Pomegranates 'could prevent prostate cancer'
Study suggests pomegranate juice could prevent prostate cancer
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Sunday, 26, Apr 2009 09:14
Prostate cancer could soon be added to the exhaustive list of health risks reduced by the much celebrated super-food pomegranate, scientists have claimed.
In the past the fruit has been said to help guard against heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure, infertility, impotence, menopause symptoms and damage to unborn babies.
And now researchers in the United States have found drinking pomegranate juice helps stop the cancer returning in people who have already been treated once.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among British men. An estimated 35,000 men are diagnosed each year, most of whom are over-50.
But the report, presented to the annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA), suggests pomegranate juice could have a role to play in the fight against the disease.
Scientists asked a group of patients already treated for prostate cancer to drink a glass of pomegranate juice every day over a six-year period. They found they were significantly less likely to develop further cancerous growths than other patients.
AUA spokesman Dr Christopher Amling said: "This study suggests that pomegranate juice may effectively slow the progression of prostate cancer after unsuccessful treatment.
"This finding and other ongoing research might one day reveal that pomegranate juice is an effective prostate cancer preventative agent as well."