Global Warming and My Prostate

This is a reprint from my Kwa-McCann blog entry of 15 Jan 2011.

As many of you know, I have a very small and very slow-growing cancer of the prostate. So small that it could not be detected for my first two biopsies, eighteen months apart, although blood tests indicated it should be there. I would not even have known about it if I had not gone for my annual physicals and if my doctor didn't recommend PSA tests which, at the time, I had to pay for out of my own pocket.

My urologist informs me that there is at present no clinical indication for taking any aggressive treatment against the cancer or my prostate, as by radiation or surgery. If its presence is affecting me emotionally or psychologically it is my call to request further treatment but the present clinical position is one of "watchful waiting" with blood tests twice a year and a biopsy, originally every eighteen months, now every two years.

Weeeellll, "watchful waiting" is a little too passive for my liking so I've adopted the "active vigilence" approach. I've done a fair bit of Internet and book/newspaper reading around prostate health and prostate cancer and have settled on a regimen of light exercise (I should do more), healthier eating (with Ingrid's help) and nutritional and herbal supplements.

From my reading there is no evidence that any one of these things cures or prevents cancer. There is some evidence to suggest that some reduce risk of developing cancer and that others may inhibit cancer growth. Some, such as Selenium, carry risks associated with overdose so I try to be as careful as I can not to go overboard with quantity or dosage. Maybe these things are helping, maybe not. Maybe all I'm doing is flushing herbs, vitamins and minerals down the toilet as more than one person has suggested - though none to my face. Importantly for me, however, is the feeling that I'm DOING something. I at least feel that I am not helpless and without any control whatsoever over my expected life-span in the face of the "C" word that can inspire such fear. In terms of risk, I reason that the most I have to lose is some money. When I stopped smoking thirty-something years ago I was smoking a pack of 20 per day. If I took that up again it would cost me a lot more than my supplements so I reckon the money spent is worth the peace of mind and, who knows, it just might be helping.

I have kept a record of my blood test results over the years and the chart looks like this. I have deliberately not shown actual result values.

Global warming

So what has this to do with global warming?

Below is a chart courtesy of Peter H. Gleick, water and climate scientist, President, Pacific Institute (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-h-gleick/the-graph-that-should-be-_b_808747.html). It plots the global temperature changes from the average for the 20th Century. The site also provides the following list of the hottest 10 years on record, in order:

2010

2005

1998

2003

2002

2009

2006

2007

2004

2001

The planet is sick and it may be incurable - or maybe we can at least slow down the rate of progression. If my PSA was trending like this I would be a worried man - well, a lot more worried. Maybe some of the steps that most climate scientists are suggesting need to be taken won't work as effectively as they say or hope. I haven't come across any evidence to suggest they will make matters worse! All the objections I have come across are economic - mainly from politicians and oil and gas and non-renewable energy marketers and consumers who keep playing the "our scientists are better than your scientists" game.

Judicious use of tests

Even today there is a lot of controversy around the use of PSA tests and my own results show how it can be all over the board and influenced by other factors. One result is missing in my graph because I had an infection shortly before the sample was drawn and the result was right off the chart. All this is not sufficient reason not to get a baseline at, say, forty, when your chances of having prostate cancer are very low, and then see how your results trend against your own baseline.

Similarly with tests for global warming, one test on its own is not conclusive. A trend is indicative. Other tests need to be done to verify the indicators. I believe these are being done with such things as measurements on the rate of glacial melting, the occurance of animals outside of their traditional habitats, increased frequency of violent weather extremes.

Freedom and responsibility

I get to choose whether to get my prostate whipped out before it is clinically indicated or not. I guess I can even choose to live with the cancer and not treat it even when it is clinically indicated to do something about it. Meanwhile I can opt for the watchful waiting or do active vigilence. It is my body, my choice.

With the planet it is different. My newborn grandchildren have no idea what is going on, nor do millions of other children. Millions of adults living in ignorance and poverty are also not in a position to make informed decisions either. Let us not say that we cannot afford the medicine or the treatment while we continue to smoke daily our twenties packs.

Native American proverb:

“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our Children.”