On Mar 27, 3:46 pm, Mik...@anon.co.uk wrote:

...

One of the problems with these kinds of reports is that they
don't tell you the magnitude of the results that might be
achieved.

For example, I once read about a PCa diet that showed, IIRC, a
six percent difference in PSA between those following the strict
diet and those who ate what they wanted.  Is that significant?
Was it a difference in PCa growth or just in expression of PSA?
Did it translate into a difference in lifespan or in the length
of time before the onset of symptoms?  And what part of the diet
was most significant?  If the nutritionist recommended five
changes in foods, is it possible that just one of those accounted
for almost all of the six percent difference and the other four
made only very small contributions?

Then there's the issue of whether all men are alike.  I remember
a posting from Ed Friedman, who studies the molecular biology of
PCa, commenting on a study of genistein.  He said that whether it
can be helpful or not depends on whether the patient has certain
levels of some chemical in his body.  I don't remember exactly
what he said, but the general message is that it's not
necessarily true that what's good for one patient, or most
patients, or the average patient, is good for any particular
patient.

I'm not trying to be an obscurantist here.  I do believe that we
indeed have some knowledge about diet and prostate cancer, and
I'm willing to credit the WebMD doctor for having done his
homework and for giving us factual information.  But his article
doesn't give us any information at all about the magnitude of the
effects he is discussing or the amount of contribution of any of
the specific foods he recommends for or against, and has no
citations to any of the studies that might contain that
information.

So, for now, I'm prepared to live dangerously.  Pass me another
milkshake.

   Alan

On Mar 27, 11:46 am, Mik...@anon.co.uk wrote:

I'm not saying that stuff is good for me or anyone.

What happened is that last fall, my PSA started climbing fast, 30 day
PSADT.  Then in January, my back went from a dull ache to "I can't get
up".

My highest measured PSA was 21 in January. At the end of February, I
was shuffling to Inova for external radiation from their Varian
Trilogy.

At the end of the 1st week of treatment, I had the most incredible
heartburn and my weight had fallen 7 pounds.

I felt like gagging when I ate anything. Most foods tasted weird.  My
solution was high calorie, soft foods that would slide down easy and
stay down.    As others have pointed out, that's sub-optimal from the
strict anti-PCa perspective but I was wasting away.

Some days, I could only choke down 2 small meals. I always felt
"full".  My weight kept falling and I was getting the "cancer patient"
look, thin arms and legs.   The lowest weight I saw was 10 pounds down
from my previous.

The good news is that Tofu is supposed to be good and that's soft. I
ate 7 pounds of it during March.  I have a couple quarts of blueberry,
pomegranate, ginger, green tea drink in the fridge.  I can tolerate
that.

I still have the heartburn and acid reflux but it's gradually
fading.   As it fades, I'll shift off the high calorie, ice cream,
pie, peanut butter and jam on white bread and back to fresh
vegetables.

-kh  back to exercise too.