Vitamins May Lower Prostate Risk
.c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - Researchers looking for connections between prostate cancer
and outside influences found no statistical link with vasectomies, a study
says. But men seemed to lower their risk of the disease significantly by
taking certain vitamins.
The study, by researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle,
was based on data from 753 prostate cancer patients in King County,
Washington, and from 703 men who were free of the disease.
The researchers found that 39.4 percent of those with prostate cancer had
undergone vasectomies compared to 37.7 percent of the non-cancer group.
Those results were too statistically similar to suggest a link between
vasectomies and prostate cancer, they said. A vasectomy is a male sterilizing
procedure that is frequently used as a birth control method.
Men in the study were also questioned about taking vitamin pills. Fewer than
one-third took daily multivitamins, while 21 percent took vitamin C and 14
percent took vitamin E. Five percent took daily doses of zinc, calcium and
vitamin A.
Researchers said those who took vitamins C or E seemed to have a 23 percent
lower risk of prostate cancer, while those who took zinc nutrients had a
decreased risk of 45 percent.
The authors said that even though the results suggest some benefit from
taking the vitamins, the findings of a single study are not strong enough to
conclude that men should start taking the vitamin supplements.
``There are so few studies of dietary supplements and prostate-cancer risk
that even with these results we still don't know enough about it to make any
recommendations,'' said Dr. Alan Kristal, lead author of the study, which is
being published Friday in the journal Cancer, Epidemiology, Biomarkers and
Prevention.
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