Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer experienced by American men, other than skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. And, even though some 16 percent of all men (close to one out of every six) will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetimes and it is the second leading cancer-related deaths, only one of every 35 will die from it.

Sounds like reasonably good odds and not particularly deadly ones either, especially if you take care of your health and get the right amount of exercise. So why does the stress of receiving such a diagnosis put male patients at greater risk of cardiovascular problems and suicide?

A study of nearly 169,000 Swedish men culled from the Swedish Cancer Registry from 1961-2004 discovered patients prior to 1987 were 11 times more likely to experience a fatal cardiovascular event during the initial week after being told about their prostate cancer diagnosis. Over a year's time, prostate cancer patients were twice as likely to have a heart attack. Thankfully, those numbers dropped significantly after 1987 to just triple the risk of a cardiovascular event during the first week after a diagnosis, compared to healthy men, and a constant, but slightly elevated risk during the first year after a diagnosis.

And, although the risk of suicide was very tiny (136 patients took their lives during the study), the greatest danger for men came during the first week after a diagnosis.

Just another reason the proper care and handling of emotions is an important part of any cancer survivor's tool kit.

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The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has followed through on its threat of a lawsuit against German drugmaker Bayer AG for claiming the amount of selenium contained in its One A Day vitamins may reduce a man's risk of prostate cancer.

What prompted the lawsuit: Two recent studies, including one prominently featured in The Journal of the American Medical Association that found selenium "did not prevent prostate cancer in this population of healthy men" and may have contributed to a diabetes diagnosis in some of them.

Although Bayer agreed to revise future marketing claims, the lawsuit was filed after Bayer refused to recall existing One A Day packaging and advertising touting the product's effect on prostate cancer. Bayer defended its position, arguing that its labeling followed existing FDA guidelines at that time.

The agency revised its guidance in June, however, requiring companies to include a disclaimer warning patients that it was highly unlikely selenium possessed any cancer-fighting advantages.

Bayer is also under scrutiny by attorneys generals in 27 states and federal regulators due to deceptive marketing charges.

CSPI Newsroom October 1, 2009

AboutLawsuits.com October 2, 2009

St. Petersburg Times October 2, 2009

New York Times October 1, 2009 Subscription Required

National Cancer Institute October 27, 2008

One A Day is a trademark of Bayer AG.

If you answered the question posed in the headline above as anything more than a miniscule double-digit percentage, based on Americans faithfully following the five low-risk criteria cited in the latest National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), you may be badly mistaken about the current state of the nation's collective health, not to mention your own.

Fact is, the number of American adults (age 25-74) who don't have the five low-risk factors for heart disease -- taking non-smoking status, no obesity issues, normal blood pressure, cholesterol numbers below 200 and a lack of a diabetes diagnosis into account -- sits at just 7.5 percent, a huge drop from the 10.5 percent reported in the previous NHANES report, collected from 1988-94. In other words, 92.5 percent of all Americans have some elevated risks for heart disease.

Generally, tobacco use is falling, a collective reduction in cholesterol levels appears to be leveling off but BMI, diabetes and blood pressure stats are "headed in the wrong direction," according to the study. And, although the health of both sexes is trending the same, significantly more women than men followed low-risk factors across the board.

Also contributing to the drastic reversal in the latest NHANES survey: An overall imbalance connecting sharp drops in physical activity to the growing amounts of food Americans consume.

Circulation September 14, 2009

Science Daily September 18, 2009

Time.com September 14, 2009

Ever wondered why American women live longer than their male counterparts? Although the gap in lifespan between the sexes is narrowing, the most recent CDC report still gives women more than a five-year lead over men.

What gives? Old school beliefs about masculinity that push men away from timely, preventative health care -- even guys who could more than afford the time and expense -- may be the problem, according to data collected on the health of 1,000 Baby Boomer males participating in the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study.

Regardless of their marital status, family backgrounds, socioeconomic status and health history, middle-aged men who held onto traditional beliefs about their masculinity were 50 percent less likely to follow through on preventative health care maintenance -- a prostate exam, flu shot and physical -- annually.

Interestingly, there was a single but important exception to these findings. Men who worked in low-status, blue-collar jobs (truck drivers, farm workers, machine operators and construction workers) took better care of their health, in spite of their traditional views. As men who viewed life through the "John Wayne" filter climbed the corporate ladder, however, the likelihood they would take preventative healthcare measures dropped significantly.

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Rodale.com September 4, 2009

EurekAlert August 10, 2009

Medline Plus August 11, 2009

Researchers may have stumbled onto a new and rare kind of adult stem cell in adult male mice -- castration-resistant Nkx3.1-expressing cells or CARNs -- that may be a source of prostate cancer, according to a Columbia University study.

Found inside the ducts of the mouse prostate, CARNs are not only involved in the regeneration of prostate tissue, they can trigger the development of cancer if certain tumor suppressor genes (PTEN) in the cells are inactive. Before this discovery of adult stem cells in the luminal layer, cancer researchers assumed stem cells resided only in the basal (lowest) layer of the prostate.

The trick: Finding the same kinds of cells in the prostate glands of human males. Also, the PTEN genes are frequently mutated in human prostate cancers.

However, researchers were quick to point out their discovery of CARNs doesn't prove the existence of cancer stem cells, cells inside a tumor that have the ability to regenerate cancer from a single cell.

Nature September 9, 2009

EurekAlert September 9, 2009

healthfinder.gov September 9, 2009

Here's another reason exercise is so important, especially for men: Physical activity among black men in their 20s and 30s may contribute to lowering their risk of prostate cancer later in their lives.

Some 160,000 white men and 3,600 black men were polled in 1996 about their exercise habits, including the number of hours they spent weekly on moderate to vigorous activity. Over the next seven years, more than 350 black men and 9,600 white males were diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Although exercise was not a factor among white males, the same wasn't true for black men. In fact, blacks who spent at least four hours exercising during their 20s were less prone to suffer from prostate cancer by 35 percent. And the percentages among black males who exercised more than seven hours weekly were linked to a 41 percent drop.

These falling numbers are the key statistics, considering the incidence of prostate cancer among black men is as much as 50 percent higher and the mortality rate associated with this disease is double that of white males.

Medscape Today June 1, 2009 Registration Required