Part I: New Year's resolutions for AS patients
(Editor’s note: It’s traditional for news media to do stories about resolutions for a New Year. Same here at TheActiveSurveillor.com Gary Schwizter, who does the Health News Review Substack has some fun with resolutions, stressing that we should look for evidence for the resolutions.
(I will have resolutions for general health in Part I and resolutions more about prostate health in Part II. Another resolution for surveillors: Readers of this Substack ought to keep surveilling their prostate health. Also,sign up for a paid subscription to get into Saturday’s “AS ‘25: The Year in review.” (noon-1:30 p.m. Eastern). If you want to attend but feel you can’t afford a subscription, let me know ASAP at howard.wolinsky@gmail.com. I’ll get you in.)
By Howard Wolinsky
Resolutions are made to be broken, right? But based on my experience on Active Surveillance for 14 years, I’m going to suggest some resolutions that I think you can make work for your overall health and prostate health:
(1) Stop smoking. About 278,544 men die per year from smoking and second-hand smoke, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation reported “smoking doesn’t seem to raise the risk of low-grade prostate cancer – the kind that is very treatable, and in fact, may not ever need to be treated. But it does raise your risk of having cancer progress after diagnosis, and it raises your risk of dying from the bad kind of prostate cancer.
I was talking to AS pioneer, Dr. Laurence Klotz, of the University of Toronto, last week about other matters. Out of the blue, very excited, he told me the best thing any newly diagnosed cancer patient can do for their health is to quit smoking. He said at the time of diagnosis, patients are especially open to this message.
He pointed to this study in JAMA Network that found: Smoking after a cancer diagnosis increases mortality and risk for a second cancer. For the technically minded:
(2) Exercise is essential to your good health, including slowing progression of prostate cancer. Some experts say the benefits of exercise are better documented than for diet.
Adam Weiner, MD, a urologic oncologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in LA, stressed the importance of exercise: “I ALWAYS ask my patients about their fitness activity and recommend they incorporate 3x weekly exercise that includes cardio and strength training.”
Check out exercise oncologist Rob Newton and his research on the benefits of exercise to slowing prostate cancer: https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/apatientsjourney/111703. Newton says: "Let exercise be thy medicine, and medicine be thy exercise." Newton has been a pioneer in the emerging field of exercise oncology, which uses physical fitness to enhance the lives of people with cancer.
Check out this AS 101 video: https://aspatients.org/meeting/as101-episode-7-program-on-diet-and-nutritional-lifestyle/
Also, Kerry Courneya, PhD, an exercise researcher at the University of Alberta, caused a lot of buzz in 2021 for his research appearing in JAMA Network showing that high-intensity interval training can not only suppress cancer growth in patients on Active Surveillance but can help manage anxiety and fear of cancer progression. (For more, see Kerry at an AnCan seminar: https://ancan.org/special-presentation-exercise-after-prostate-cancer-active-surveillance-and-beyond/
(3) Check your fitness at the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/interactive/2024/fitness-test-by-age-exercise/?itid=sf_wellbeing_wellbeing_most_read_p003_f001_1&utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F402f37e%2F6774237ec2ea5077876f0f29%2F597a6e99ade4e26514cc5cd7%2F14%2F57%2F6774237ec2ea5077876f0f29
(4) Reduce stress. Remain calm. Stress is not your friend, nor mine, as it releases harmful biochemicals that helped our ancient get away from saber-tooth tigers but not “wimpy” Gleason 6 cancers, Try yoga, tai chi, qi gong, meditation. Try something. No pressure, though.
Here’s some options:
Tai Chi and Whole Body Health
(Editor’s note: I have been a fan of Tai Chi for more than 50 years. I learned about this extraordinary Chinese system as an undergrad at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana when I saw a dance group perform Tai Chi. I tuned in on it as featured on the “King Fu” TV series. Shaolin Kung Fu, a martial art, is the “hard” form of Tai Chi. I studie…
Meditating on the cancer journey
(Editor’s note: My urologist told me: ‘Stress causes urinary symptoms. Many factors contribute, but (there’s an) established association between stress/anxiety and urinary symptoms.’ Today, we’ll focus on meditation as a tool to lower stress. Beverly Feldt wrote the article below to introduce beginners to the Insight Meditation path. Like most of here,…
(5) Improve your diet. Follow a heart healthy diet, vegan, Mediterranean, whatever. Prostate health is heart health, and vice versa.
Check these out:
AS 101: https://aspatients.org/meeting/as101-episode-7-program-on-diet-and-nutritional-lifestyle/
(6) Watch your omegas.
What resolutions are on your list? Which other ones did I miss? Let me know in the chat here or via email at Howard.wolinsky@gmail.com
MRI-invisible lesions: A good sign—like a Gleason 6?
By Howard Wolinsky
Did you know that it’s possible for prostate cancer can be confirmed by a pathologist but the lesion can be invisible in an MRI?
Is this a good thing? Many researchers think it is.
Dr. Mark Emberton, Professor of interventional oncology at University College London and Dean of its Faculty of Medical Sciences, will be speaking to the ASPI webinar about MRI-invisible lesions on Saturday, January 25, 2025, from noon – 1:30 p.m. Eastern (5:00pm-6:30pm UK time). Emberton is a pioneer on the use of MRIs in diagnosing, classifying and monitoring prostate cancer.
Don’t be invisible. Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYldu-qqzojGNEzCkgPQuTOWYGhcL80Dhec'
MRI-invisible lesions are considered a good thing comparable to Gleason 6.
Professor Emberton’s clinical research is aimed at improving the diagnostic and risk stratification tools and treatment strategies for prostate cancer (PCa). He specializes in the implementation of new imaging techniques, nanotechnologies, bio-engineering materials and non-invasive treatment approaches, such as high intensity focused ultrasound and photo-dynamic therapy.
His research has been published in over 300 peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals including BMJ, Lancet Oncology and European Urology. He has also contributed to the development of guidelines for the management of PCa and lower urinary tract symptoms, published by the International Society of Geriatric Oncology and the European Association of Urology.
If you have questions, please send them to: contactus@aspatients.org
Howard, when and where will taping of AS25 be available? Who holds the "keys" to purchase of such? Why is such not used as a tool in marketing among treating teams; under what circumstances is such available? Prostate Cancer research Institute has for years done no less.
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