Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men in the UK, with one in eight men being diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime, so it’s important to know the symptoms. And new research suggests that this is especially true for tall and overweight men, who are at greater risk of developing more dangerous forms of the disease.
Every additional 10cm increment in height raises the risk of developing aggressive, high-grade prostate cancer by 21% and dying from the disease by 17%. The statistics are similarly bleak for overweight men. Every extra 10cm in waist circumference raises the risk of aggressive prostate cancer by 13% and brings an 18% increase in the risk of dying from it.
The findings come from an analysis of data on 141,896 men who were tracked for an average of 13.9 years. The research was published in BMC Medicine.
“It is certainly interesting that, according to this research, certain physical characteristics appear to increase a man’s likelihood of developing aggressive prostate cancer,” said Dr Matthew Hobbs, deputy director of research at Prostate Cancer UK.
“It might provide pointers to help uncover certain genetic markers and early developmental processes which hold significance in terms of causing the disease to develop.
“It also underlines once again the importance of living a healthy lifestyle to help defend against a host of diseases, including prostate cancer.”
Clearly there’s not a lot you can do about being tall (although you should know cancer symptoms to look out for), but shaving a few centimetres off your waist circumference so that it is under 94cm will not only reduce the risk of aggressive prostate cancer, but also cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. A waist circumference of over 102cm is also linked with an increased risk of 13 cancers.
What we’re saying is it’s really not a great idea to have a large belly, and since this is Coach we’re going to do our best to help you shift it. Complete this four-week circuit-training plan and you should soon see the fat start dropping off.
