A common treatment for prostate cancer involves the use of androgen-deprivation therapy (ADT) drugs, which reduce testosterone levels, which is required by prostate cancer cells so that they can grow and spread.

Two separate research projects focused on ADT drugs and discovered side effects other than those already associated with their use, such as weight gain, fatigue, reduced libido and sexual dysfunction.

Hormone therapy and depression risk

The most recent of the two studies (both published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology), found a link between ADT and an elevated risk of depression among the nearly 45,000 men tested who had received the treatment.

From NBCNews.com:

Patients with prostate cancer who received hormone therapy were 23 percent more likely to develop depression and 29 percent more likely to have inpatient psychiatric treatment than men who received alternative treatments, the study found. …

From six months to three years after diagnosis, 7.1 percent of the men on hormone therapy had new cases of depression, compared with 5.2 percent of the others in the study.

During this period, 2.8 percent of men on hormone therapy had inpatient psychiatric treatment, compared with 1.9 percent of their peers. In addition, 3.4 percent received outpatient psychiatric services, versus 2.5 percent of the other men.

The Boston-based study’s senior author, Dr. Paul Nguyen, said that men should weigh the benefits of ADT against the risks:

The take-home message is that the list of potential side effects of hormone therapy is continuing to grow. …

Any man with prostate cancer considering hormone therapy should find out from their doctor exactly how big the benefit is expected to be in their specific situation so they can weigh it against the list of possible side effects.

Hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s

The earlier study, published in December 2015, focused on the link between hormone therapy and Alzheimer’s. The researchers found that the risk of developing Alzheimer’s was doubled among men receiving ADT.

From the Stanford Medicine News Center:

Patients in the study who had been treated with ADT had about a 1.88 times increased rate of being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in a median follow-up period of 2.7 years compared with prostate cancer patients who did not receive ADT, the study found. The subset of men treated with ADT for longer than 12 months had a 2.12 higher risk — more than double that of prostate cancer patients not treated with ADT.

Other studies have shown that testosterone protects brain cells, and it is believed that low testosterone levels may encourage production of the amyloid-beta protein associated with Alzheimer’s.

Pharmaceutical whack-a-mole

These studies serve to illustrate the problem with numerous pharmaceutical treatments that may achieve some desired results in addressing one illness, but which also cause other health issues in the process.

Presumably, the prostate cancer patients who develop depression or Alzheimer’s as a result of hormone therapy will then be prescribed antidepressants and drugs designed to treat Alzheimer’s, both of which carry their own side effects and risk factors.

It’s a never-ending vicious cycle of more drugs, more side effects and more profits for Big Pharma.

A holistic approach to health using natural methods for prevention and healing is far better than playing pharmaceutical whack-a-mole with barrages of harmful drugs that throw everything out of balance – often killing people in the process, rather than curing them.

“Patients and physicians must weigh the risks and benefits of ADT,” Dr. Nguyen said “Especially in clinical scenarios where the benefits are less clear.”

Sources:

DailyMail.co.uk
JCO.ASCOPubs.org
NBCNews.com
JCO.ASCOPubs.org
JCO.ASCOPubs.org
Science.NaturalNews.com