Alcohol Consumption, Cigarette Smoking, and Risk of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia

Abstract

Alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking were evaluated in relation to development of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) among 29,386 members of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Men who were 40-75 years old in 1986 and free of prior BPH surgery, diagnosed cancer at baseline, and prostate cancer at baseline and during follow-up were followed for incidence of BPH surgery from 1986 to 1994. Cases were men who reported BPH surgery between 1986 and 1994 (n = 1,813) or who scored > or = 15 points of 35 on seven lower urinary tract symptom questions modified from the American Urological Association symptom index in 1992 and 1994 (n = 1,786); noncases were men who scored < or = 7 points (n = 20,840). After controlling for age, race/ethnicity, body mass index, physical activity, and mutually for alcohol intake and smoking, moderate alcohol consumption was inversely related with total BPH (30.1-50 g/day vs. 0: odds ratio (OR) = 0.59, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.51-0.70; p trend < 0.0001), although the relation was attenuated at high intake (> or = 50.1 g/day vs. 0: OR = 0.72, 95% CI 0.57-0.90). Current cigarette smoking was positively related to total BPH only among those who smoked 35 or more cigarettes/day (compared with never smokers: OR = 1.45, 95% CI 1.07-1.97). These findings suggest that moderate alcohol consumption and avoidance of smoking may benefit BPH.

Alcohol Dehydrogenase Type 3 (ADH3) and the Risk of Bladder Cancer

“…This is usually caused by cardiovascular or pulmonal problems, both related to smoking. Also, it has recently been reported that alcohol may have a protective effect on BPH, which may have resulted in an overestimation of the risk of alcohol drinking [21]. However, our data show that BPH patients do not drink less than bladder cancer patients or visitors at the urology ward which makes an overestimation of the risk of alcohol drinking unlikely.…”

Life-Style in Patients with LUTS Suggestive of BPH

“…As a result of these and other difficulties, the knowledge of BPH risk factors is actually scarce [1, 2, 3, 4]. Alcohol intake has been suggested to be a risk factor for BPH by some authors [5]but others have negated such a role [6, 7, 8]. In the study of Chyou et al [6], intake of wine and beer was even inversely associated with obstructive uropathy.…”

GSTM1,GSTM3andGSTT1Gene Variants and Risk of Benign Prostate Hyperplasia in North India

“…Androgens play a role in the development and maintenance of BPH particularly in the prostatic epithelium, which is supported by androgen receptor expression in prostatic epithelium [27]. Alcohol consumption is suggested to decrease testosterone concentrations and in some cases increase estrogens concentration hence higher susceptibility to BPH [28]. Our study suggested no influence of GSTT1 gene polymorphism and susceptibility to BPH.…”