How Vitamin D Can Help Prevent Prostate Cancer

Physicians across the country who perform naturopathic care work diligently to educate their male patients about prostate cancer. This should be taken as seriously as the female population takes breast cancer. Like breast cancer, your chances of survival increase when you have regular screenings. Unfortunately, many men do not do this, putting them in danger of dying from this preventable disease.

Quick breakdown

If you are unfamiliar with the prostate, it is a walnut-sized organ found within the male reproductive system. A sign of tumor growth is when the prostate becomes abnormally large, however, at this time, the disease has progressed substantially. It’s best to get regular screenings to find cancer before it becomes life-threatening.

To date, there is no real evidence for the cause of prostate cancer, however naturopathic doctors believe that leading a healthy lifestyle and eating whole foods is key to keeping it at bay. Some have even been successful in reversing the ill effects of this disease by combining diet and lifestyle changes with conventional medicine. Alternative cancer treatments have proven to be quite effective for patients.

What is known so far about this type of cancer is that it has something to do with genetic, environmental and hormonal factors. Androgens are a hormone that plays an important role in its development. This hormone promotes tumor growth, so to reduce the levels, androgen deprivation therapy, also known as ADT, can be used. Hormone replacement therapy is also an option for people struggling with imbalances.

Who is prone to prostate cancer?

This is a very common disease that normally affects men over 50, especially if you are of African descent. Men who have been diagnosed with this disease in a close relative, such as a father, son or brother, are at special risk of contracting this disease.

Research shows that African American men are 2.5 times more likely to die from this type of cancer than Caucasian men. In the United States, this is the second leading cause of cancer death among the male population.

What symptoms to watch out for?

It is difficult to identify prostate cancer at an early stage without being examined by a doctor. This can be done in a number of ways, such as through a digital rectal scan or a blood test that measures prostate-specific antigens, or PSA. When you have high PSA levels, it probably means you have an infected prostate, either caused by inflammation or cancer.

Can vitamin D help?

There are studies showing the positive effects of vitamin D on prostate cancer. Prostate cancer patients tend to be deficient in vitamin D, while healthy men with sufficient levels of vitamin D die of prostate cancer less often. These individuals also have fewer cases of developing aggressive cancers.

The recommended dose of vitamin D is less than 10,000 IU daily. You can get IV vitamin therapy at an alternative cancer treatment center. There is no concrete evidence yet that links between prostate cancer and vitamin D are prevalent, so more research is required.

What we know so far

You can find vitamin D receptors along the surface of your cells. When vitamin D is consumed, it attaches itself to these receptors. Once attached, vitamin D sends chemical signals, which tell cells what to do, such as die or divide.

These same receptors can be found in prostate tissue, which is why vitamin D binds to them as well. This is what is believed to cause cancer cells to die, stop growing, or not spread to other areas of the system. It is also the reason that vitamin D is believed to be helpful against prostate cancer.

The cells of the prostate are capable of converting inactive forms of vitamin D into active ones. Many of the cancer cells lose this ability, but they still have receptors. This is why supplementation with vitamin D is effective in slowing the growth of cancer cells.

Prostate cancer prevention

The highest cases of prostate cancer are found in the US, probably due to the fact that Americans lack exposure to sunlight. Most people today spend much of their time working indoors, whether at work or at home. You can talk to a naturopathic doctor about lifestyle and diet changes you can make to lower your prostate cancer risks. You should also ask about your vitamin D levels to determine if IV vitamin therapy is right for you.