Elevated PSA levels do not have to mean prostate cancer, but they do need to be reversed.
Elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels are no reason to conclude that you definitely have prostate cancer. If the reading is between 4.0 ng/mL to 10.0 ng/mL, prostate cancer may not exist at all. These levels could indicate any of a number of problems, including a noncancerous swelling of the prostate gland called benign prostatic hyperplasia. Other tests may be prescribed or your doctor make take a "watch and wait" approach. If you have received a report of elevated PSA levels, you will still want to do what you can to reverse them.
Instructions
Medical Treatments
1. Discuss all the medical options with your doctor before trying to take care of managing your PSA levels on your own. Many therapies exist to treat prostate cancers. If your cancer cells are less active, your PSA levels will be lower. The most common treatments your doctor might suggest are some form of radiation therapy, proton beam therapy or hormone therapy.
2. Discuss radiation therapy. In this method, high doses of radiation are aimed at the cancerous growth to kill it. Another form of radiation therapy you might want to explore is proton beam therapy, where protons are aimed at the cancer, instead of X-rays.
3. Explore hormone therapy. In this treatment method, the amount of testosterone that your body manufactures is controlled or reduced. According to the National Cancer Institute, male sex hormones like testosterone can help prostate cancer grow.
4. Use cryosurgical ablation to freeze the cancerous cells. This is a surgical procedure in which the doctor inserts the liquid nitrogen into the affected area with a probe.
5. Consider chemotherapy, if your prostate cancer is advanced. This is a serious form of therapy that is usually used when surgeries have failed to stop the spread. Since early prostate cancer is slow growing, chemotherapy is not as effective in the early stages because it acts on the cells that divide soon after the treatment. However, in later stages that are more aggressive, it can reverse PSA levels to the point that other therapies could become viable.
6. Have your prostate surgically removed. If this is done before the cancer spreads, PSA may be eliminated altogether.
Complementary and Alternative Treatments
7. Reduce stress through mind-body practices like meditation, biofeedback and yoga. Stress has been found to correlate with increases in cancer activity because the mind can have a direct effect on the body. Stress reduces the body's immunity and weakens it to disease.
8. Eat well and take vitamins and herbs to reduce the activity of cancerous cells that produce PSA. Do this by taking aspirin, which promotes heart health. Eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli. Some nutritionists say that eating broccoli and tomatoes in the same meal enhances the benefits of both foods for slowing cancer growth. Watch your cholesterol levels and keep your diet cholesterol friendly. Antioxidants have also shown themselves to have some cancer-fighting properties. Pomegranates, blueberries and other fruits high in antioxidants are an excellent choice of food for those trying to reduce their PSA levels. Green tea and red wine are also fine choices.
9. Open your mind to alternative therapies like acupuncture and homeopathy. Investigate the healing benefits of nonconventional medical systems, as well. Reiki and therapeutic touch deal with the energy fields of the body to promote wellness.
Tags: prostate cancer, radiation therapy, your doctor, beam therapy, cancerous cells