A Brief Overview of Alternative Treatments for Prostate Cancer
While prostate cancer is often treated with surgery, radiation or hormone therapy, alternative treatments for prostate cancer should be considered before undergoing these potentially dangerous treatments. Since prostate cancer cells grow at a very slow rate, it is possible to treat this cancer by adjusting your lifestyle and diet.
The orthodox treatments of prostate cancer include radiotherapy, androgen deprivation therapy, and prostatectomy. Each of these treatments carries a significant risk. Radiotherapy is the use of radiation to treat the prostate cancer. Androgen deprivation therapy involves either castration or estrogen hormone replacement therapy. Lastly, a prostatectomy is the removal of the prostate gland itself. Radiotherapy involves the use of radiation to treat the cancer, which always carries the risk of contracting radiation poison or even another form of cancer.
Androgen deprivation, whether by castration or estrogen replacement therapy, will reduce the mail sex drive and cause impotency in the case of castration. A prostatectomy, among other side effects, has been shown to cause impotence in 60% of patients, and incontinence in 39% of patients. It is for these reasons, then, that an alternative treatment for prostate cancer should be considered if you are diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is particular in that its cancer cells grow at a very slow rate. What this means is that alternative treatments for prostate cancer are not only viable but could be preferable. So what are these alternative treatments? The most significant factors are your lifestyle and diet. Some studies have shown that diet alone has caused prostate cancer in patients, due to unhealthy food selection. Eating the right foods in itself can be thought of as an alternative treatment for prostate cancer. It is important to know which foods to avoid, as well as what you should be eating.
Pig meat that isn’t fully cooked or that has been saved and refrigerated may contain a fungus that produces a toxin shown to cause different kinds of cancers. Cooking the meat will kill this fungus, thus one should never eat, for example, cold bacon or sausage. Peanuts, cashews, barley, mushrooms and even corn can contain certain carcinogenic fungi as well.
Regardless of all the alternative treatments for prostate cancer, the food you ingest is either going to have a positive or negative effect on your chosen alternative treatment. Foods that will have a positive effect include mostly fruits and vegetables: raspberries, strawberries, broccoli, carrots, almonds, pineapple and similar foods. Whenever possible, it is best to avoid cooking the fruits and vegetables, as this kills their cancer-fighting enzymes and reduces their effectiveness at treating any kind of cancer.
