The PSA era is over. Modern research has shown that it leads to overdiagnosis and overtreatment and far too many surgeries, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy. Prostate cancer is very common, but only about 2% need to be treated. Preventive measures and environmental toxins are reviewed. The relationship of various hormones is discussed.New tools for diagnosis and treatment are offered reviewed. We don't have good tests to assess the extent or even presence of prostate cancer let alone its degree of malignancy. Unfortunately screening and diagnostic testing for prostate cancer is inadequate and creates a lot of fear over having low grade cancers that are not serious. PSA testing should be reserved primarily to follow prostate cancer patients. Specialized testing with MRI, spectroscopy, and sonography is discussed.

All of the Health Assessments on DoctorSaputo.com have been developed to provide you with integrative and holistic medical information that may help you understand your health condition more fully and share our opinions about possible treatments you may choose to consider with your healthcare practitioner. All of our Health Assessments have been created by Dr. Saputo with the intent of taking just a few minutes of your time and, upon completion, providing instant emailed information in short audio and video files that are specifically related to your unique health condition as determined by the way you answered our simple questions.

Once you have cancer you want to know what you can do to get rid of it and keep it gone! In this Health Assessment we will ask you questions about what treatment(s) you have undergone, which complementary and alternative treatments might be of interest to you, what lifestyle factors could help slow down or prevent a recurrence, and what you might want to consider if your cancer is causing pain or if your situation is terminal.

Take our Cancer Health Assessment

Patients with low risk prostate cancer uner active surveillance may benefit from vitamin D3 supplementation at 4000 IU per day according to an article in the Journal of Endocrinology Metabolism. In patients with Gleason 6 prostate cancers, those treated with 4000 IU of vitamin D3 for one year, 55% had a decrease in Gleason findings or fewer positive biopsies, 11% were without change, and 34% were somewhat worse. The PSA scores did not change in these patients. Levels of vitamin D less than 20 ng/ml showed a strong correlation with increased risk for death. We know that vitamin D increases differentiation of cancer cells.

Besides treating Gleason 6 prostate cancers with vitamin D, there are other approaches that could be of value, such as an alkaline diet, use of modified citrus pectin, lifestyle strategies, mushrooms, antioxidants, vitamin C and K. There are many articles supporting this approach such as one done by Dean Ornish, MD.

For men with localized prostate cancer, surgery does not save lives and it has a much higher rate of complications such as impotence and incontenance. However, once a man knows he has prostate cancer, he has a powerful drive to get it out even if the data does not support this approach. The word, "cancer" scares us.

We need much better and affordable screening tests so we can identify the three percent of men who will die from localized prostate cancer. Unfortunately, far too many of the 97% who do not benefit from surgery will still have it because of fear.

We now know that the PSA test is good to follow people with prostate cancer, but it often leads to unnecessary treatment. The MRI is too expensive as a screening tool, and 3D-4D sonograms, while much less expensive is helpful to follow people with localized prostate cancer.

Lifestyle has been shown to be a powerful way to change cancer genes. Dean Ornish did studies that are discussed. Flax seed oil, vitamin D deficiency, and exposure to environmental toxins are also reviewed.

Men with prostate cancer that is localized to the prostate can improve their outcomes if they walk briskly for at least 3 hours a week. This high-intensity exercise delayed and possibly even prevented the progression of their disease as they were found to have a 57% lower rate of progression of disease than men walking at a slower pace. They also found that brisk exercise lowered the risk of dying from the disease. Previous studies show that vigorous physical exercise reduced the risk of getting prostate cancer.

Exercising after completing chemotherapy boosts immunity by replacing senescent NK cells with vibrant, healthy NK cells that can fight against the progression of cancer according to an October 2012 article presented at the Integrative Biology of Exercise in October of 2012. This study out of the University of Nebraska studied people who participated in a 12 week exercise program and looked at NK cell activity before and after the 12 week period.

Previous studies have repeatedly shown the exercise can decrease the chance of developing several cancers that include prostate, breast, and colon cancer. It can also improve the prognosis of people with cancer and can decrease the chance of cancer recurrence.

You would think that oncologists would be more interested in promoting lifestyle medicine than chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery because it often works better and is far less toxic.