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Low testosterone boosts death risk
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
In fact, a new study finds that low levels of it could double your death risk.
British researchers tracked 930 men with coronary heart disease for about seven years, and found that those whose manly hormone levels had slipped were twice as likely to die during the study as those with normal levels.
The study published in Heart was observational, so it doesn't exactly prove cause and effect. But if you happen to have a few million bucks lying around, get in touch with these researchers -- they could use some help.
They want to run some clinical trials on testosterone, but no one wants to fund them.
You know the drill: Big Pharma won't pay up because you can't patent a hormone. And if you can't patent it, you can't earn billions. The companies that sell natural hormones, on the other hand, don't have the kind of money needed for a clinical trial.
But don't worry: If you don't have the scratch to fund a major medical study, I've got you covered -- because I don't need new research to know that you probably need a testosterone boost.
Whenever I say that out loud, men start looking around as if I can't possibly be talking to them.
Yes, I'm talking to you -- and it's nothing to be ashamed of.
Most of us need an occasional boost as we age (even the ladies), and not just for heart health. Proper testosterone levels can make you sharper, faster, stronger and turn you back into a tiger between the sheets.
But whatever you do, skip the off-the-shelf hormone creams and any pill that claims to "boost" testosterone production, and definitely avoid prescription-happy mainstream docs.
Instead, top off your tank by visiting a physician skilled in working with safe, natural bioidentical hormones.
I'm not done with male health yet -- keep reading for the latest prostate shocker.
New dangers linked to prostate treatments
More proof that prostate treatments are worse than the cancer: They can increase your risk of diabetes, stroke and heart disease.
One new study even finds that they can rot your bones right out of your body.
Australian researchers tracked 26 prostate cancer patients who were treated for a year with hormone-robbing androgen-deprivation therapy, or ADT.
ADT is just a fancy way of saying "castration," but the men in this study lost more than their manhood -- the researchers found evidence of structural decay in both the hard outer shell and spongy insides of the bone, according to the study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
It's not surprising -- an earlier study found a 45 percent increased risk in fractures in men undergoing ADT. One wrong move, and CRACK -- you've been hobbled AND emasculated.
Roughly 600,000 U.S. prostate cancer patients are undergoing some form of ADT right now -- some through surgery, while others take hormone-blocking drugs.
A common side effect is a dramatically smaller penis -- but don't worry: Without those hormones, you won't be using it much anyway.
And that's not all that can go badly wrong here. In fact, as I write this, drug labels are quickly being updated to reflect the latest disturbing evidence against hormone-blocking ADT meds.
The FDA now says GnRH agonists -- drugs such as Eligard, Lupron, Synarel, Trelstar, Vantas, Viadur, and Zoladex -- have been linked to a "small" increase in the risk of diabetes, heart attack, stroke and sudden death.
Of course, the feds won't tell anyone to stop taking these meds -- but then again, these are the same people who allow diabetics to keep taking the dangerous drug Avandia.
You might say they have different priorities from the rest of us.
But I don't care how "small" the risk is -- the best course of action with prostate cancer is usually doing nothing at all.
If you're a new reader, that might sound out-and-out insane, but facts are facts: Most men don't die of the disease... and yet lives are ruined every day by the surgeries, drugs, radiation and other treatments used to "cure" them.
And that's just bad medicine.
Protecting your prostate,
William Campbell Douglass II, M.D.
Men of a certain age
There's one thing on the mind of every single man I know over 50. (No...not that. That's on their minds from about age 13 on.)
It's their prostate...and the fear of prostate cancer.
Because, men, it's an indisputable fact: Once you reach a certain age, then simply because of your age, you're at higher risk of developing prostate cancer.
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Here to help
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Even when prostate cancer is successfully treated, the cancer returns in about 70 percent of cases. Needless to say, that rate of recurrence is unacceptable.
So what's behind this incredibly high recurrence rate?
Recent research reveals that prostate cancer stem cells initiate the disease in the first place. Unfortunately, this sub-group of cells is resistant to conventional treatment with chemotherapy.
This appears to be the key behind the relapses. Chemo often controls the bulk of prostate cancer cells, but it doesn't kill the stem cells. So these surviving stem cells can start up the cancer growth again.
Enter gamma-tocotrienol--one of the eight forms of vitamin E.
New studies from Australia show that gamma-tocotrienol appears to do two very important things:
1) It prevents growth of cancer from prostate cancer stem cells
2) When prostate cancer is detected, gamma-tocotrienol kills normal cancer cells and induces stem cells to self destruct, sharply reducing the likelihood the cancer will return
Now, there is a caveat...
So far, only a mouse study and a lab study support this chain of events. But given that gamma-tocotrienol is a known cancer-fighter, does no harm, and does a lot of good for the heart, this is a course of treatment every prostate cancer patient (or anyone concerned about his prostate) should consider adding to his routine.
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Cake & frosting
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More than 12 years ago, HSI members first learned about the cancer-fighting qualities of tocotrienol vitamin E.
Back then, we were excited about the effects of the four forms of tocotrienols on breast cancer cells. Like the new prostate cancer study, research showed that tocotrienols helped induce breast cancer cells to self destruct.
More recently, tocotrienol research has shown that these vitamin E forms may also offer significant protection from the DNA damage that promotes cancer growth.
In a 2007 study, 65 healthy adults received either a supplement that contained all four tocotrienols or a placebo. After six months, researchers found that significantly less DNA damage was apparent in the white blood cells of those in the tocotrienol group, compared to the placebo group.
Tocotrienol cancer research still has a long way to go. But in the meantime, it's hard to go wrong including tocotrienols in your diet (sources include palm oil, cereal grains, rice bran oil, and wheat germ oil) or your supplement regimen.
As Dr. Spreen pointed out in an earlier e-Alert, tocotrienols are "icing on the cake" in delivering cardiovascular benefits. The "cake" in this case is the full spectrum of tocopherols--the other four vitamin E forms.
Dr. Spreen: "There has been considerable peer-review research concerning the benefit of tocotrienols in even more than just cardiovascular disease, to include aging, Alzheimer's disease, breast disease and others."
As we keep an eye on the cutting edge of alternative medicine research, I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of tocotrienols. And if you have a prostate, you should be seeing a lot more of them even sooner.
...and another thing
If you're feeling overwhelmed, burned out and exhausted, that's likely a cry for help from your overworked adrenal glands.
HSI Panelist Dr. Eric Berg, DC, calls adrenal burnout syndrome the most under-diagnosed condition in healthcare.
As Dr. Berg explained to me recently, the adrenals counter the stress in your body. And this stress comes in many forms: lack of sleep, poor diet, emotional stress, smoking, financial pressures, deadline pressures, too much caffeine--the list goes on and on.
To make matters worse, the adrenal glands simply wear out physically as we age, which can also affect you mentally.
Then there's the list of adrenal burnout symptoms: belly fat, insomnia, auto-immune problems, chronic fatigue and pain, sinus allergies, diabetes, low vitamin D levels, cognitive decline, high blood pressure, high cholesterol--and that list goes on and on as well.
Dr. Berg has just finished writing a new book on this topic titled "Adrenal Burnout." And in advance of the first printing, he's making the entire book available online--for FREE--to all HSI members and e-Alert readers.
You can use this link to access "Adrenal Burnout" and take the first steps to putting your body's adrenal function back on track.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Sources:
"Gamma-tocotrienol as an effective agent in targeting prostate cancer stem cell-like population" International Journal of Cancer, Published online ahead of print, 7/8/10, onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Nov. 19, 2010