I posted this video several years ago but some will not have seen it.
Generally, when I review the PCa literature on a repurposed drug, I include the negative along with the positive. Typically, my links are from scientific studies published in peer-reviewed journals available on PubMed.
If you want information about vegan diets, Dr. Michael Greger might be your guy. He uses PubMed too. But recognize that all of his selected studies support his position as a dedicated vegan. It's called selection bias.
You might learn that raising your weekly egg intake from 0.4 to 1.0 is associated with a 30% increase in the risk of PCa progression [1]. It's all good fun. (Erin Richman is a vegan too.)
Some on HU are purists. No epidemiolgical studies for them - unless, of course, the association is null. Somehow, the glass must always be empty.
While a non-scientist might declare himself to be the arbiter of what is/is'nt good science, Dr. Myers was for many years a respected published researcher. It used to frustrate me that he was slow to take a position on a number of supplements, such as lycopene, or non-PCa drugs, such as Metformin. He did not, however, take the position that all supplements were useless. He was just waiting for the right study to come along. Until then, he kept an open mind. For Metformin, that study came along in 2014 [2].
I just searched PubMed for <prostate lycopene> & got 520 hits!
& 147 for <prostate[title] lycopene[title]>.
But no real consensus it seems.
Edward Giovannucci created the lycopene industry in 1998 with his paper "Tomatoes, lycopene, and prostate cancer" [1]. In 1999 there was a follow-up [2]:
"We conducted a nested case-control study using plasma samples obtained in 1982 from healthy men enrolled in the Physicians' Health Study ..."
"The ORs for all prostate cancers declined slightly with increasing quintile of plasma lycopene (5th quintile OR = 0.75 ...); there was a stronger inverse association for aggressive prostate cancers (5th quintile OR = 0.56 ...)."
But in a few years the case for lycopene weakened. Yet researchers are still drawn to it. Where do they find the funding?
I'm tempted to start eating a "Full English" breakfast, which always contains a fried tomato. Lycopene must be heat-treated.
There is a reason for the universally acknowledged (by ALL medical researchers) levels of evidence that you ignore. The reason is that observational studies, which is what you depend upon, are almost always contradicted by higher levels of evidence. Level 1 evidence (large, well done, randomized clinical trials) on the other hand, is never contradicted.
The observational studies you depend upon are plagued by "selection bias." Researchers know that and never make practice-changing recommendations based on them. The only legitimate purpose of observational studies is to generate hypotheses for actual clinical trials. It worked! There are many clinical trials now on metformin. So far, they have been small (cumulative sample size 333), but there are two -STAMPEDE- Arm K and MAST- that are very large.
I hope you will study more about research methods in the future so you don't waste your time on such analyses.
I hope you noticed that in that study of tuberculosis you linked, level 1 evidence was used as the gold standard. That makes my point - when you have level 1 evidence, what is the point of relying on anything else, even if it is the best-designed observational study in the world?
Observational studies suffer from selection bias. We saw that clearly in the many contradictory conclusions drawn from observational studies about metformin. From observational studies, we have this:
I have always wondered if Dr Greger's research was biased. I am happy to eat vegetables and avoid meat. My husband is ok doing this as well but I wonder about the science. Could meat be a part of a cancer fighting diet ? Sometimes it can all be so confusing. Does it hurt to avoid eating meat ? (As long as you are getting enough iron)
Dr. Greger always makes the best case that he can. Alas, in the PCa literature he has a paucity of material to work with. I have grown to admire him ('bless his little cotton socks' - Brits will understand.)
I think that a vegan diet has great possibilities in PCa because it lends itself to selective restriction of any one of a number of nutrients where a deficiency might slow the cancer.
I find that I don't each much meat, but on this cold day my thoughts are turning to lamb & white bean casserole. It's a vegan dish with a bit of lamb.
The guy that Darryl interviewed on the best PCa diet said that meat was PCa "neutral" if I recall.
With PCa, it's not wise to eat a large portion of meat in one sitting, since the phosphorous level would dampen the conversion of calcidiol (25-hydroxyvitamin D) to the hormonal calcitriol (1,25-hydroxyvitamin D). IMO These days I can't handle more than 3 oz anyway.
Patrick.. Meat increases systemic inflammation and higher inflammation promotes growth of cancer. Keeping C Reactive protein as low as possible is helpful to slow cancer progression. Once in a year is probably harmless.
We will stay plant based. We eat beans instead of meat and it seems to work fine. It was an adjustment in the beginning. The plant based milks are accepted by the family and I have gotten good at making vegan cheeses. But I must confess that at Christmas I make our holiday dishes with the original ingredients, I tried to convert them to vegan and they did not turn out well. So for now around Christmas it is vegetarian..but that is only once a year.
Our family doctor, Dr Rakel, specializes in integrative medicine.(He wrote the book on it) We have been using a fish oil supplement from Nordic Naturals that he recommended. The fish oil is more for pains for my husband and son. I think it is helping them some. The iron supplement that Dr. Rakel recommends is Blood Builder if anyone is interested. (We add vitamin C to increase absorption)
Happy Holidays to you all!
I am so happy to have my honey with me. He had a good Bone Scan last month and good Chromagranin and PSA. (He was diagnosed with Neuroendcrine PCa in June 2017.)
Thanks Patrick...for clarifying some of the issues about Metformin to people. I hope our friends at this forum do not get mislead by SOC salesman trying to narrow down our choices. Patrick.. please continue to enlighten us on all relevant interventions which can help. .whether SOC or NO SOC... Like my Oncologist said "proof is in the pudding" If something is working well for someone and there is evidence that it is working for that individual. .then it is fine.....they can take their "soc" and shove it in their ....you know where .. ! Our only agenda is longer progression free and overall survival.
Good. I like that. Let people make their own decision and judgement . We are all adultsand educated ...We can look at different ideas and opinions and choose what is best for us.
I have turned off replies because of a lack of civility. Discussions are welcome. Acrimony and ad hominem attacks between members are not at all helpful for our community. We can send private direct messages to each other. But, please, do not use our community platform for toxic comments, repetitive critiques and vendettas. Paraphrasing USA President-Elect Biden, we should fight cancer, not each other.
The ability to reply to this post has been turned off.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Metformin experience 
Metformin prescription 
Metformin and Berberine
Will a Ketogenic Diet and/or Metformin Relieve Cognitive Impairment Due to Androgen Deprivation Therapy?
