A study of over 90,000 U.S. Veterans with prostate cancer found that more than half of them also suffered from uncontrolled risk factors for heart attacks, according to Renal & Urology News.

According to Dr. Gabe Mirkin, author of “The Healthy Heart Miracle,” “Almost 30% of these high-risk patients received no medication or treatment to help prevent a heart attack and its association with cancer progression.”

Conditions such as high blood pressure, increased levels of LDL cholesterol, and elevated hemoglobin A1c, an indicator of diabetes, are common factors that contribute to both increased risk of heart attack and developing prostate cancer.

Mirkin says that according to the American Cancer Society and the American Urologic Association, all men who have prostate cancer should be screened for heart attack risk factors.

“This will save lives because prostate cancer is usually a slowly progressive disease and more men are likely to die from a heart attack,” says Mirkin.

The expert also recommends that men who have prostate cancer follow an anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle program which will also help reduce their risk of having a heart attack.

Here are some of the rules:

• Eat a diet that is rich in anti-inflammatory foods.
• Make sure you are not deficient in vitamin D. Men who have low blood levels of vitamin D are at increased risk of the most aggressive type of prostate cancer.
• Restrict alcohol. Men should limit alcohol consumption to two drinks per day, says Mirkin.
• Exercise daily. A Harvard study found that men who participated in regular, vigorous activity had a 30% reduced risk of developing advance prostate cancer.
• Achieve a normal weight. Obesity is associated with increased death from prostate cancer and more advanced stage of the disease.
• Watch your blood sugar levels. Mirkin says that “prostate cancer is associated with everything that raises blood sugar levels, from metabolic syndrome to diabetes and obesity.”

“Most of the risk factors for prostate cancer are also the risk factors for heart attacks,” says Mirkin. “Every man should try to reduce his risk for both prostate cancer and heart attacks by decreasing inflammation in the body by following the anti-inflammatory rules above.”

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