Prostate

Structure

The prostate is a gland of the male reproductive system. In adults, it is about the size of a walnut, and has an average weight of about 11 grams, usually ranging between 7 and 16 grams. The prostate is located in the pelvis. It sits below the urinary bladder and surrounds the urethra. The part of the urethra passing through it is called the prostatic urethra, which joins with the two ejaculatory ducts. The prostate is covered in a surface called the prostatic capsule or prostatic fascia.

The internal structure of the prostate has been described using both lobes and zones. Because of the variation in descriptions and definitions of lobes, the zone classification is used more predominantly.

The prostate has thus been described as consisting of three or four zones. Zones are more typically able to be seen on histology, or in medical imaging, such as ultrasound or MRI. The zones are:

Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA)

The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measures the blood levels of the agent that thins the ejaculate immediately after ejaculation in order to make the sperm more aggressive swimmers as they head for the ovum.

Between January 8, 1991, the day of my diagnosis, and March 8, 1991, I earnestly put my healing plan into action. I was both confident and frightened. [...] But I was frightened because I knew I was challenging modern medical science. I was telling myself that I knew more than physicians who had spent years studying and treating illness. Frightened though I was, I stuck to my guns.

I prayed, meditated, and visualized myself healed. I expanded my exercise program. I took kelp, zinc, and saw palmetto, and eliminated all dairy foods and nearly all fats from my diet. I mixed eucalyptus oil and oil of lavender, 50-50, and massaged my wrists and ankles twice a day. I did a lot of psychological work. I got in touch with and released—by re-feeling—the anger and major feelings of sexual inadequacy affecting my prostate. My love and sex life became more fulfilling and supportive.

By April 1991, my PSA was down to 4.2. Not too long after that it dropped even further, safely below 3, and stayed there. Several physical exams proved that my prostate had shrunk to a more normal size and shape, and had softened. There were none of the nodules or hard spots indicative of a tumor. I was delighted: I had healed my cancer without having to undergo the surgery or radiation that my doctors had told me was absolutely necessary.

What Damages the Prostate besides a Fatty Diet

There are drugs such as Proscar to shrink the prostate, but they have not been very effective and have objectionable side effects. The one quasi-medical approach that really does work was banned by the FDA in 1990. This approach was pioneered in a 1958 study by Drs. Feinblatt and Gant,1 and subsequent studies confirmed its effectiveness. BPH was shown to be reduced in 77 to 92% of cases by capsules containing amino acids, glycine, alanine, and glutamic acid. This combination is available in several prostate supplements found in health food stores. There are no known side effects. If you have BPH symptoms, find one of these formulas that works for you while you do the cleansing to become truly healthy so that you won’t need these formulas anymore.

Emotions are another largely ignored cause of prostate cancer. Our unreleased or “stuck” emotions create energy and eventually physical blockages, called adhesions, in the body, which hamper circulation. The muscles become rigid in order to keep the emotions suppressed. This process is evident in sore and nonfunctional muscles that eventually become calcified if circulation is not restored. Such calcified areas can be very difficult to clear. The deep tissue bodywork of Ida Rolf and many others over the years has shown that releasing stuck emotions improves general health and acts as a medicine for specific ailments.

How do our emotions restrict the flow of blood and oxygen to the prostate? This gland is the center of male emotions concerning sexuality. All of our emotions and judgments around sexual inadequacy, immorality, feelings of guilt, anger, and stress are stored in the tiny muscles and other tissues of the prostate, restricting blood flow. If these emotions are released, the restrictions are “washed away.” But if they are allowed to remain, unreleased, they become semi-permanent and can set the stage for cancer.

As if poor diet and emotional distress weren’t enough, the prostate must also contend with damage done by nearby muscles. The prostate, which is a muscle as well as a gland, becomes congested when surrounding muscles, most prominently the abductors that pass alongside it, tighten down. (You can find your abductors by feeling up your thigh into the groin.) The abductors are tight in many men due to stress, underuse, and/or emotional blockage. When these muscles become too tight, they clamp down on the tissue surrounding the prostate, preventing the normal expansion and contraction necessary for optimum blood flow through the gland. Pressure from the abductors can also cause the prostate to become quite hard, further restricting the blood flow. As you’ll learn later, rectal massage and release of tension from the abductors in the prostate area produces an immediate, significant softening of the prostate, as well as a reduction in size. This softening and reduction has been observed to last for weeks and months, and is believed to be cumulatively permanent.

Stress, particularly chronic or long-lasting stress, is especially damaging to the prostate. Stress causes all areas of the body to tighten up, restricting the flow of blood and energy. As the stress continues, the tension and restriction grow cumulatively worse. The prostate, an emotional center that relies on tiny blood vessels for nutrition and cleansing, is severely damaged by tension caused by years of stressful living. This damage sets the stage for prostate enlargement and eventually cancer. So releasing any pent-up stress is integral to maintaining a healthy prostate. In addition, many men are amazed at how much better they function sexually when they finally learn to relax.

