The relationship between varicoceles and obesity in a young adult population

Abstract

To determine whether a relationship between obesity and varicocele occurrence exists, the prevalence and severity of varicoceles related to obesity were investigated in a general population of young males. A total of 1050 young males attending the Navy Recruit Training Center were evaluated from their physical screening examinations. All subjects underwent history taking and physical examinations to evaluate for the presence and severity of varicocele. The anthropometric indexes including body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were recorded. All subjects were categorized by quartiles according to each anthropometric index. Means were compared with the Student's t-test. Severity was compared by analysis of variance testing and frequency was analysed using the chi-square method. Statistical significance was considered at p <0.05. A total of 490 (46.67%) subjects had varicoceles. The means of BMI, WC and WHR of those without varicoceles was 23.99 +/- 3.82 kg/m(2), 83.20 +/- 9.97 cm and 0.85 +/- 0.05, respectively. These judged values were greater than those with varicoceles (22.02 +/- 3.18 kg/m(2), 79.19 +/- 9.01 cm and 0.83 +/- 0.05) (p < 0.001). In the univariate regression analysis, BMI, WC and WHR all had a significantly negative correlation with severity of varicocele (all p < 0.001). Analysis comparing varicocele frequency based on each grade per anthropometric index group was performed. The logistic regression revealed that the prevalence of grade II and III varicoceles showed a statistically inverse association with all three anthropometric indexes. The prevalence and severity of varicoceles inversely correlated with obesity. The present data support the explanation that obesity may result in a decreased nutcracker effect, which accounts for prevention of the renal vein compression by the adipose tissue.

Association of left varicocoele with height, body mass index and sperm counts in infertile men

“…Three of them reported that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups with respect to height, whereas six indicated that the patients with varicocoele were significantly taller than controls, which is similar to our study. The latter result has led to speculation that greater overall height was associated with an increased hydrostatic pressure in the spermatic vein, predominantly on the left side, which may in turn overwhelm the valve mechanisms in the veins, resulting in the development of varicocoele (Tsao et al, 2009). The findings of our study support the concept of a statistically positive relationship between varicocoele and height.…”

“…In 12 studies: first, no significant differences in BMI were detected (Delaney et al, 2004;Kilic et al, 2007), secondly, patients with varicocoele had a distinctly lower BMI (May et al, 2006;Baek et al, 2011), and thirdly, the number of the varicocoele patients decreased as the BMI increased, as found by others (Handel et al, 2006;Nielsen et al, 2006;Prabakaran et al, 2006;Kumanov et al, 2008;Tsao et al, 2009;Al-Ali et al, 2010;Chen & Huang, 2010;Hassanzadeh et al, 2011;Soylemez et al, 2012) and us. It is clear that obesity may lead to decreased detection of varicocoele, even in our study, because of difficulty in palpation on physical examination.…”

Seeking the Insight of Fertility Specialist in Managing Obesity in Men

“…Celiktas M, and associates have shown a decreases in varicocele incidence in obese men due to the increased retroperitoneal fat thickness and the adipose tissue deposition within the inguinal cord structures and scrotal content [17]. The present data support the explanation that obesity may result in a decreased nutcracker effect, which accounts for prevention of the renal vein compression by the adipose tissue [18]. Albert O, and associates in 2013, has published an interesting article to point up [19].…”

Seminal, ultrasound and psychobiological parameters correlate with metabolic syndrome in male members of infertile couples

“…Several molecules, such as insulin, oestrogens, leptin, tumour necrosis factor a (TNFa) or other adipokines, mainly related to increased adiposity, have been hypothesized to induce MetS-related hypogonadism, acting both at a central or at a peripheral level (see for review Corona et al, 2011b). In contrast with the positive association between hypogonadism and MetS, varicocoele was less often found in subjects fulfilling MetS criteria, thus confirming the view that obesity is a protective factor against varicocoele (Handel et al, 2006;Nielsen et al, 2006;Tsao et al, 2009).…”