June is national men’s health month to encourage men to seek medical advice, especially around prostrate cancer, which is said to affect one in six men.
According to the National Cancer Registry, the incidence of prostate cancer in South Africa almost doubled between 2007 and 2017.
A founding member of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of South Africa (PCF), professor Shingai Mutambirwa, said that prostate cancer is the second most common cause of male deaths and the second most common cancer in men after skin cancer.
“We always advise men to follow a healthy diet and to be physically active, as this helps to maintain good general health,” said the CEO of PCF, Andrew Oberholzer, when asked what lifestyle factors may influence the development of prostate cancer.
It is believed that a diet low in vegetables and high in animal fat, particularly red and processed meats, may increase a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer.
Oberholzer added that the dietary intake of lycopene, the organic pigment which gives tomatoes and some other fruits and vegetables their colour, has been reported to decrease the risk of prostate cancer.
According to Oberholzer, race is a major risk factor for prostate cancer, with black African men having a 60% increased risk to suffer from prostate cancer. They are also about 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease than their white counterparts.
“Having a first-degree relative with prostate or breast cancer increases the risks significantly. There is a lot of development in terms of genetics and prostate cancer, so hopefully, we will eventually reach a point where genetic testing will be able to identify at-risk individuals.”
Mutambirwa said if one picks up prostate cancer early, which requires screening, they have a 95% chance of being cured and will have a similar life expectancy to someone without cancer.
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