Counseling Sheet

Calvin Thrash, M.D.
Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine

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Each day, just with ordinary activity, the prostate produces from 1/10 to 4/10 of a teaspoon of prostatic fluid. During sexual arousal, four to ten times that amount is produced. When arousal is not followed by ejaculation, the fluid manufactured remains in the prostate and leads to discomfort. Sometimes the prostate does not completely empty upon ejaculation. Active sexual practice can cause chronic congestion in the prostate, according to some researchers.

By age 60, about half of men have developed some enlargement of the prostate; by 80 almost all. Benign prostatic hypertrophy can result in having to arise several times each night to urinate and may eventually result in acute urinary retention, with painful dilation of the bladder and the inability to relax the urethral sphincter. These attacks of acute retention often follow exposure to cold or consumption of alcohol, antihistamines, or for no known reason. Massage of the prostate can afford a great deal of relief and can postpone surgery, and in some cases, prevent it. Painful urination and pelvic heaviness may also be signs. Sometimes with regular prostatic massage, weekly or twice a month, surgery may be postponed for years. The technique can be easily learned for home use.

Because cancer of the prostate grows more slowly with estrogens, part of cancer treatment may be female hormones. Zinc is a trace metal needed in very small amounts, and a deficiency can lead to major medical problems. Ten milligrams a day is the recommended daily allotment. Most people on a natural diet will receive that much from their food. Zinc is found in high concentration in sperm and seminal fluid. The prostate gland contains more zinc than any other organ in the body. Excessive sexual practice leads to neurologic and mental disorders, as nerve tissue is also dependant for proper functioning on this trace mineral. Many prostate patients who have taken high zinc foods or zinc supplements, report improvement. Some patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy have actually had a reduction in size from taking zinc, and many have a reduction in congestion in prostatitis. Zinc rich foods include nuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat bran, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, onions, molasses, peas, beans, lentils, and gelatin. It is almost nonexistent in refined, processed foods. If the soil is low in zinc, fruits and vegetables grown on it will also be. Lecithin, essential fatty acids and vitamins A and D, C and E. are helpful for prostatic health. (Ref. What Every Man Should Know About His Prostate by Monroe Greenburger and Mary Ellen Siegel, Walker and Company, New York, 1983). These nutrients are abundant in whole grains, vegetables and fruits, except for vitamin D, which can be obtained from adequate sun exposure (at least a six-inch patch of skin exposed to the sun 15 minutes twice a week. The time is cumulative and can be stored up in summer). (Ref. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 34:2641, 1981).

‍Causes of and Treatments for Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy

1. ‍‍Alcohol is a prostatic irritant. A little less than 5% of the alcohol imbibed is excreted in the urine, where it acts as a prostatic irritant. It may be that malt, hops and juniper berry, involved in the manufacture of certain alcoholic drinks, may also be specific prostatic irritants. (Ref. JAMA 224(5):637, April 30, 1973).
2. The patient should drink six to ten glasses of plain water, spread throughout the day, except at mealtimes, at a rate of one-half glass every half hour. He should intentionally urinate every one and a half to two hours, avoiding overdistention of the bladder, which can lead to acute retention. The male hormone, testosterone, breaks down to dihydrotestosterone. It is known that this product can cause the prostate to enlarge in dogs and probably in men as well. (Ref. Science News, May 19, 1979, p. 328, vol. 115). Male hormones increase with sexual stimulation.
3. Hydrotherapy in acute prostatitis can take several forms: hot and cold sitz baths; hot retention enemas (water); a ten-minute sitz bath twice daily with hot jets of water playing on the lumbosacral region and perineum, the feet also being in hot water, finishing the treatment with a 20-second cold shower; the entire body scrubbed with a scrubby or loofa, ending with a hot shower (under pressure, if possible) at about 40-44°C. (104-114°F.). (Ref. JAMA, May 20, 1922, 78:1578).
4. One group of 25 men, being studied for infertility, was selected because of enlarged prostates. They were given ten sessions of prostatic massage during three to four weeks and the fluid expressed and analyzed for citric acid. The hypertrophy was seen to recede in almost all cases. Citric acid concentrations fell in only six of 25 cases analyzed, and in the others, remained stable. Apparently, the citric acid, acid phosphatase, and spermine all follow about the same pattern, and when one is elevated, others are also; when one falls, others do too. (Ref. Andrologia 12(1): 30-33. 1980).
5. Venous blood drainage may be encouraged from the pelvic region by having the man lie on his back, hips on a pillow to raise the hips higher than the shoulders. The skin on the low abdomen may be slightly reddened by a mustard plaster. A hot-water bottle applied to the perineum and help in place by snugly fitting clothing can be helpful. (Ref. Urology 14(6):545, 179).
6. Forty-five cases of uncomplicated benign prostatic hypertrophy had night urination (nocturia) relieved or reduced in 95% of cases, urgency in 81%, frequency in 73% and delayed urination in 70% by the administration of three amino acids, glycine, alanine, and glutamic acid. (Ref. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 10:426-30, May. 1962).
7. Bee pollen is a richer source of amino acids than of vitamins, and contains small amounts of estrogens. It has been used in 25 patients for prostatitis with good results. (Ref. Medical World News, February 3, 1961).‍

