One a Day prostate pills.

I've been seeing these commercials for "One a Day" prostate pills.

They state that taking one pill a day "MAY" reduce the CHANCE of prostate cancer.

They also state that 1 in 3 men will develop prostate cancer AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE (possibly well into their 80's or whatever. "The useless years.").

3 things I know about prostate cancer:

1) It can kill you.
2) It can go into remission if caught soon enough.
3) "One-in-three" will get it ("learned" from this commercial).

Am I crazy in thinking that purchasing these pills and eating one every day for the rest of your life is pointless?

Let's say you are in your mid-20's. You would have to spend over the course of your life several hundreds of dollars on these pills just for the POSSIBLE CHANCE that it REDUCES the risk of prostate cancer (which is already at 2-to-1 odds against).

What is the expected value of buying and eating these pills for the next 55 years? I just don't see it.

*Most* insurance plans cover a yearly prostate screening, and if this is done, shouldn't one be able to catch cancer before it's too late, without ever having to eat these pills?

The commercial implies that every man should eat these pills, when in fact every man has odds in their corner that they will NEVER EVER develop prostate cancer. Without having to spend an additional dime.

[tek]

"shouldn't one be able to catch cancer before it's too late"
Big gamble. Cancer can spread fast.

If there is something that will reduce chances of prostate problems, I say go for it. I've heard stories from guys who've had tubes stuck up their dik. It's not good.

Let's say you get screened for it once every 365 days...you don't have it one year, but by the next year could you have it so rampant that it would be unable to be helped into remission? Is 365 days enough for it to spread that quickly??

I'm not saying prostate cancer isn't bad. I just think that it's silly to take these pills that *may* help reduce the risk (which is already only ~33%) of getting the cancer.

BTW, if I threw the word "God" in this post, would I have received more responses??????????? Jeez...I didn't know where else to post this besides OOT.

Thanks for your reply.

[jthegreat]

They probably just contain a concentrated form of something found commonly in certain foods. I agree it's almost definitely a waste of money.

[tek]

Vitamin and mineral pills contain stuff that is found in foods. The problem is we don't get enough of that in our foods.

Same thing with whatever will reduce prostate cancer risk. I'd err on the side of spending 30 cents a day versus getting tubes up my dik.

Another good way to reduce risk of any cancer is to elimnate junk food, processed food, not smoke, excercise, etc.

[Hoopster81]

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They also state that 1 in 3 men will develop prostate cancer AT SOME POINT IN THEIR LIFE

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Prostate cancer in men is akin to breast cancer in women. While something else may kill you first, if you live long enough you WILL eventually get prostate cancer.

[ThreeMartini]

If you live long enough you WILL develop prostate cancer. Typically however, prostate cancer is something you die WITH not FROM.

I don't you can make the comparison between prostate cancer and breast cancer.

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I'd err on the side of spending 30 cents a day versus getting tubes up my dik.


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So you'd spend about $120/year for possibly 50 years (assuming 25-75) just for the CHANCE that you REDUCE the 1/3 PROBABILITY of getting ONE FORM of cancer? You'd drop $60K over the course of your life for this "luxury"?

Not to mention any interest you could accumulate on all that money over the years...

[benkahuna]

The problem isn't just prostate cancer. It's also an enlarged prostate gland which causes problems with urination and may lead to prostate problems.

I'd look into the science behind the particular vitamin mixture to see whether it actually acts as a prophylactic against prostate cancer. Additionally, saw palmetto is useful to prevent enlarged prostate. Is the evidence speculative and weak like it is in a great deal of nutritional science (which is hard to study, but much of the research is based on dietary studies which are notoriously difficult to control and on pseudoscientific research--correlated data and not experiments) or is there a double-blind, placebo controlled, random sample experiment written upon in a peer-reviewed journal?

Does figuring out the answer to this question take time? Yes. Is it a pain in the ass? Yes. But, it's worth it. In this health care environment, it pays to be informed and no one else is going to make you informed, you pretty much need to do it yourself. Medical data is too vast for physicians to be the one stop health experts of old. It's only your life.

I'd know more, but I'm only 30, so it will not be an issue for me for a while.

Taking a vitamin supplement could have additional health (and therefore quality of life) benefits beyond preventing prostate cancer or even benign prostatic hypertrophy.

[tek]

In a word, yes.

My in-laws friend has prostate cancer and it's not looking good. There are two main procedures for dealing with it. Once you choose one, it better work because you can't get the other one done. Kind of like going all in--you win or you lose...

One out of three is a good probability if you are playing for a car versus donkey versus years supply of potatos on Let's Make A Deal. But we're talking dik-related stuff here...