Johns Hopkins Health Alert
Get Moving to Protect Your Prostate
It's well known that regular exercise is good for your heart. But increasing evidence indicates that being physically active also protects your prostate. A study in The Journal of Urology suggests that regular aerobic exercise can improve symptoms of chronic prostatitis. Here's what the researchers found …
Logging in about three to five hours of vigorous exercise per week helps keep prostate enlargement in check and may reduce the risk of developing advanced prostate cancer. Regular exercise also eases symptoms of prostatitis and helps manage some of the side effects of prostate cancer treatment
Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome is an often debilitating condition with no truly effective treatment. But a new study reported in The Journal of Urology (Volume 177, page 159) suggests that regular aerobic exercise can relieve pain and improve quality of life for men with prostatitis.
Researchers assigned 231 sedentary men with chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome to perform regular aerobic exercise or only stretching or movement exercises (placebo group) for 18 weeks. At the study's outset, the men were given screening tests, blood tests, and a physical exam, and they filled out questionnaires and rating scales about their symptoms, pain level, and mood. The men were reassessed at one, six and 18 weeks.
The aerobic exercise group performed warm-up and cool-down and strengthening exercises and walked on a track at a fast pace for 40 minutes three times per week. Men in the control group performed flexibility and movement exercises (typical exercises working different parts of the body) for the same duration and number of times per week.
At the end of the study, symptoms in both groups had improved. But the aerobics group had significantly greater improvements in pain and quality of life.
If you haven't experienced relief after treatment for chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain and have a sedentary lifestyle, aerobic exercise may be just the prescription you need.
Posted in Enlarged Prostate on January 27, 2009
Reviewed June 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
Notify Me
Would you like us to inform you when we post new Enlarged Prostate Health Alerts?
Comments
Health Alerts registered users may post comments and share experiences here at their own discretion. We regret that questions on individual health concerns to the Johns Hopkins editors cannot be answered in this space.
The views expressed here do not constitute medical advice, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins Medicine or Remedy Health Media, LLC, which has no responsibility for any comments posted on this site.
Post a Comment
Already a subscriber?
Login
New to Johns Hopkins Health Alerts?
