Men with waists over 40in are ‘35% more likely to die of prostate cancer’
BLOKES with waists over 40in are a third more likely to die from prostate cancer, a study suggests.
The disease appears more deadly in fellas who carry flab around their stomach and waist than elsewhere on the body.
University of Oxford researchers analysed data on 218,225 UK men aged 40 to 69, who were tracked for 10.8 years.
Some 571 died from prostate cancer during this period.
Researchers found that those men with a waist circumference of more than 40in(103cm) were 35 per cent more likely to die of prostate cancer than men whose waist measured less than 35in(90cm).
Meanwhile those with larger waist-to-hip ratio, another measurement of how fat is located around the belly area, were 34 per cent more likely to die than slimmer men.
The experts found no clear link between total body fat or body mass index (BMI) and the odds of dying from the disease.
What is prostate cancer?
The prostate is a small, walnut-sized gland, that only men have.
It sits around the urethra - the tube a bloke pees and ejaculates from - between the penis and the bladder.
The main point of the prostate is to produce the fluid which mixes with sperm to create semen - making it pretty vital for reproduction.
But, like all organs in the body, it can be invaded by cancer - when cells in the gland start to grow uncontrollably.
Symptoms include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee
- Weak flow
- Straining and taking a long time while peeing
- Feeling that your bladder hasn't emptied fully
Medical history and socio-economic and lifestyle factors were taken into account when estimating a link between the risk of dying from prostate cancer and measures of adiposity - the amount of body fat.
Study leader Dr Aurora Perez-Cornago said: “We found a significant association between concentration of body fat around the belly and waist and the risk of prostate cancer death - but no clear association between total body fat and risk of prostate cancer death.
“However, a larger number of cases in this study together with studies in other populations are needed to confirm these findings.”
She added: “A high BMI increases the risk of other diseases, including other types of cancer, so people should consider the implications of excess body fat wherever it is found in the body.”
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Future work will examine links between body fat and aggressive types of prostate cancer.
Prostate is the second most common cause of cancer death among men in the UK, claiming almost 12,000 lives a year.
The disease affects one in six men during their lifetime, causing more than a quarter of all new male cancer cases.
The findings will be presented at the European and International Conference on Obesity.