Family history has been shown to play an important role in the development of prostate cancer. The scientific evidence suggests that if your father or brother has or had the disease, you probably will; and if your mother has or had breast or reproductive cancer, you are more likely to have prostate cancer. The evidence may seem pretty convincing and is valuable for encouraging preventive measures, but discretion is warranted. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that if your father had prostate cancer or your mother had breast or reproductive cancer, you are doomed. For one thing, it’s often the shared environment, lifestyle, and emotional patterns that caused the problem, not genetics. And you can change your environment, lifestyle, and emotional patterns. Second, accepting as fact the idea that you will get cancer is nearly guaranteed to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If your parents had or have cancer, focus on developing a happy, healthful lifestyle. Exercise regularly, visualize yourself as being healthy, and practice prevention. You don’t have to be a victim—you can take charge of your life and health.

Various toxins can harm the prostate, including the many chemicals we’re exposed to at home and work: in pesticides, smog, tap water, coffee, tobacco, alcohol, and food preservatives. Parasites, bacteria, and viruses can also add to our toxin load. Ideally, the liver, kidneys, lungs, skin, colon, and lymph glands expel toxins from the body. But when these internal garbage disposals are overwhelmed, the toxins pile up in the body, weakening the immune system, interfering with endocrine glands, hampering the body’s ability to utilize vitamins and minerals, upsetting body chemistry, and setting the stage for disease. (Most medical doctors aren’t concerned with toxins, primarily because they know little or nothing about them or the harm they do, and because they don’t register on standard medical tests.)

General lifestyle also contributes to the health or illness of your prostate. Exercise promotes circulation and relieves tension in the body, which greatly facilitates a healthy prostate. “Uptight” men have a higher incidence of prostate cancer, again related to the flow of blood in those tiny arteries. These varied causes suggest many choices that will be discussed later in the [sections] on prevention.

Even the type of clothing worn can be a contributing cause of prostate cancer. Tight clothes can lead to poor blood flow to the prostate by restricting circulation. Tight briefs, which do not allow the testicles to move freely and regulate their own internal temperature by moving up and down, alter the critical hormone balance necessary to a healthy prostate by interfering with the testicles’ ability to produce hormones. Nickel—either carried consistently in the pocket or worn in a large, cowboy-style belt buckle—is believed to create an energy blockage that restricts the flow of blood to the prostate. It may be significant that cultures without such clothing have little prostate cancer. Any belt buckle, whether it’s made of nickel or another material, should be worn slightly to the side of center. Otherwise, the buckle will block the flow of energy through the critical center meridian that flows through the belly button, or conception center, to the prostate and the rest of the body.

Environmental factors must also be carefully considered. Alternating electrical currents from high-voltage power lines, electric blankets, and other sources of alternating current have been found to cause cancer.

The late pioneer healer Hanna Kroeger, of Boulder, Colorado, demonstrated that the microwave is particularly damaging to the male reproductive system, including the prostate. She reported that even the presence of a microwave oven in the home, unused and unplugged, is damaging, particularly to the male reproductive system.

Ley lines—the lines representing the earth’s magnetic forces—are also sources of concern. Areas where north/south ley lines intersect east/west lines are thought to cause cancer and other diseases. Ley line dowsers use dowsing rods to detect areas of danger. You can survey your own house and workplace by making your own dowsing rods from #8 or #10 copper wire. Bend two pieces of wire in the shape of an “L” with the short part about 6 inches long and the long part about 18 inches long. Hold the short end of the rods in each hand, and point forward with the long ends. When you get to the harmful areas, the rods will point strongly inward, crossing, on their own. If you’re sleeping on one of these harmful confluences of ley lines, or if your desk or favorite chair happens to be on one, you need to relocate your bed, desk, etc. Coil springs in normal mattresses and inner spring sets amplify these harmful magnetic currents. They should be replaced by a futon or other mattress that does not have coiled springs.

The aluminum in cooking utensils and commercial deodorants is another environmental factor to watch for. Aluminum is very toxic to the body, and an unnecessary stress on the immune system. This metal is thought to be a primary cause of Parkinson’s disease. It is recommended that you discard any aluminum cooking utensils and read the labels of your deodorants carefully. Most herbal deodorants sold in health food stores do not contain aluminum, but most popular varieties do.

As you can see, there are numerous ways in which the prostate can be deprived of a steady supply of blood and oxygen. The tiny blood vessels in the prostate are easily dammed up by physical or emotional blockages. But while healthy prostate cells choke when deprived of oxygen, cancer cells flourish. That’s why the solution is to ensure a steady flow of health-giving blood through the prostate.