Tall Men May Be More At Risk for Aggressive Prostate Cancer
In a new study published online in the journal BMC Medicine, researchers found that the larger a man is in height, the more increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer
The study specifically found that with every additional 4 inches of height with a 21% increase in being diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer and 17% increased risk of dying from aggressive prostate cancer.
There hasn’t been much research on this particular correlation in relation to prostate cancer, so it’s important we pay attention to additional and follow-up studies in relation to the topic. But this is a call-to-action to men who are genetically taller to take additional precautions even at an earlier age by be proactive with their doctor.
Men, ask your doctor to take your PSA, and take it often. The key to understand your levels of prostate-specific antigen (which is what the PSA blood test measures) is evaluating it over a period of time - the trend matters!
In this recent study, doctors and researchers from the University of Oxford based their results off of over 140,000 men in 8 different countries across Europe. The study evaluated the correlation between cancer and nutrition.
7,024 men developed prostate cancer during an average of 14 years of follow-up including 726 diagnosed with high-grade cancer and 1,388 with advanced-stage cancer. Of these, 934 died from their cancer.
The study also noted that height and weight had an impact on a man’s risk of developing aggressive prostate cancer. With the addition of each 4 inches on a man’s waist was associated with a 13% increased risk to develop high-grade prostate cancer and death.