Link between prostate disease and obesity

Obesity is a phenomenon that has engulfed the current societies in many developed and sometimes developing countries alike. It has become the number of co-morbid factor in the world which leads to many adverse health consequences including diabetes, hypertension, vascular disease, heart diseases as well as other hormonal and metabolic derangements. Being responsible for quite a number of other health disorders, researchers were thinking the inevitable as whether the obesity can have a link with the occurrence of cancers, particularly the prostate cancers.

 

 

-Possibilities of more adverse outcomes
According to experts, in case someone tries to link the body mass index (BMI) with the risk of developing prostate cancer, the results would be conflicting and one may assume that there is an alarming kind of association or else no association at all. But, what the researchers have found to be more consistent is that, obese individuals have a high risk of fatal outcomes from prostate cancer related complications.
-Insulin resistance and diabetes
According to studies, it is a known fact that obese individuals will have a higher degree of insulin resistance, diabetes and higher insulin/glucose levels. Several studies have tried to illustrate the link between these factors and the risk of developing prostate cancer and, the results were not conclusive. As such, some studies have indicated the presence of a positive risk association whereas the others have refuted this claim.
-IGF-1
In large scale studies performed in the recent past, there has been a causative association between Insulin like growth factor – 1 (IGF-1) and the occurrence of prostate cancer although the reviewers doubt its validity as these research have been done in a era where PSA assays have not been widespread and therefore the cancers might have already being there in the sample population.
-Leptin levels as a prognostic indicator
In obese individuals, it has been recorded that there are higher levels of leptin in the circulation and researchers have tried to associate the presence of leptin to the high risk of developing prostate cancers. But, what was more significant was the relationship between leptin and the higher grade of the tumor, more advance tumors as well as with larger tumors. Thus, leptin has been suggested as a prognostic indicator than its initial adaptation as a tumor marker.
-The diet
Another aspect that is evident to any prudent person regarding an obese individual is the eating habits. High fat and cholesterol intake is a hallmark of many such individuals and several research have concluded direct linkages between high fat consumption and the risk of development of prostate cancers. But, as with other researchers which have been disputed by certain other research work, link between the high fat diets and prostate cancer also requires further studies and analysis.