For prostate cancer, doing nothing is often just as good as seeking immediate treatment

Monday, March 12, 2007 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: prostate cancer, health news, Natural News

(NewsTarget) In many lower-risk cases of prostate cancer, men actually may place their health at greater risk by treating the cancer than by waiting and monitoring it, according to many doctors. But a new study by Dr. Daniel Barocas, chief resident in your Rolla G. at New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical College, suggests that few men are comfortable with this hands-off approach.

Jump directly to: conventional view | alternative view | resources | bottom line

What you need to know - Conventional View

• According to the American Cancer Society, medical diagnoses suggest that prostate cancer affects approximately 219,000 men each year and kills 27,000.

• Approximately half of all men autopsied are found to have undiagnosed, "microscopic" prostate cancers that did not contribute to their cause of death. This is because while many prostate tumors spread quickly and are highly fatal, most grow slowly enough to pose little threat.

• Chris Parker of the British Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust says that most men with low-risk prostate cancers probably do not need immediate treatment. He is researching methods of "active surveillance," such as blood tests and physical exams, that can gauge how fast tumors are growing and whether treatment is needed.

• Surgery and radiation treatments for prostate cancer can cause serious lifelong side effects, including pain, incontinence and impotence.

• In Barocas' new study, only 9 percent of men eligible for a wait-and-see approach actually elected to forego treatment. About 16 percent of the 1,886 patients in the study were considered good candidates for the approach.

• Quote: "We do not [yet] have the right tools available to us to identify who is likely to run into trouble if they don't seek treatment. Until we have that, there is going to be hesitation on the part of most patients and clinicians." - Eric Klein, head of urolic oncology at the Glickman Urological Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

What you need to know - Alternative View

Statements and opinions by Mike Adams
• Prostate cancer is over-diagnosed and over-treated by a system of medicine that seems more interested in making profits than doing what's best for the patient.

• Prostate cancer is easily prevented through nutrition and dietary supplements. Zinc, green tea, pomegranate extract and whole, cooked tomatoes all help prevent prostate cancer. Additional prevention strategies are revealed in the book mentioned below.

• Conventional medicine's "drugs and surgery" approach to virtually all disease is often far more harmful than simply doing nothing. For prostate cancer, preventing and treating prostate cancer using natural medicine is both safe and effective. (Please work with a naturopathic physician for such treatments.)

Resources you need to know

• How to Prevent and Reverse Prostate Cancer by Mike Adams.

• Pomegranate page at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate

Bottom line

• For many prostate tumors, treatment may offer more risks than benefits. Doing nothing is often safer and more effective than pursuing conventional treatments.