Lloyd Austin: US Secretary of Defense has prostate cancer – 5 unknown risk factors you should know
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is suffering from prostate cancer. The 70-year-old has now made his diagnosis public. What risk factors men should know.
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US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has revealed that he has prostate cancer. The disease was recognized early and the prognosis for recovery was “excellent,” as the responsible clinic near the capital Washington announced on Tuesday. Due to complications following an operation at the end of December, the 70-year-old has had to be treated in hospital since the beginning of the year.
65,000 Germans fall ill every year
More than 65,000 men in Germany are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year; no other cancer occurs so frequently among them. Nevertheless, little is known about the development and, above all, the avoidable, i.e. modifiable, risk factors of male cancer. The only thing that is certain is that age, obesity and a meat-heavy diet promote its development.
5 risk factors for prostate cancer
Genetic predisposition also plays a role. So if your father, brother or uncle has already been affected, your own risk increases. But scientists are slowly identifying other risk factors that – in contrast to age and genetics – everyone can influence themselves:
1. Gonorrhea and syphilis
Men who have had sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are particularly at risk of later developing prostate cancer, according to an Italian study. In their meta-analysis, the researchers evaluated 47 studies that dealt with STIs and prostate cancer. According to this, gonorrhea, commonly known as gonorrhea, increases the risk of prostate cancer by almost 50 percent.
Syphilis also appears to have some influence on cancer development. Other STIs, such as HPV, have not had such clear results associated with prostate cancer. But researchers believe that STIs generally increase the risk of prostate cancer.
The cause of the fatal consequence – first a sexually transmitted disease, later prostate cancer – is probably the inflammatory processes in the prostate that can occur with an STI. The risk of cancer increases, especially if the tissue becomes inflamed for a long time or repeatedly. Some men are known to get gonorrhea or syphilis several times in their lives.
Based on these results, many cases of prostate cancer could probably be prevented if STI prevention were carried out reliably, keyword safe sex. In this way, you can avoid infection with gonorrhea and syphilis and thus reduce your own risk of prostate cancer.
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2. Sleep disorders, insomnia
Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep has a negative impact on health, that is common knowledge. What is new is the finding that insomnia also increases the risk of prostate cancer by 10 percent. This is the result of an analysis of the sleeping habits of more than 200,000 men with a follow-up period of a good ten years.
Sleep problems can often be easily controlled with self-management, such as sleep hygiene, relaxation exercises, avoiding stressful films in the evening and using cell phones and tablets in the bedroom. Alcohol is not the desired sleep-inducer as many people think, but has been proven to worsen the quality of sleep. The study mentioned also shows a very simple way to reduce your personal prostate risk: a nap in the afternoon reduces the risk by around nine percent.
3. Milk and dairy products
The food that has been praised as a health drink for decades is not that cheap in large quantities. This has been proven in several studies in recent years. We’re not just talking about the risky fat profile, which can be avoided with low-fat products. Milk and dairy products may increase the risk of some types of cancer, such as breast cancer, but also prostate cancer, a recent study suggests.
According to this, just two cups of milk increases the risk of prostate cancer by 25 percent. Several substances in milk and dairy products could be responsible for this. This doesn’t include calcium, but probably sex hormones. Because our milk usually comes from pregnant cows and therefore also contains hormones. Many forms of prostate cancer respond to hormones. The growth factor IGF-1, the abbreviation stands for “insulin-like growth factor”, could also promote the development. These connections exist, but are not strong, as a meta-analysis suggests.
Daily consumption of milk, cheese and yoghurt is not a risk factor as long as the amount remains moderate.
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4. Smoking
When you smoke, your body is flooded with lots of cancer-causing substances. Not only the mouth and the upper and lower respiratory tract come into contact with the lungs, but also indirectly the bladder and also the prostate. However, there are conflicting study results as to whether smoking is really a strong risk factor for prostate cancer or not. However, a current study proves for the first time how dangerous smoking is for men with prostate cancer: smokers with prostate cancer have a 20 percent higher risk of dying from this cancer than non-smokers.
The longer and the more people smoked, the higher the death rate. This connection was particularly pronounced in cancer patients who not only smoked but were also overweight. Overweight and obesity are significant risk factors for many types of cancer. Because fat cells produce hormones such as leptin, which can promote cell growth, support underlying, silent inflammation that can promote cancer.
Both risk factors can be reduced with a little initiative – stop smoking and lose weight.
5. Lack of exercise
Against this background, it is not surprising that lack of exercise is also one of the risk factors that can be influenced. Too little physical activity is a known risk factor for various forms of cancer – not only for breast and colon cancer, lung and pancreatic cancer and endometrial cancer, but also for prostate cancer.
Various factors play a role here. Lack of exercise influences, among other things, hormone production and promotes silent inflammation.
Regular physical exercise could reduce the risk of prostate cancer by 10 to 20 percent. The effect is greater the more intensively you exercise. The WHO recommends two and a half hours per week as a minimum – in terms of cancer prevention, a little more is certainly better. Other professional societies such as the American Cancer Society recommend at least 60 minutes of moderate or 30 minutes of vigorous activity per day.