Recommended supplements and dosages to fight prostate cancer
An HSI member named Larry wants to clear up some confusion about supplements.
In an e-mail, Larry writes: “I have severe prostate cancer. I have been fighting for six years and I am holding my own. My problem is that there are so many different supplements mentioned by so many different people that the subject has become very confusing. Could you please write on this subject and explain the supplements and the dosage at one time in order to clear up the confusion?”
I asked HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., to help us cut through the confusion.
Dr. Spreen: “I would use a high-dose multi (at least 50 milligrams of each numbered ‘B’B-1, B-2, B-6), I’d avoid supplements with iron (only dessicated liver if he needs iron – you don’t want additional free radicals running around), minimum additional vitamin C of 1000 milligrams 3x/day, plus anything to improve the immune system in general. First to come to mind would be glutathione, but there are many, MANY supplements that stimulate immunity at large.
“The list can get as lengthy as the bank account permits. As for the diet, I’d consider cutting way back on the red meat, and I’d increase digestive enzymes, freeing up the body, so to speak, to apply more energy – and enzymes – to fighting the battle at hand instead of just breaking down red meat fibers.
“However, the key point here, after the diagnosis is made, is that supplements alone at this stage should not be considered therapeutic – only adjunctive until a good doc gets involved.”
Dr. Spreen also notes that severe prostate cancer should not be taken lightly, especially if the patient is less than 60 years old. He writes: “If I were involved in such a struggle, and I were interested in non-toxic (i.e.; alternative) approaches, I’d be under the strict care of a practitioner who had been involved in such fights for years. Practitioners include Jonathan Wright, M.D., of Tacoma, WA; one of the doctors at the Atkins’ Center in New York, and Hugh Riordan, M.D., of Wichita, KS.”
