lessen the risk of developing it.

The initial step in prostate cancer prevention is simply to understand that you are at risk of developing the condition and also to know just what the different risk factors are.

There can be no doubt that men with a family history of prostate cancer are at higher risk and that the risk for a man with a close relative having prostate cancer is approximately twice that of a man without any family history. With two close relatives the risk rises to about five times that of someone with no family history and if you have three close relatives the risk reaches an almost incredible ninety-seven percent.

The problem here is that many men are unaware of their family history, often because many grandfathers, fathers or brothers have died from other illnesses without ever knowing they had prostate cancer. This occurs because prostate cancer will often develop late in life and can be a very slow growing cancer. As a consequence there is a very good chance that individuals will develop other conditions at the same time as their prostate cancer and it is these other conditions which ultimately result in their death.

Accordingly, if you do not know your family history, then a good point at which to start is to check things out if at all possible. If this is not possible to do so, then it is probably a good idea to be cautious and believe that you could be at risk rather than simply assume that you are in the clear.

Another very important factor is that of race. For example, African American men are at greater risk than Hispanic men who, in turn, are at greater risk than Caucasian men. The risk for an African American man is approximately sixty percent greater than that of a Caucasian man.

Another risk factor is diet and men who live in Western countries such as the United States or the United Kingdom are at increased risk as a result of the high levels of fat in many Western diets. Here at last is a risk factor which you can do something about and lowering the fat in your diet and eating such things as more vegetables and fresh fruit can lower your risk quite considerably.

At this point we begin to run into difficulty because, beyond the principle of lowering fat in the diet, opinions begin to differ when it comes to other areas of the diet which might be helpful in preventing prostate cancer.

There is little doubt that levels of such things as vitamins and minerals in your diet can have a dramatic affect on your health generally and will without doubt have a role to play in your prostate health. However, working out just which vitamins and minerals play a role is not a simple matter and is a subject all of its own.