In a previous post I listed the leading risk factors for prostate cancer as age, ethnicity, family history and diet. Let’s look at these in more detail.
- Age: most-likely the leading risk factor. In men younger than 40 prostate cancer is very rare. After age 50, however, the risk rises markedly.
- Ethnicity: while it’s unknown why some ethnicities are more susceptible to prostate cancer, it seems that African-American men are at the greatest risk, then Caucasians, with Asian-American and Hispanic/Latino men are at a lower risk.
- Family History: having a father or brother who has prostate cancer more than double’s your odds of getting the disease, especially if more than one relative has it.
- Diet: the exact role of diet in prostate cancer is not clear. However, consuming more red meat (which typically goes hand-in-hand with consuming fewer vegetables and fruits) seems to increase your odds somewhat. The challenge is that it’s not clear whether it’s the increased meat consumption or the decreased consumption of fruits and vegetables.
For a more exhaustive list be sure to check out the American Cancer Society’s detailed guide to prostate cancer
In my next post we’ll examine detection and diagnosis.
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