Abrams, of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. “But lifestyle changes are important, useful and have an impact, and they’re something patients themselves have control over and can decide to do.”


SYMPTOMS: They may be silent or involve frequent urination, weak or interrupted urine flow, urinary leaking, needing to urinate frequently at night, blood in the urine, erectile dysfunction or discomfort when sitting.


NEW RESEARCH: The more faithfully that men with localized prostate cancer followed a Mediterranean diet, the better their disease fared, report University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center researchers. Drinking several cups of coffee every day may be linked to a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, suggests a pooled data analysis in the online journal BMJ Open. A new urine test for prostate cancer is so accurate it could have eliminated the need for one-third of biopsies in a recent study of 1,500 patients in the Journal of Urology.


INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES: In a 2018 comprehensive review of prostate cancer studies published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Abrams recommends a plant-based, antioxidant-rich diet that emphasizes cruciferous vegetables, tomatoes, soy, pomegranate, green tea and fish-based omega-3s; limiting meat, sugary drinks and saturated fats; supplementing with vitamin D3


and omega-3s while avoiding selenium and


vitamin E; exercising daily, with yoga and tai chi especially providing mind-body benefits; and using acupuncture to manage the side effects of conventional treatments. To combat the anxiety that can arise during the period between a diagnosis and surgery, Abrams suggests stress-reducing therapies like mindfulness training, reiki and support groups.


DEPRESSION


Up to one-third of men may experience depression, but it’s marked more by bravado than tears. “Rather than appearing sad, men with depression are more likely to react with anger, self-destructive behavior, self-distraction, or numbing of pain with substance use, gambling, womanizing and workaholism,” concludes a major University of Michigan study in JAMA Psychiatry. Irritability, blowing up at minor annoyances, sudden spells of aggression and risky behaviors are other hallmarks. Men are far less likely than women to


seek treatment and four times as likely to die by suicide.


SYMPTOMS: Besides anger and irritability, depressed men are more prone to lose weight rather than gain it, become obsessive-compulsive rather than anxious and experience physical problems like headaches, stomach ailments and chronic pain.


NEW RESEARCH: Men with moderate to high levels of what Russian researchers call “vital exhaustion”, marked by excessive fatigue, demoralization and irritability, are 16 percent more likely to have a heart attack within 15 years. The risk doubles for men that never married, were divorced or became widowed.


A patient receiving NeuroStar transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy.


INTEGRATIVE APPROACHES: “First, it is important to get a lab screening to rule out low testosterone,


and methylfolate. His lab focuses particularly on transcranial magnetic stimulation therapy, which a 2020 Stanford study found to be 90 percent effective in relieving drug-resistant depression. “It restores healthy brain function without medications, and with essentially no side effects,” says Upshaw, adding that the approach is particularly good for men that want to avoid the sexual side effects of


, D3 antidepressants.


Natural health writer Ronica O’Hara can be reached at OHaraRonica@gmail.com.


TO LEARN MORE


Integrative cancer care: A four-part video lecture series by integrative oncologist Donald Abrams, M.D., of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. Osher.ucsf.edu/patient-care/ patient-care-team/donald-abrams.


Health self-quiz: Myles Spar, M.D., co-author of Integrative Men’s Health, offers a simple quiz that helps identify health problems and proposes integrative strategies. Tinyurl.com/DrSparHealthQuiz.


June 2021 17


vitamin deficiencies, anemia and thyroid problems,” says holistic psychiatrist W. Nate Upshaw, M.D., medical director of NeuroSpaTMS, in Tampa. He also checks for sleep disorders, treats with cognitive behavioral therapy and after getting lab results, suggests such supplements as vitamins B12


image courtesy off NeuroStar


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