Plant Stem Cell Cancer Fighters:

Nature’s Winning Team in Maintaining Good Prostate Health

Introduction

Good prostate health is threatened by three major pathological afflictions: (1) benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), (2) prostate cancer and (3) chronic inflammatory prostatitis (CIP). CIP has been the least studied, and its incidence has been underestimated until a decade ago. Opinions differ on the relationship between prostate inflammation and prostate cancer. One school of thought proposes that inflammation leads to or increases prostate carcinogenesis, while the other group suggests that inflammation actually prevents prostate carcinogenesis. As the prostate enlarges, it may cause either (1) dysuria, i.e., hindered urine flow, or (2) nocturia, a frequent urge to urinate, or a feeling that the bladder is not fully emptied). According to the American Urology Association, about 50% of men will have some degree of BPH by the time they are 60 years old, and up to 90% will be affected by age 80. BPH is more prevalent than prostate cancer.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that about 10 million new cancer cases are occurring around the world annually, and this number is expected to reach 15 million by the year 2015. According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer of the prostate is the most common cancer among American men and the second leading cause of cancer deaths (after lung cancer). In the U.S., there are still 28,000 men dying of prostate cancer each year--and we certainly are not overtreating them. In Canada, 1 in 7 men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime. Thus it behooves us to know specifically which cancers need to be treated. Using the Gleason score, based on the pattern of abnormal cells seen in the biopsy, a score of 6 means the cancer is at or below low-grade, whereas a score of 7 or above is more cause for concern.

Prostate cancer is caused by the sea of xenoestrogens in which we live. Dr. John R. Lee concluded in his research that the overabundance of estrogens and xenoestrogens (foreign estrogens) are responsible for a vast number of today's health problems. Estrogen dominance is an increasingly serious problem for both women and men. Dr. Lee believed that excessive exposure to estrogen is the primary cause of prostate enlargement and prostate cancer. (Reference: Dr. John Lee, Hormone Balance for Men. Hormones Etc. 2003.)

It has long been a common misperception that testosterone causes prostate cancer. Young men have high levels of testosterone, but, with age, men experience declining levels. If testosterone were the cause of prostate cancer, then all of the young men would be dying of prostate cancer. Studies have clearly shown that men with the highest level of testosterone have the least prostate enlargement. Conversely, men with the highest level of estrogen have the highest amount of enlarged prostates. Thus, age-related decline in testosterone levels and increasing levels of estrogen together account for prostate enlargement and prostate cancer in men. When the level of blood serum progesterone falls in men, the amount of conversion from testosterone to dihydrotestosterone DHT increases. Unfortunately, DHT is not as powerful an inhibitor of cancer cells as testosterone. Progesterone is the chief inhibitor of an enzyme called 5-alpha reductase, which is responsible for converting testosterone to dihydrotestosterone, a much more potent derivative that is linked to prostate cancer. When the level of testosterone decreases in men, the relative level of estradiol increases. Estradiol turns on BCL2 oncogene and increases the risk of prostate cancer if adequate amounts of progesterone or estrogen disruptors with plant sterols and sterolins are insufficient to counteract its effect through stimulation of the P53 cancer protection gene. Numerous studies have clearly demonstrated that estrogen disruptors (or agonists) and or progesterone reverse BPH and prostate cancer.