The Prostate Gland A healthy Human prostate gland is slightly larger than a walnut.
It surrounds the urethra just below the bladder and can be felt during a rectal exam.
Within the prostate, the urethra coming from the bladder is called the prostatic urethra and merges with the two ejaculatory ducts coming from the seminal vesicles.
As part of the male reproductive system, the function of the prostate is to store and secrete a slightly alkaline (pH 7.
29) fluid, milky or white in appearance, that usually constitutes 25-30% of the volume of the semen along with spermatozoa and seminal vesicle fluid.
The alkalinity of semen helps neutralize the acidity of the vaginal tract, prolonging the lifespan of sperm.
The prostate also contains some smooth muscles that help expel semen during ejaculation.
Many clinical problems associated with the prostate gland, which are quite common, and may happen to men of all ages, include the following: Prostatitis: Prostate infections that can be brief or long lasting, mild to severe, easy, or difficult to treat.
Enlarged Prostate: Enlarged prostate also called benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a non malignant growth of the prostate and usually happens to men as they age, although younger men have been known to have this condition.
Prostate Cancer: Prostate cancer is the number two killer of men in the western world, second only to lung cancer.
It does grow slowly allowing for detection and treatment.
Unfortunately once the cancer cells reach a critical mass within the prostate, they can quickly metastasize to other parts of the body.
Bones, kidneys, liver, brain, lungs, and spinal cord can become affected before the disease is detected.
A simple blood test called a PSA can detect prostate cancer in its earliest stages, and all men should have this test as part of their annual exam.
Cancer of the prostate is a common and serious health concern.
This year, according to the American Cancer Society, 220,900 men in the United States will be diagnosed with prostate cancer.
It is the most common form of cancer of men over age 50 - and the second leading cancer killer (lung cancer being first).
Prevention of Prostate cancer: There is some scientific evidence that prostate cancer is less common in men who eat a low fat diet rich in lycopene, an antioxidant found in cooked tomatoes.
Also in those who take the herb saw palmetto and consume muscadine grapes.
The latest research released on August 31, 2007, from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a division of the of the National Institutes of Health shows that an extract that is made from the skin of muscadine grapes (MSKE) has the ability to slow down the growth of prostate cancer cells in laboratory experiments Using a series of human prostate cancer cells representing different stages of prostate cancer progression, the researchers showed MSKE significantly inhibited tumor cell growth in all prostate cancer cell lines, exhibiting high rates of apoptosis (programmed cell death).
Results showed that MSKE and resveratrol target distinct pathways to inhibit prostate cancer cell growth and the unique properties of MSKE suggest that it may be an important source for further development of chemo-preventive or therapeutic agents against prostate cancer.
They plan further studies to determine if muscadine grape skin extract has the potential to be a chemo-preventive or therapeutic agent.
Another important result of this study is the fact that muscadine grape skin extract affects tumors at different stages of development which indicates that it may be able to inhibit the growth of tumors at every early stages of development.
Muscadine grapes are a very unique strain of the fruit in so far as its chemical composition is richer in chemicals called anthocyanins, which is the compound that produces the red and purple colors of the grapes.
Anthocyanins also have a strong antioxidant.
Anthocyanins, which produce the red and purple colors of the grapes, have strong antioxidant activity and have shown several anti-tumor effects, including inhibition of DNA synthesis in breast cancer cells, of blood-vessel growth in some tumors and of enzymes involved in tumor spread.
Tests in cell culture have shown that berry extracts including muscadine (which is a berry) reduce cancer cell growth (or cause increased cancer cell death) in colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer and leukemia models.
Ellagic acid, which is abundant in muscadines, is powerful in chemo-prevention of cancer.
Chemo-prevention eliminates the need for chemotherapy because the cancer does not occur.
Ellagic acid is being aggressively investigated for chemo-prevention.
Muscadine grape skins also contain malic acid; magnesium, potassium and fiber.
According to a report by Penelope Perkins-Veazy of the US Department of Agriculture, "The oxygen radical absorbing capacity (ORAC) of muscadines was found to be very high.
" What is to stop consumers from trying muscadine juice or skin extracts right now? Very little.
They are usually found growing wild from Delaware to the Gulf of Mexico and westward from Missouri to Texas.