ESL Blogs

A daily cup of coffee has been revealed as the latest weapon in the battle against prostate cancer - the most common form of cancer in men, with 35,000 diagnoses and 10,000 deaths a year.

• A new study from the Harvard Medical School in America found those who regularly drank the beverage were 60 per cent less likely to develop fast-growing, hard-to-treat forms of the cancer, than others.
  
• Cancer charities and experts urged caution, saying more research was needed and lifestyle factors played a bigger role. So what is proven to protect against the disease?
  
• Q/ Can coffee prevent prostate cancer?
  
• A/ It certainly looks as if it may help. The study from the US followed patients over a 20-year period, and showed those who drank coffee were less likely to develop the cancer. It is still unclear which component of the coffee is responsible, although it is not thought to be caffeine. The trial followed 50,000 men; that is not a huge number for a scientific trial, so more studies are needed to substantiate the results.
  
• Q/ Should I start to increase my intake of coffee?
  
• Drinking more coffee would not be advisable, not least because of the side effects of drinking too much caffeine.
  
• A/ I have also heard that alcohol can prevent prostate cancer, is that true?
  
• No. But scientists have found a moderate alcohol intake reduced the risk of developing benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), where the prostate gets larger causing problems with urinary flow.
  
• Q/ Can vitamins also help in preventing it?
  
• A/ It was thought that Vitamins E and C and the mineral selenium could be used but a trial following a number of male doctors showed they have a minimal effect.
  
• Q/ Will my diet affect my chance of getting prostate cancer?
  
• A/ Yes. The typical Western diet is high in saturated animal fat and red meat and researchers think this may explain why prostate cancer rates are higher here than in the Far East, for example. Men who have migrated from Japan and adopt a Western diet have been shown to increase their prostate cancer risk.
• Reducing the amount of animal fat in your diet and ensuring you eat your five-a-day can reduce your chance of developing cancer.
  
• Q/ What is lycopene and is it related to prostate cancer?
  
• A/ Lycopene is a substance found in red and pink foods, notably tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon and papaya. The concentration of it is highest in processed or cooked tomatoes such as tomato sauce or soup, possibly because the cooking process releases more lycopene. Men who eat two portions of these lycopene-rich foods a week may reduce their prostate cancer risk by as much as 30 per cent. Even in those with prostate cancer, lycopene-rich food may slow the spread of the disease by helping to kill off the cancer cells.