Prostate cancer has grabbed many headlines lately: September was Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and, last week, a drafted recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force advised against the routine use of PSA screening tests. Today, results of research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association demonstrate a relationship between vitamin E supplements and increased prostate cancer risk in healthy men.
Prostate Cancer
The National Cancer Institute estimates that more than 240,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year, with nearly 34,000 resultant deaths. Prostate cancer is the leading non-skin cancer diagnosed in men.
The top risk factor for this disease is age; Senior Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, explains that having prostate cancer under the age of 40 is very rare. A man's risk increases as he grows older, with the average age at diagnosis being 65 years of age. Baby boomers and their seniors are the men falling into this higher risk group.
Vitamin E and Selenium Dietary Supplements
Before the Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial, SELECT, began in 2001, there had been small studies that suggested the antioxidant properties of the two dietary supplements protected against prostate cancer, reports MSN.com.
The SELECT research, a double-blind study that was also placebo controlled, involved 35,000 men from Canada, the United States and Puerto Rico. Originally set to be a ten-year long study, SELECT was completed in 2008 when evidence demonstrated that not only did the two dietary supplements not decrease the rate of prostate cancer in healthy men, selenium, and to a greater extent, vitamin E actually increased study participant's chances of developing the cancer.
Caution with Use of Dietary Supplements
Dietary supplements are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the same manner as prescription medications. The results of the SELECT research demonstrate that all dietary supplements are not necessarily always agents of health--and sometimes--they may actually cause harm.
Consumers, who spend $28 billion each year in the U.S. on various dietary supplements, need to better educate themselves about the potential pros and cons of various dietary supplements before using them. Dr. Eric Klein, urologist and study leader from the Cleveland Clinic told MSN.com, "Consumers should be skeptical about claims that are made on bottles and elsewhere unless there is solid scientific evidence."
Dr. Ian Thompson of the San Antonio, Texas Cancer Therapy and Research Center, told KENS5.com that to assume that something such as these two dietary supplements can't cause harm and might be helpful is not the correct conclusion to reach, as the SELECT research has proven.
Smack dab in the middle of the baby boomer generation , L.L. Woodard is a proud resident of "The Red Man" state. With what he hopes is an everyman's view of life's concerns both in his state and throughout the nation, Woodard presents facts and opinions based on common-sense solutions.
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