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Complications of Prostatic Surgery

There is increased rate of metastatic carcinoma of the prostate after a transurethral resection, by a 2.4 fold increased risk. (Ref. Medical News, February 20, 1984. p.7).

What is called the "TOR reaction" (transurethral resection is typically characterized by apprehension, irritability, confusion, headache, nausea, vomiting and cardiac manifestations as well as visual disturbances. (Ref. GU, May, 1979, p.5)

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‍Causes of Cancer of the Prostate‍

There is a high rate of cancer of the prostate among Blacks, two times that of Whites and four times that of Asians, and a rapid increase in rates with age after forty. In one report, epidemiologic and experimental evidence supported each of three hypotheses for the cause:

1) industrial exposure to cadmium, 2) sexual transmission by an infectious agent, and 3) endocrine factors.

It was found that only a small portion of cases might be attributable to industrial exposures, and that Catholic priests also have prostatic cancer (evidence against sexual transmission of the disease) and that there was only a limited support of an endocrine hypothesis of cancer of the prostate; therefore at present, there is no clear-cut, known cause of cancer of the prostate.

It is of interest that diet is not usually mentioned as a cause of cancer of the prostate. Yet it is cited as important by some. A study which came out of work done by Dr. Roland Phillips at Loma Linda, California, over a 20-year period showed that fatal prostate cancer was more common depending on the frequency with which meat, milk, eggs, and cheese were used in the diet. As each one of these articles of diet was added to the diet, the rest increased. Eggs are also specifically related to cancers, as is milk. That cancer virus can cross species lines is illustrated by bovine leukemia transmitted to lambs approximately 75% of instances where milk was given to lambs from known leukemic cows. As far back as 1964, Consumer's Research declared cottage cheese, cream cheese, yogurt and buttermilk to be unwholesome as currently available to the consumer. Presently, there is at least no better conditions for cottage cheese, and perhaps worse. These products have been definitely associated with the development of ovarian cancer, which strengthens the case for the association between animal products and cancer of the prostrate found by Dr. Phillips.

Vasectomy seems to protect against cancer of the prostate. Vasectomy is accompanied by reduced prostatic function and size. (Ref. Prostate 4(4):333944, 1983)

It has been postulated that coffee drinking is one cause of prostatic cancer. (Ref. AFP 11(6):102, June, 1975 and Tohoku J. Exp. Med. 1964, 82:218-223) Cancer of the prostate is substantially reduced among Seventh-day Adventists who use no coffee, alcohol, and little meat. (Ref. Cancer Research, 43:2403, May 1983)

Married men with children have almost thee times greater risk (7%) of developing prostate cancer than those without children. (Ref. Medical Tribune, October 22, 1975) And the incidence climbs along with the number of children.

Of Jews with cancer of the prostate, 73% admitted gonorrhea and sexual promiscuity according to a urologist practicing in Brooklyn from 1919 to 1948, Abraham Ravich, Miami Beach, reporting in Medical Tribune.

Oddly, schizophrenia may protect one against cancer and reduce the likelihood of coronary artery disease, ulcerative colitis, peptic ulcer, and asthma. (Ref. Medical Tribune, Wednesday, December 20, 1972.) It also seems to protect against rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.‍

Summary

Causes of Cancer of the Prostate

• Use of free fats, dairy products, coffee, tea, colas, and chocolate.
• Use of meat, milk, eggs, and cheese.
• Increased use of oranges, retinoids.
• Increase in the number of children, especially as the number gets over 5.
• Decreased zinc (whole grains).
• Decreased green leafy vegetables and fresh fruit.