Prostate cancer affects more than 543,000 men worldwide each year. It is also ranks in the top three causes of death from cancer for men, with more than 200,000 a year.
Researchers studied 2750 men over a long period of time. Analysis included blood lipid levels and prostate specific changes including cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH).
The link between prostate cancer and high cholesterol was statistically significant and carries weight due to the large number of participants in the study and the long-term results. They found that men with prostate cancer were 50% more likely to have high cholesterol.
But what is interesting perhaps is that the high cholesterol earlier in life, before the age of fifty increases the risk of prostate cancer. And the study also found that men greater than 65 years old were 80% more likely to have high cholesterol.
Because of the astonishing results linking early high cholesterol to prostate cancer, men should be cautioned against developing high cholesterol, as well as aggressively treating it when diagnosed by their physician.
The authors of the study also noted that men greater than 65 were more likely to have gallstones, which can be a results of altered/abnormal cholesterol metabolism. Cholesterol is the precursor to many hormones in the body, including sex hormones. Androgens, the primary sex hormone in men can influence the growth of prostate cancer, which is a modified gland directly responsive to testosterone.
They postulate that perhaps increased cholesterol leads to overproduction of androgens that may or may not normally decline with age. The extra influence of androgens on the prostate gland can lead to BPH and even cancer.
High cholesterol is most likely not the only variable contributing to the development of prostate cancer, but it is a significant factor. Men with high cholesterol should seek treatment from their doctor. The authors of the study pose the question of statin drug use in men over the age of 65, should it be standard of care?
Posted by Kristopher Foster on April 30, 2006 10:53 AM
