*** From a Blog post by Dr. Mark Stengler
When NOT treating cancer is your best option
Nothing in the world sounds quite as urgent as a cancer diagnosis.
Doesn't matter what form of cancer it is. Once you hear the word, you can almost hear the clock ticking, counting down the time you have left.
So I understand why folks want to take immediate action to fight the disease -- but new research shows again why "action" is exactly the WRONG approach for one common cancer.
When you treat a low-grade tumor, you face more risks than the cancer itself would ever cause -- including side effects and complications from surgery, radiation, and medication.
As a result, the new study finds that men with low-risk tumors who avoid treatment and instead take the "active surveillance" approach -- where a doc monitors the cancer to ensure it remains low-risk -- enjoy a far better quality of life than men who get treated.
In fact, they have the same quality of life as men WITHOUT cancer!
And they didn't just do better early on, when you'd expect men who have treatment to be suffering from the worst of the side effects.
The researchers checked in on them at both the five- and 10-year mark, and they found the men who chose active surveillance were living the good life.
The men who were receiving treatment, however, were living to regret it. They were getting an up-close and highly personal lesson in misery.
The two most common prostate treatments, radical prostatectomy and radiotherapy, can lead to some of the most humiliating problems you can imagine: impotence and incontinence.
Men who have surgery have lower scores in urinary function, urinary incontinence and sexual function, while men who have radiotherapy battle more sexual side effects.
The damage caused can be lasting... and, in some cases, permanent.
While a tumor in the prostate can also lead to problems, they're unlikely to be caused by the slow-growing early-stage tumors that most men encounter.
As a result, the study finds, men with prostate cancer who choose to do nothing at all have similar urinary function, sexual function, and overall quality of life as men without cancer.
So if you're ever diagnosed with prostate cancer, take a deep breath before you make any big decisions -- because if it's a low-risk tumor, it's not as urgent as you've been lead to believe.
Odds are, you'll be able to live for many years without treatment -- especially if you combine surveillance with some common-sense steps to protect your health.
A back-to-basics diet low in processed foods combined with natural therapies can help ensure that your low-risk cancer never turns into a high-risk tumor that needs treatments.
I've got the full scoop on science-backed supplements proven to help men with prostate cancer, and you can read it for free right here.
God bless,
Dr. Mark Stengler
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