Most of these men also receive conventional therapy, but a few depend on lifestyle alone. The appeal of lifestyle therapy is obvious ”but does it work. Experts don't know, though research raises hope that it may have a beneficial impact, reports the July 2007 issue of Harvard Men's Health Watch .

All of the 93 men who signed up for the trial had newly diagnosed low- to moderate-grade cancers that were localized to the prostate gland. Half were randomly assigned to a lifestyle program, and half got no advice on lifestyle changes. The program that researchers created included four elements: An ultra-low-fat vegan diet; supplements, including soy, fish oil, vitamins E and C, and selenium; an exercise program of walking 30 minutes six days a week; and stress reduction that included yoga-based stretching, breathing, and meditation for an hour a day.

At the end of a year, a small but significant difference was evident. The average PSA in the intensive lifestyle group fell, whereas the average PSA in the untreated men rose. The participants in the lifestyle group also showed favorable cancer-fighting changes in their blood.

Much more research is needed before lifestyle therapy can be recommended clinically. But, the Harvard Men's Health Watch notes, men with prostate cancer may choose not to wait until science catches up with their disease. And since the lifestyle program studied is good for general health, its elements will make a reasonable addition to any prostate cancer program

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There were three key findings from the study first, the benefit of switching to a healthy lifestyle past age 45 became evident even in the 4-year, short-term follow up; second, the beneficial impact of the changes occurred despite the relatively modest changes in health habits; and third, the healthy lifestyle was beneficial when compared to all persons with three or fewer healthy habits, not just in comparison to people with none or one habit. People adopting only three healthy habits experienced lower mortality but not fewer CVD events over the same period.

The authors found that only 8.5% of middle-aged adults practice these four behaviors and only 8.4% newly adopt such a lifestyle past age 45. Further, men, African-Americans, and individuals with less than college education, lower income, or a history of hypertension or diabetes are less likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle past age 45, and are therefore at greater risk of mortality and cardiovascular disease.

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