Diet guidelines

What criteria do you place on a scientific paper that makes it credible to you?

I am finding that there are very good areas of this forum where people support each other, pass along their stories and explain what happened to them, pass along questions that a person needs to ask.  I am also finding there are some areas where posters are passing off medical judgments.  Somewhere along the way, some posters here have lost sight on the fact that this is a support network, not an amateur doctors and nurses network.

"Your father probably has PCa"

"You won't have a PCa issue for 10 years"

"You will have to have these treatments"

This is all advice given in the last two months about

1)  A Person who has not had an MRI scan,

2)  A person who had an elevated PSA and no referral to a Urologist

3)  A person who had an elevated PSA, no DRE and no MRI. 

This advice was given through a combination of Google, anecdotes, and just plain irresponsibility.  Unlike a GP, or a clinician, or a nurse who will have to answer for mis-information and mis-diagnoses, and who will have a complete process to follow - posters here can post whatever they like without any repercussions at all.  

I am not saying this afflicts all posters.  Many are incredible responsible and restrained when giving advice.  Others, though, are sometimes like a bull at the gates - itching to respond (for genuine reasons of kindness) without much consideration for what they have just advised.  Whilst GPs and clinicians are not infallible, neither are some of the more respected posters here.  When your car is broke, you take it to a garage.  When you have a medical concern, just ask the mechanic because he also posts on here as a self-appointed expert.

Like I say, and this is my last post on both this subject and this forum (because I am genuinely angry at the blase attitude to giving advice), to anyone who reads this.  Talk to your GP, talk to the nurses on this site.   That's where you will get the best advice.  Whilst clinicians are occassionally wrong, posters here are wrong a lot more often.  

I wish each and every one of you my sincerest, heart-felt best wishes for the future.  I hope the scientists continue to make breakthroughs in treatments, in monitoring techniques, and in understanding that - sometimes - no action is needed other than monitoring actions.  I suspect PCa cases will keep rising as more people get PSA tests - but how many will need intervention?  Hopefully an ever decreasing number.

Take care.

Ady

Wow - I go away for a few days and all this happens!

Ady, if you are still reading, I agree with a lot of what you are saying. I regularly complain to the moderators or report posts when someone is giving unreliable or misleading information, and it is the reason that I will not engage in direct messages - all posts and responses should be published openly so that the cranks and trolls can be challenged.

In response to your specific question about diet and small boys - I have always been clear in my posts that there is no evidence that dietary changes in adult men will make any difference to getting prostate cancer, preventing recurrence when someone has had radical treatment. Many years ago, when I first joined this forum, a lot of the men were following the Jane Plant diet rigidly; it was often quoted because she was a doctor. In fact, she was not medically qualified but it didn't stop scared people from cutting out all manner of joys from their life. I tried to cut all red meat, dairy, etc out of my husband's diary but he cheated every time my back was turned so I gave up. It was when I asked the urologist about whether J was doing himself any harm by eating bacon sandwiches that he told us about the research on western diet and said the only thing that would have made a difference was cutting out meat & dairy before puberty. He pointed us to the main research sources.

If you are interested, look up the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation - they have been funding research on this since 2004 through Margaret Rayman of the University of Surrey. The research suggests as above - in addition, they suggest that some dietary changes might slow down the progression of advanced prostate cancer. PCRF has published a cook book which you can buy on Amazon - but they make the point that this is food for a healthy prostate, not for men with prostate cancer

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Healthy-Eating-Prostate-Association-Foundation/dp/1856268691 

Edited by member 12 Mar 2024 at 00:53  | Reason: to activate hyperlink