Lots of readers ask about Prostate Cancer Risk, so check this out. Keeping this blog current naturally means constantly looking for articles, videos and other worthwhile information which helps visitors to be more knowledgeable about cancer risk. Be sure to consider it all. Don’t forget to offer your opinions so everyone can be aware of your comments:

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How To Slash Your Prostate Cancer Risk – With Sunlight!

According to a study published in the British Journal of Cancer 2009; 100: 450-454, men with prostate cancer are as much as seven times less likely to die if they have high levels of vitamin D – the “sunshine vitamin”.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Australian men. Each year close to 3,300 men die of prostate cancer annually and around 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in Australia each year. So, for all you male readers, if you want to prevent prostate cancer, and protect your health, getting regular sun exposure to optimize your vitamin D levels is an absolute must.

Prostate cancer is typically slow growing, and the five-year survival rate for all stages of prostate cancer combined is 99%. So it is very much a disease that can be managed…if you make the appropriate lifestyle changes.

Why Sunlight Is An Important Cancer-Fighting Tool

A previous study found men with higher levels of vitamin D in their blood were half as likely to develop aggressive forms of prostate cancer as those with lower amounts. Numerous other studies also confirm the link between vitamin D deficiency and multiple types of cancer. The “sunshine vitamin” has a protective effect against cancer in many ways including:

• Increasing the self-destruction of mutated cells (they can lead to cancer if allowed to replicate)

• Reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells

• Causing cells to become differentiated (cancer cells often cannot be differentiated by the body)

• Reducing the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones (which is a step in the transition of dormant tumors turning cancerous)

What Is The Optimal Vitamin D Level For You?

Vitamin D3 is produced by our bodies when UV radiation from sunlight hits our skin and reacts with a compound called 7-dehydrocholesterol. Ever since I was a child growing up in Australia we have been told to protect against UV radiation. But UV levels vary according to season, geographic latitude, smog, cloud cover and time of day.

A UV level of 3 or higher, which usually occurs between 10am to 3pm daily in the tropics and during spring and summer in temperate regions, requires most people to apply sun protection. Either side of those times up to 10-15 minutes of sunlight at least twice a week is adequate for Vitamin D synthesis. During winter take advantage of sunny periods but usually 2-3 hours of sun exposure spread over a week is adequate.

Your doctor can measure your serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D to determine your vitamin D status. Your vitamin D level should always be above 32 ng/ml (nanograms per millilitre), and anything below 20 ng/ml is considered a serious deficiency state, which would increase your risk of prostate cancer.

The optimal level is 45-52 ng/ml but previous research has suggested that maintaining a slightly higher level of 55 ng/ml is optimal for cancer prevention. Optimizing your vitamin D levels is an important part of prostate cancer prevention, but it is far from the only method. Another sensible strategy is eating a healthy diet including natural lycopene foods such as tomatoes, raspberries, watermelon and broccoli.

In addition, supplementation with important micro-nutrients is also essential in preventing and fighting cancer. Research has shown that a group of saccarides called glyconutrients are essential for a healthy immune system. Recent studies in numerous scientific journals have shown that glyconutrients not only retarded human prostate cancer cell growth, but also encouraged their destruction.

If you would like to know more about glyconutrients and their importance in maintaining a healthy immune system and fighting cancer then click on the link below.

Click on Disease Fighting Report for natural ways to fight prostate cancer and improve the quality of your health. Richard and Ruth Webster are Health and Wellness Consultants who help people struggling against major health issues. They have a successful Health and Wellness business offering natural solutions and Free Consultations for people looking to improve their health through natural means.

The news that someone close to us or someone particularly famous has been diagnosed with a malignant disease, may cause us to pause for thought. When this happens we often stop to think that, when it comes to cancer, the odds are pretty much stacked against us and that it is only a matter of time before we have to confront that "suspicious" lump or a sinister shadow on the X-ray plate.

These thoughts are not really surprising considering the large number of different cancers that have the potential to invade our bodies – common cancers such as those of the breast, prostate, colon, lung as well as the not so common cancers such as leukemia and thyroid cancer.

If we are wise we will be making an effort to reduce our cancer risk by eating sensibly, not smoking, reducing our alcohol intake and by exercising regularly. What we should also be doing, according to a growing body of research, is eating more foods containing the natural compound apigenin.

SOURCES OF APIGENIN

Apigenin is an antioxidant flavonoid found in herbs, spices and other food plants. Examples of foods that contain apigenin are the herbs and spices, coriander, licorice, marjoram, parsley, oregano, rosemary and tarragon. Other foods such a citrus, tea, celery and wheat also contain significant quantities of this yellow cancer fighting compound.

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH

Although most of the research into this compound has been confined to the laboratory, scientists studying apigenin have discovered that it exhibits several different mechanisms that all work to counter the complex factors underlying cancer cell growth.

As well as interfering with a number of cancer signaling processes, apigenin also inhibits the growth of new blood vessels that malignant cells need to grow and proliferate.

HER2 BREAST CANCER GENE

As far as breast cancer is concerned, it also inhibits the expression of the HER2/neu gene. Woman who carry HER2/neu are much more susceptible to an aggressive, treatment-resistant form of cancer for which, until recently, there was no effective treatment.

Apigenin has been shown to suppress the activity of this gene and, in this regard it joins its fellow green tea based flavonoid, epigallocatechin-gallate as a potent preventive agent in those unfortunate to inherit the HER2/neu gene.

CANCERS SUSCEPTIBLE TO APIGENIN

To date apigenin has been found to inhibit the following cancer cell lines: breast, prostate, lung, leukemia, colon, ovary, skin and thyroid – malignancies that account for the vast majority of cancers to which most of us fear falling prey.

PREVENTION RATHER THAN CURE

It will be a long time before research is done into the use of apigenin in the TREATMENT of these malignancies.

And, on a cautionary note, there is also some evidence that high doses of apigenin may actually interfere with one or two chemotherapeutic agents used in the treatment of leukemia.

In other words a higher dosage of a useful anti-cancer phytonutrient is not always better than the lower dosages that are effective in preventing the onset of the disease.

EAT MORE SPICES

Instead of waiting for that to happen we should be more proactive and eat foods that contain this important phytonutrient.

A regular intake of herbs and spices such as coriander (cilantro), licorice, marjoram, oregano, parsley, rosemary and thyme (as well as other foods such as whole wheat, celery, tea and citrus) should provide protective amounts of apigenin.

Moreover, these and other spices supply many other compounds that have proven cancer inhibiting capabilities.

Keith Scott is a medical doctor with an interest in the healing properties of herbs and spices. He has written several books including “Medicinal Seasonings, The Healing Power of Spices”. Download a free pdf copy of “Medicinal Seasonings” and read more about the health benefits of spices at: => http://www.medicinal-herbs-and-spices.com Watch the VIDEO: Spices – A Health Mystery Solved => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqIM6QB3wt4

Article Source: ArticleSpan