Diagnosis/Treatment|
Among both black and white men studied, the major dietary risk factor for prostate cancer was a high intake of fat, especially among black men. Histories of sexual behavior, cigarette smoking, and occupational exposure to cadmium were not found to be significant predictors of increased risk. A history of venereal disease (gonorrhea) yielded a slightly increased risk. (Although there is a link between venereal disease and prostate cancer, there is no causal link. Prevention magazine's Practical Encyclopedia of Sex and Health reported a link between multiple sex partners and prostate cancer,5 but the popular theory that prostate cancer is caused by an infectious sexually transmitted agent seems to have been disproved by a study of 1,400 Catholic priests. The celibate priests were found to have a high incidence of prostate cancer and a significantly increased risk of dying from prostate cancer, as compared to age-adjusted controls.6) This theory, that a high-fat diet puts men at an increased risk of prostate cancer, is supported by a comparison of black men living in America, with the highest rate of prostate cancer in the world, and black men living in Africa, with one of the lowest rates of prostate cancer in the world. Clearly, the American and African blacks have the same genes, so we can't blame genetics. But their diets are different. The U.S. diet is very high in fat; the African diet is much lower. And when black men in Africa move to the United States and adopt the standard American diet, their risk of developing prostate cancer jumps tenfold. Japanese men with a yen to move have helped to strengthen the proof of a link between diet and cancer. A study of 8,000 men of Japanese ancestry who moved from Japan to Hawaii showed that their risk of prostate cancer increased substantially as they adopted Western ways -- especially the Western diet.7 While no firm relationship was found between intake of total fat or total protein and the development of cancer, an increased risk was detected in men who consumed large amounts of butter, cheese, eggs, and margarine, all of which are much more characteristic of the American diet. And those who consumed traditional Japanese foods such as rice and bean curd (tofu) on a regular basis throughout their lives, even after emigrating, statistically had a significantly lower risk of developing cancer. As the traditional low-fat Japanese diet is becoming more "Americanized" and the Japanese have been eating more beef and dairy products in the past 15 to 20 years, the incidence of prostate cancer has progressively increased. 5. Bechtel, S., ed. 1996. The Practical Encyclopedia of Sex and Health. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press.
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