Fact and fiction regarding prostate cancer? Fish oil, vaccines, etc.

@wert1234 Yes, because MANY men went untested, unbiopsied and uncared for from the height of Covid for 2 yrs afterward.
I had a friend post surgery who had a PSA of 1.0 and no one would see him, or couldn’t for over 6 months. It was a very bad time.
Phil

I consume a small amount of fish oil daily and eat fish like sardines and salmon 3 or 4 times a week along with a balanced healthy diet, broccoli sprouts, unsweetened cranberry juice, exercise, reduced alcohol and weight management. I would be surprised if consuming Omega 3 fatty acids is actually causing or leading to metastatic prostate cancer. There is obviously no magic supplement or diet that prevents or cures prostate cancer. But like anything else balance and moderation seem like a reasonable approach.

@heavyphil

That’s Crazy he had to wait that long.

Well thank you all for your response’s and all the information you all have provided. I’m now in this fight with you all . I was diagnosed almost 2 yrs ago . And have been trying to study this disease. And to me it’s mind boggling how many cases of prostate cancer is getting diagnosed every year and it continues to rise . I understand theres more testing going on , but at the same time there has to be more causing this then what has been research . And at the same time I’m also thankful that we’ve made progress into more treatments available today than before . Just hoping and praying that one day soon they will find a cure for all of us.

@ezupcic

Same here! I eat salmon twice a week, broccoli sprouts every day, cranberry juice and nuts daily as well. Walk or run everyday and do band workouts. I feel great, for now at least.

Found this link earlier:
https://www.ssmhealth.com/newsroom/blogs/ssm-health-matters/may-2024/top-foods-for-prostate-health

@wert1234 There's no cure yet, but prostate cancer is closer and closer to becoming a chronic disease that can be managed to old age, in many cases even after it's metastasised.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/treating-prostate-cancer-at-any-stage/
That's pretty amazing, and it's changed only in the past few years. So I'm hopeful the good news will keep pouring in.

@surftohealth88 Eating a healthy diet and exercising it’sa good way to maintain your health. None of these other ‘cures’ stand up to scrutiny. To ensure you don’t die from prostate cancer you should get screened yearly. That way if you are one of those 1 in 8. You’ll probably survive. And eat well and exercise.

@robertov

Yes @robertov : ), I agree : ))) , nobody is talking about cure here ; ), just about possibly useful supplements.

Exercise and good diet go a loooong way helping us cope with any illness and hopefully helping body to do what it is supposed to do when it has a strong and unburdened immune system. : )

@wert1234 Remember, in 2012 a goldstar panel of ‘experts’ said that we were doing too much PSA testing and it was leading to overtreatment.
This study was widely published.
How many men, do you think, went untested for a year or more because of this? MILLIONS - and I know because I was one of them.
They did not retract or modify this falsehood for about two years(?) but the damage lasted much longer than that…right up to Covid!
So it was a perfect storm, of sorts, which is responsible for the huge number of advanced PCa cancers you see today.
Phil

I drag these out whenever I see these posts...

Tips to be your own best researcher, https://ancan.org/helpful-tips-to-be-your-own-best-medical-researcher/

Anecdotal Evidence - information that has been observed by the person reporting but not verified. Be skeptical of anecdotal evidence such as personal stories. It is not scientifically reliable. Focus on information supported by scientific evidence and clinical studies. The quality levels of evidence from highest to lowest for medical data are:

Systematic reviews: collect and evaluate all available data/evidence within the researchers’ criteria. An example is the “Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews”. Meta studies are a systematic review.

Randomized controlled trials: participants are randomly assigned to experimental and control arms. The double-blind trial is the gold-standard of medical research where neither the participants nor the researchers know the placebo or medication/treatment is given. This is to prevent bias and to ensure the validity and reliability of the study.

Cohort observational study: participants with common traits or exposure to the proposed medications or treatments are followed over a long period of time.

Case study or report: a detailed report of result after treatment of an individual. This is formalized and reviewed anecdotal evidence.

Phases of medical trial studies cited by published medical papers:

Pre-clinical studies: laboratory experiments using cell cultures, animal or computer models. In vitro means tested In Vitro – literally ‘in glass’ means testing outside a living organism, in a test tube or petri dish, In Vivo – literally in life -means testing in a living organism, often mice. Then studies move on to humans…

Phase I trials: assess safety, dosage and side effects of the proposed medications or treatment.

Phase II trials: expand P 1 to evaluate efficacy of the proposed medications or treatment – how well it works..

Phase III trials: confirm efficacy, safety, dosage and to evaluate side effects of the proposed medications or treatment in much larger samples. This is often where randomized blind and double blind design is used. Blind means the patient does not know what they are getting; double blind means neither the patient nor the clinician know what is being dosed.

Phase IV trials: monitor long term effectiveness and safety of the medication or treatment.
Some terms regarding statistical data cited in medical journals are explained as follows:

N = number of participants: be wary of studies with a very low N.

HR = hazard ratio: HR=1 – there is no change in the proposed medication/treatment compared to control baseline. HR< 1 – there is a reduction of risks with the proposed medication/treatment. HR>1 – there is an increase risk with the proposed medication/treatment.

CI = Confidence Interval: A trial shows that a particular drug has a 20% effect within a certain time frame with 95% CI. This shows that the study, if repeated many times, it will be 95% confident that the 20% reduction will be consistently observed.

P-value = Probability Value: This measures how strong the evidence is that the hypothesis, or effect being tested, is correct, rather than the result being random, or incorrect (null hypothesis). We seek a P-value that is < =0.05 meaning that there is a 95% or better likelihood the result is attributable to what is being tested.

This comment by @xahenegray40 - I take Alpha Lipoic Acid which some studies have shown to interrupt DNA sequencing in cancer cells..( particularly prostate cancer)... Findings from Laboratory Studies
Reduced Cell Growth and Viability: In various prostate cancer cell lines (LNCaP, DU-145, PC3), ALA treatment has been shown to significantly decrease cell viability and inhibit proliferation in a dose-dependent manner.

Two things in that statement...

Some studies...
Findings from Laboratory studies...

Always helpful when saying "some studies" to back those up with links
Laboratory Studies = pre-clinical, ergo, no idea if this works in humans...

Each of us is free to pursue their distinct courses of alternative treatments, supplements, theories. For those who do, I would consider "truth in lending" and discuss with my medical team so any interactions, safety issues with amounts, etc, can be discussed

Me, I like science when making decisions.

Not saying that my treatment decisions have rigorously adhered to the scientific guidelines such as NCCN and AUA but the hybrid decisions I have made are at least in concert with Phase I-III trials, more often, Phase IV too. That approach has gotten me to 12+ years with high risk PCa.

Have I also addressed diet, exercise, managing stress, seeing my medical team for annual physicals, vaccinations, diagnostic testing as appropriate, yes! Have those contributed to the 12+ years, yes, how, likely reducing the co-morbidities which can either kill you or impact your ability to go through treatment.

Kevin

@kujhawk1978 Absolutely true! ‘In vitro’ is a lot different than ‘in vivo’ and so much of what is published - and makes it to general media - is often the former, with a compound being poured into a Petri dish and analyzing the results.
Phil