The potential development of prostate cancer may start from the exposure of the mother’s womb to plastic chemicals, a new study says. Chemicals found in water bottles, soup cans, and paper receipts can also increase prostate cancer. Researchers studied the growth of human prostate cells in mice and found that animals that are fed by bisphenol A (BPA) have triple risk of developing cancer or pre-cancerous changes. BPA us a plastic chemical, which is used to soften plastic, is feared by researchers due to its ability to mimic estrogen. The doses of BPA given to the mice were relatively the same as those commonly seen in pregnant women.

The result of the study implied that prostate cancer can develop when chemical, such as BPA and other estrogen-like, man-made chemicals that are passed through pregnant woman’s womb and alter the genes of a growing prostate in the fetus. Prostate cancer develops in one in every six men but the progression increased over the last 30 years. The newborn rats that possess low dosage of BPA may have permanently altered structure of genes in the prostate cancer cells, which increases in the risk of cancer in adulthood.

The prostate gland, which develops in human males when they are fetuses, is extremely sensitive to natural estrogen. Researchers believed that there may be link between the increased number of prostate cancer and the exposure of the womb to estrogen-like chemicals. BPA is significantly different from carcinogenic chemicals in a way that BPA causes changes that are potentially passed from one generation to the next.

Men with prostate cancer have found refuge in robot-assisted prostatectomy because it renders minor post-operative complications and rapid recovery after the surgery. Researchers discovered that 171 men facing prostate cancer surgery, who are having robotic surgery are expected a short stay in the hospital and able to resume with their normal physical activities, including sexual intercourse. However, there are people who believe that the benefits may not seem realistic.

References:

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/health/prostate-cancer-link-to-plastics-chemical-29897407.html

huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/01/08/plastic-chemical-bpa-prostate-cancer_n_4559990.html

freedrinkingwater.com/water_heal/medical1/1-prostate-cancer-cause-plastic-in-water.htm

independent.ie/lifestyle/health/prostate-cancer-linked-to-common-plastics-chemical-29897057.html