Obesity boosts prostate cancer mortality
Hmm...rather unusual choice of words in this headline...why would anyone want obesity to "boost" such an unpleasant outcome? Probably would have been better to phrase it thusly: "Obesity decreases survival rate of prostate cancer," or "Portly prostate patients portend pushing up daisies." What meaneth these fair data, anyway?
Obese men diagnosed with prostate cancer are more than twice as likely to die of the disease than their leaner peers, a new study shows. They also have more than triple the risk that the cancer will spread beyond their prostate gland, Dr. Alan R. Kristal of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle and colleagues found.
This study shows that men carrying a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more in the year preceeding their diagnosis of prostate cancer were 260% more likely to die of their disease than men with a lower BMI. This study does not prove that losing weight has any effect on reducing the risk of prostate cancer-specific mortality but it does lead Dr. Kristal to offer a hint to overweight members of the male species:
"These results provide yet one more important reason for men to adopt healthful patterns of diet and physical activity to achieve and maintain a normal weight," Kristal and his team conclude in the medical journal Cancer.
How long, O Lord, must I pontificate about the dangers of obesity until the nation repents its evil ways?
Would this Harvard Medical School study on the association of BMI and the development of hyptertension help produce a few converts? Here is the gist of the research:
We studied 13,563 initially healthy, nonhypertensive men who participated in the Physicians' Health Study. We calculated BMI from self-reported weight and height and defined hypertension as self-reported systolic blood pressure (BP) >/=140 mm Hg, diastolic BP >/=90 mm Hg, or new antihypertensive medication use. RESULTS: After a median 14.5 years, 4920 participants developed hypertension. Higher baseline BMI, even within the "normal" range, was consistently associated with increased risk of hypertension.
Say no more...the list of studies showing a negative impact on high BMI and health is endless. Here is one more example for the youths of America:
Obese children and adolescents were more likely to have impaired health-related QOL [quality of life] than healthy children and adolescents (odds ratio [OR], 5.5; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.4-8.7) and were similar to children and adolescents diagnosed as having cancer (OR, 1.3; 95% CI, 0.8-2.3)....Severely obese children and adolescents have lower health-related QOL than children and adolescents who are healthy and similar QOL as those diagnosed as having cancer [my italics]. Physicians, parents, and teachers need to be informed of the risk for impaired health-related QOL among obese children and adolescents to target interventions that could enhance health outcomes.
Now I admit that I wolfed down a Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Fudge Brownie Low Fat Frozen Yogurt last night, but it was only because my favorite movie of all time was playing on the telly and I promise I won't ever do it again. Honest. I mean it. Thank you for trusting me.
ADDENDUM: As requested by lesser being of leisure, here also is a link to that BMI calculator. By the way, my BMI is 25, but I'm sure it's due to the layers of ripped muscle lining my bones, thanks to years of weightlifting.
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My current BMI: 41
My BMI as of January 1st of this year: 46
Going the right direction ... But can I get to the safe zone before I keel over?
I think I need that movie trailer voice-over guy to read that last part.
Most obese people don't WANT to be obese. Most of us have lost and gained, lost and gained until we've lost hope. Those of us inclined toward depression have often lost far more than just hope.
My current BMI is 32. Eight months ago, it was 40. I've spent the intervening time dieting in a program that emphasizes coaching, group support, and support for maintenance. I'm currently doing maintenance -- preserving my 65 lb loss -- and without the support of a coach and a structured program, It'd be FAR too easy to slip back into my old habits, the ones that got my to BMI=40. At some point I'll start back in weight loss again, but I'm really sick of the restrictive weight loss diet right now. In a few months....
I started this program, not because they assured me I could lose the weight, but because they assured me they could teach me the skills I needed to KEEP IT OFF. I've lost several hundred pounds over the course of my life. I've regained all (and then some) but the most recent 65. To keep that off forever is a dream of a lifetime.
So far, so good.
BTW, the program is run by an organization called Health Management Resources (HMR), and offered through my local medical clinic. They do have offices all over the U.S. and perhaps elsewhere. The horror stories I've heard associated with Weight Watchers, Jennie Craig, and other diet operations don't seem to have an equivalent at HMR, as far as I know.
YMWV.
Your favorite movie is X: the Unknown? I can't believe it. I saw that movie in a theater when I was a little boy (must have been when I was 6, since it came out in 1956). It was so scary I had to retreat to the refreshment area a couple of times. You have inspired me to order it from Amazon today.
Oh, and yeah, people are too fat. My BMI is about 23. I see a little paunch developing because I had to give up running (bum knees), and bicycling is not nearly as efficient for me at burning calories. But I'm still working on it.
Correlation does not imply causation!
It would be interesting to learn if the distribution of fat (pear versus apple) in the obese has a characteristic effect on longevity and on aggressivity of the cancer. That may have been looked at in the paper.
Does the obesity stimulate androgen production that stimulates prostate growth?
"Correlation does not imply causation!"
No, but but in this case correlation certainly indicates the need to look for causation in a common factor.
So why don't you have a link for the BMI calculator on your site? (or in the post?)
http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/
Mine is 19.2.
I lost 10lbs a couple of months ago by the Andre Agassi diet (eat less/exercise more - ie: KISS :)
Now I'm kind of addicted to exercising, and feel poorly if I don't workout at least every other day.
Oh, the other thing I didn't do was weigh myself everyday. In fact, I didn't even know that I'd lost 10lbs until I visited a friend who owns a scale. Funny, because for at least a month, I'd been punching in the wrong weight on the elliptical machine. :)
And I totally, (totally :) agree about the comment re: (most) obese people not wanting to be obese.
One thing I learned from working on a psoriasis study a few years ago was that there is a high correlation between psoriasis and obesity. But people don't become obese until they get psoriasis. Hence the reasoning for strong psychological factors influencing peoples' personal weight management. I think if more people understood this we might not have the problems we now face.
What pisses me off though is that most of the doctors don't even seem to acknowledge that their patients are obese, and that it is a health problem.
I watched X the Unknown over the weekend. Not bad in some ways (an old, bald scientist as the protagonist!) but rather simple-minded in other ways (a rather confused history of the geology of the Earth). It also fails in its own logic, but still not a bad effort for those days. If someone gave me the right amount of money, it would be fun to remake this movie.