This post is on Healthwise
Knowing your risk for disease can help you take steps to lower your chance of getting ill. With men, they often avoid worrying about their health until they already have a problem. Women are better at prevention, which is why it is important to know if your husband is at risk for prostate cancer so you can help him lower his risk factors.
Prostate cancer has many risk factors. Some, like genetic factors, are beyond your control; others you can influence. But no matter what your husband’s risk factors are, if he follows a prostate-friendly lifestyle, gets early screenings and gets early intervention if necessary, it can make a big difference in preventing and/or beating this disease. The following signs can tell you if your husband is at risk for prostate cancer.
Obesity
Is your husband overweight? Obesity is a big risk factor for prostate cancer, and one you can do something about. Help your husband exercise, follow the Prostate Diet, and lose weight.
Diet
If your husband is a lover of fried foods and meat, especially processed and cured meats like bacon or well-done meat, you may want to encourage him to cut back on these foods. Several studies indicate that consuming these foods can increase risk of cancer, including prostate cancer. Instead look at following a Mediterranean diet, which focuses on fish, nuts, seeds, heart-healthy oils and vegetables. Knowing what foods to avoid for prostate health as well as the best diet for prostate health can help you shop and prepare better meals for a lifetime of better habits and enjoying your husband’s good health.
African-American
If your husband is black, he is at a higher risk of getting prostate cancer than other American men. In fact African-American men have twice the risk of prostate cancer in their early 50s and are twice as likely to die from prostate cancer. What is interesting is that black men living in Africa do not have as high a risk factor, so something about the American diet, stress, or environment is contributing.
Heredity
Does your husband’s father, uncles or brothers have prostate cancer? Some types of prostate cancer are genetic, and the tumors may be more aggressive, so it is important to get a PSA test and prostate exam early and regularly.
Balding
Is your husband balding? Not trying to add insult to injury, but a study indicates that one of the weird risks for prostate cancer is that bald men have a 69 percent greater risk for prostate cancer than men without hair loss. Researchers speculate that this related to testosterone levels.
Height
Is your husband over 6 feet tall? In the U.S. and the UK, taller men have a higher risk for prostate cancer than shorter men.
Living in northern climates
If you live in the north, your husband’s risk of prostate cancer is higher than men who live south of 40 degrees latitude. Make sure your husband is getting plenty of vitamin D, to make up for the lack of sunlight exposure. Vitamin D is important for prostate health and male aging.
Prostatitis
If your husband has suffered with chronic prostatitis, he may be at risk for prostate cancer. A 2010 study found that men with a history of prostatitis have a 30 percent increased risk of prostate cancer. That is why employing a multimodal approach to manage this condition and reduce inflammation is important. While there is not a causal link between prostatitis and prostate cancer, the same factors in diet, exercise and stress can increase the risk for both prostatitis and prostate cancer, so it is important to take steps to achieve better prostate health.
Sedentary lifestyle
Is your husband a bit of a couch potato? It is time to get moving. Exercise is important for all aspects of prostate health, and studies on prostate cancer and exercise show that exercise, even walking at least 90 minutes per week, can help men live longer and lower risk for prevent prostate cancer. Men who exercise even more enjoy better benefits. Getting at least three hours per week of vigorous physical activity is associated with a 61 percent lower risk of death from prostate cancer when compared with men who exercise less than one hour per week at vigorous activity, and a 49 percent lower risk of dying from any cause.
To help your husband prevent prostate cancer, encourage him to get moving, manage his stress, eat better and perhaps drink green tea or take a supplement. If he is at a higher risk factor for prostate cancer due to his race or family history, encourage him to talk to his doctor and get screened earlier than other men. You may need to schedule that first appointment for him. He may not be excited to go to the doctor, but getting that first baseline reading is important, and he will appreciate the good care from his loving wife.
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