In men who were diagnosed before 1987, the risk of a fatal heart attack during the week following diagnosis increased 11-fold, and the risk of suicide increased 800 percent. After 1987, the risks of suffering a non-fatal heart attack during the first week of diagnosis fell to 300 percent. But the risk of suicide, although small, held steady. During the year following diagnosis, the risk of both heart attacks and suicide diminished but did not disappear.

“The risks are highest during the first week after diagnosis and young men seem to be most vulnerable,” the authors said in a statement, noting that men 54 years of age and under were the most vulnerable. “These unrecognized consequences of a prostate cancer diagnosis deserve the attention of health professionals to the increasing number of men that are diagnosed with this disease.”

“Stress can be an important trigger for physiologic reactions, including increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” Dr. Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, told ABC News. “The diagnosis of cancer also can cause high enough stress to see a noticeable increase in both heart disease and suicide.”

According to Dr. Robert O. Young,  “emotional stress requires energy and the consumption of energy leaves acidic residues that can make you sick, tired, and depressed.”

One in six American men will develop a cancerous prostate at some point during his lifetime.

According to Dr. Robert O. Young, “a cancerous prostate is not only preventable with an alkalizing lifestyle and diet but is also reversible with the same pH Miracle Plan. Once you understand that cancer is caused by dietary and/or metabolic acid then you can prevent a cancerous condition by maintaining the alkaline design of the body.”

We have been advocating the consumption of broccoli sprouts for years because of its Sulforaphane content – so at last the medical and scientific world is catching up at last. Most people can’t be bothered with growing their own sprouted seeds so elect to buy supplements containing (or purporting to contain) broccoli sprout extract but that’s not always easy to see beyond the marketing and understand what you’re seeing on the label.

This article appeared in the Express on Saturday 5 September 2009 and guess what sold out in most supermarkets – broccoli – not that the broccoli they bought will do much good. It just shows how eager people are to be healthy. In the coming weeks we’ll do some articles about broccoli sprouts and where they are being used to great effect. We will also make our recommendations about which brands of supplements are worth using and how to grow broccoli sprouts for yourself.

EATING broccoli could help prevent heart attacks and strokes, research has revealed.

The superfood is rich in a chemical that boosts a natural defence mechanism that protects arteries from disease.

Scientists say they are closer than ever to understanding just why the vegetable, already thought to protect against cancer, is so good for us.

And they believe that broccoli and other brassicas, such as cabbage and Brussels sprouts, could actually slow the progression of existing disease. The research at Imperial College London, funded by the British Heart Foundation, discovered the effect of sulforaphane, which is also present in kale, cauliflower, bok choy and rocket.

Treatment with the compound switched on the protective effect of a protein called Nrf2 which reduces swelling in areas of arteries most prone to disease.

This cut the risk of atherosclerosis – the thickening of the artery walls which can lead to angina, heart attack and stroke.

Dr Paul Evans, of the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, who led the research team, said: “We found that the innermost layer of cells at branches and bends of arteries lack the active form of Nrf2, which may explain why they are prone to inflammation and disease.

“Treatment with the natural compound sulforaphane reduced inflammation at the high-risk areas by ‘switching on’ Nrf2.

“Sulforaphane is found naturally in broccoli, so our next steps include testing whether simply eating broccoli, or other vegetables in their family, has the same protective effect. We also need to see if the compound can reduce the progression of disease in affected arteries.”

Packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, brassicas are widely regarded as the powerhouses of the vegetable kingdom. They also include swede, turnips, cress, kohlrabi and mustard.

Professor Peter Weissberg, medical director of the BHF, said: “These fascinating findings provide a possible mechanism by which eating vegetables protects against heart disease.

“As well as adding evidence to support the importance of eating ‘five-a-day’, the biochemistry revealed in this research could lead to a more targeted dietary or medical approach to preventing disease.”

The full article is here