What Causes Prostate Cancer?

What on earth causes Prostate Cancer?

Unfortunately, the causes of prostate cancer are not known, but some things do seem to affect your chances of developing the disease.

• Age - prostate cancer is rare in men under 50 years of age.
• Family - having a close relative such as a father, brother or uncle who has developed prostate cancer roughly doubles your risk of developing it. Having more than one close relative develop the cancer increases your risk factor by about four times.
• Ethnicity - African-American and African-Caribbean men seem to be more at risk than other ethnic groups. The prostate gland differs considerably between species anatomically, chemically and physiologically.
• Exposure - Exposure to cadmium (a toxic metal, found in some workplaces and the older types of rechargeable Ni-Cd batteries) and x-rays increase the risk of  prostate cancer.

Reducing the risks

Obviously we all get older, and nothing can be done about where we come from, but reducing your exposure to toxic waste and x-rays would lower the risks.

Research suggest that a healthy diet containing several nutrients may offer protection. Tomato based foods, vitamin E, vitamin D, selenium and soya in a diet, and reducing animal fat and dairy produce are believed to help reduce the risks.