Diet, Obesity, and Prostate Health: Are We Missing the Link?

Abstract

Prostate problems, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatic intra-epithelial neoplasia, prostatitis, and prostate cancer have been recognized as problems largely related to androgens and genetic factors. They affect a large fraction of the elderly population, contributing significantly to morbidity and mortality. Estrogen has also now been recognized as one of the important regulators of prostate growth. Diet, general health, and obesity were disregarded as the causative or complicating factors until very recently. Increasing episodes of prostate problems, complications in overweight/obese individuals, or both have attracted attention toward these contemporary risk factors. Prostate problems are reportedly less frequent or less severe in areas in which a plant-based diet is predominant. Consumption of certain fatty acids, particularly of animal origin, has been correlated with increased prostate problems. As adipose tissue is increasingly being regarded as hormonally active tissue, high body fat and obesity need in-depth exploration to understand the associated risk of prostate problems. Adipose tissue is now known to affect circulating levels of several bioactive messengers and therefore could affect the risk of developing prostate problems in addition to several other well-recognized health problems. Nevertheless, increased plasma volume, excess tissue growth, and fat deposition could affect resection and number of biopsies required, thus adding further complications because of a delayed diagnosis. In short, evidence is gathering to support the influence of diet and obesity on prostate health. In this review article, we have tried to make this connection more apparent using supporting published data.

Impact of FTO SNPs rs9930506 and rs9939609 in Prostate Cancer Severity in a Cohort of Puerto Rican Men

“…Increased mortality and aggressiveness of PCa have been associated with obesity [3–8]. In 2007, the SNP rs9930506 in the fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene region was associated with BMI and risk of obesity [9].…”

Histopathologic Characterization of Prostate Diseases in Madinah, Saudi Arabia

“…Globally, benign prostatic hyperplasia affects about 210 million males (Vos et al, 2012). Although BPH is predominantly attributed to aging, genetic factors and hormonal disturbances (Nicholson and Ricke, 2011), a possible role of obesity, diet and life style is also under investigation (Tewari et al, 2012;Goluch-Koniuszy et al, 2013). Similarly the significance of chronic inflammation in pathogenesis of BPH has recently emerged (Fibbi et al, 2010) and emphasized by recent publications (Vral et al, 2012;Bostanci et al, 2013;of cancer death (Brawley, 2012a).…”

Significant Association of Metabolic Indices, Lipid Profile, and Androgen Levels with Prostate Cancer

“…A deeper research into the factors that differ significantly across these continents may answer the questions regarding its incidence and causative factors. The foremost risk factors that may underlie these regional/ethnic differences could be endocrine variations, genetic polymorphisms (ZeiglerJohnson et al, 2002) altered hormonal status (Garfinkel, 1986), socioeconomic status (Nomura and Kolonel, 1991) and obesity and diet (Stephen and Brady, 2005;Girling et al, 2007) Diet, disturbed glucose metabolism, and metabolic syndrome are extremely interesting factors for in depth exploration in relation to the risk of prostate cancer (Long et al, 2012;McGrowder et al, 2012;Tewari et al, 2012;Ozbek et al, 2014, Pandeya et al 2014 In an earlier study, we presented that body mass index and waist to hip ratio were significantly higher in prostate cancer in 1 , Singh Rajender 2 *…”