Natural Prostate Healers

Rating:
Summary: Overall a good book but needs updating and corrections...
Review: Recently read the book "Natural Prostate Healers" by Mike Fillon (with foreward by Dr. Barken). I noted that the book had great cautions in regard to elevated IGF-1 levels being predictors / causations for prostate cancer and yet have noted that research has pretty clearly refuted any such connections.

See:
http://www.thehormoneshop.com/prostate.htm
http://www.drcranton.com/hrt/HGH_found_safe.htm
http://www.auslifeextend.com.au/research.html

Additionally there is a degree of concern in the book's recommendations which could lead to an overexposure to soy in general. While certain very specific elements of soy (in quite moderate dosages) appear to positively affect prostate enlargement, the case history for "preventing" or "curing" prostate cancer appears less so and needs to be balanced out by concerns related to overconsumption of soy (considerable research as to soy's adverse effect on thyroid functioning for example).

http://thyroid.about.com/cs/soysdownsides/

Likewise, zinc oversupplementation apparently has surfaced as cause for concern:

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/70/80974.htm

"Zinc Supplements May Double Risk of Advanced Prostate Cancer"

Finally, I found that the book was inconsistent in other statements.

For example, on page 3 the book stated "suffice it to say, no prostate, no orgasm..." and yet on page 140 it states that one can have one's prostate completely removed and still have an orgasm. There is an obvious need to update and/or correct any future editions...

Larry S.

Rating:
Summary: Fillon makes a solid case that prostate cancer is avoidable.
Review: Women and men have different thresholds for consulting physicians. Women schedule doctor appointments regularly. I am told this is less a matter of choice than necessity. Regular peaks under the hood are a requirement for getting refills of birth control pills, and later, hormone replacements. Lacking this motivation, men see doctors only if they can't stop the bleeding after cutting themselves or they are unconscious. As they age many add a third reason: their prostate has begun acting up. Problem prostates cause many of the problems that make old age a less than glorious time, including painful urination, difficulty in maintaining an erection, frequent nighttime urination and the general inability to write your name in the snow. Realizing that the baby boomers were about to hit the problem prostate years, a cottage industry has developed to convince men to have their prostates examined on a regular basis. Following the proven formula of scaring people with statistics, the authors of these "public service" brochures have focused on prostate cancer. It is the perfect disease for shocking headlines. If you live long enough, you develop prostate cancer, period. What these well meaning attempts at educating men usually fail to mention is that prostate cancer develops very, very slowly. What they almost never mentioned is how much you can do to reduce the discomfort of prostate problems and cut dramatically your risk of prostate cancer. By putting an emphasis on these positive themes Mike Fillon's Natural Prostate Healers: A Breakthrough Program For Preventing And Treating Common Prostate Problems provides a refreshing look at an important men's health issue. What I like best about Fillon's book is that he has taken the approach of a journalist surveying new terrain. The result is that important facts that tend to be minimized in more medically-oriented books rise to their proper perspective. Two points stand out. First, Fillon stresses the lack of a cause-and-effect linkage between common prostate problems and prostate cancer. There is a presumption -- largely created by public service ads -- that 2 a.m. visits to the toilet are nature's idiot light for warning you of prostate cancer. Fillon debunks this notion, and goes on to suggests common sense ways of managing these problems, chiefly through minor changes in diet and exercise. Fillon's second contribution is to change our view of prostate cancer from being inevitable to becoming avoidable. The basis for this claim is the extreme global variation in prostate cancer rates, between 3.5 cases per 100,0000 in Singapore to 49.8 cases in Sweden. The rate in America is 32.2 cases. Rather than let this statistic hang in the air as some sort of X-file mystery, Fillon seizes upon it to suggest ways in which minor modifications of your diet to move you toward the favorable end of the statistical scale. Prostate problems will eventually pose some degree of difficulty for everyone who leaves the toilet seat up. Fillon's journalistic approach treats the subject with a degree of balance that is both enlightening and, through the inclusion of recipes that promote prostate health, quite useful as well. Natural Prostate Healers belongs in the home of every baby boomer, and you might want to send a copy to dad too.

Rating:
Summary: Fillon makes a solid case that prostate cancer is avoidable.
Review: Women and men have different thresholds for consulting physicians. Women schedule doctor appointments regularly. I am told this is less a matter of choice than necessity. Regular peaks under the hood are a requirement for getting refills of birth control pills, and later, hormone replacements. Lacking this motivation, men see doctors only if they can't stop the bleeding after cutting themselves or they are unconscious. As they age many add a third reason: their prostate has begun acting up. Problem prostates cause many of the problems that make old age a less than glorious time, including painful urination, difficulty in maintaining an erection, frequent nighttime urination and the general inability to write your name in the snow. Realizing that the baby boomers were about to hit the problem prostate years, a cottage industry has developed to convince men to have their prostates examined on a regular basis. Following the proven formula of scaring people with statistics, the authors of these "public service" brochures have focused on prostate cancer. It is the perfect disease for shocking headlines. If you live long enough, you develop prostate cancer, period. What these well meaning attempts at educating men usually fail to mention is that prostate cancer develops very, very slowly. What they almost never mentioned is how much you can do to reduce the discomfort of prostate problems and cut dramatically your risk of prostate cancer. By putting an emphasis on these positive themes Mike Fillon's Natural Prostate Healers: A Breakthrough Program For Preventing And Treating Common Prostate Problems provides a refreshing look at an important men's health issue. What I like best about Fillon's book is that he has taken the approach of a journalist surveying new terrain. The result is that important facts that tend to be minimized in more medically-oriented books rise to their proper perspective. Two points stand out. First, Fillon stresses the lack of a cause-and-effect linkage between common prostate problems and prostate cancer. There is a presumption -- largely created by public service ads -- that 2 a.m. visits to the toilet are nature's idiot light for warning you of prostate cancer. Fillon debunks this notion, and goes on to suggests common sense ways of managing these problems, chiefly through minor changes in diet and exercise. Fillon's second contribution is to change our view of prostate cancer from being inevitable to becoming avoidable. The basis for this claim is the extreme global variation in prostate cancer rates, between 3.5 cases per 100,0000 in Singapore to 49.8 cases in Sweden. The rate in America is 32.2 cases. Rather than let this statistic hang in the air as some sort of X-file mystery, Fillon seizes upon it to suggest ways in which minor modifications of your diet to move you toward the favorable end of the statistical scale. Prostate problems will eventually pose some degree of difficulty for everyone who leaves the toilet seat up. Fillon's journalistic approach treats the subject with a degree of balance that is both enlightening and, through the inclusion of recipes that promote prostate health, quite useful as well. Natural Prostate Healers belongs in the home of every baby boomer, and you might want to send a copy to dad too.