News Briefs – July/August 2015

MEN WITH PROSTATE CANCER WHO ATE VEGETABLES AND FRUITS SHOWED A LOWER RISK OF DEATH FROM ALL CAUSES

Vegetables, Fruits Lower Mortality in Prostate Cancer Patients

A study has found that after a diagnosis of prostate cancer, men who ate foods rich in processed meats, red meats, and high-fat dairy products had an increased risk for prostate cancer-related death and death from all causes. And men with prostate cancer whose diet was rich in vegetables and fruits had a lowered risk of death from prostate cancer and all causes. (Almost 3 million American men live with prostate cancer, but there is little information about how to manage lifestyles, such as diet, after a diagnosis to improve survival.)

Scientists followed patients for an average of 14 years following their prostate cancer diagnosis and assessed the impact of dietary patterns on mortality. They accounted for factors such as body mass index, smoking, prostate-specific antigen levels, tumour characteristics at diagnosis, and initial treatment. Compared with men who were in the lowest quartile of the Western diet pattern, those in the highest quartile of the Western diet pattern had a 153% higher risk for prostate cancer-specific death and a 67% increased risk for death from all causes. Men whose diet was predominantly vegetables, fruits, fish, legumes, and whole grains (called the ‘prudent diet pattern’), had a 36% lower risk for death from all causes and a lower but insignificant risk for prostate cancer-specific death. Results suggest that the same dietary recommendations offered for the prevention of cardiovascular disease may also decrease the risk of dying from diagnosed prostate cancer.

 

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Michael Downey is a former columnist with Vitality Magazine.

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